University of Toronto brand portal
University of Toronto's brand portal provides comprehensive identity guidance, typography specifications, campaign logo rules, and campus-restricted asset downloads.
Homepage of the U of T Brand Portal featuring an introductory video player, quick links, and a card grid linking to core guideline topics.
Defy Gravity logo page showing logo elements, color specifications, relationship to the university signature, and improper usage rules.
Typography page detailing Trade Gothic and Bembo along with Microsoft Office substitute fonts, character specimens, and licensing info.
Brand assets index displaying category cards for logos, templates, and collateral alongside a UTORid login restriction notice.
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I like how pragmatic the University of Toronto brand portal is for campus communicators. On the typography page, they pair Trade Gothic and Bembo with immediate Microsoft Office substitutes, Arial and Times New Roman, showing real empathy for non-designers. The Defy Gravity campaign logo receives its own rigorous guidelines alongside the primary signature, complete with clear alignment rules and bad-usage grids. Everything is kept tidy with card grids, though public access is thoughtfully bounded, restricting asset downloads behind a campus UTORid login.
At a glance
- Sections
- Home · Our brand · Guidelines · Assets · Advancement · Support and contact
- Tone
- Clear, practical, and structured institutional guidance for academic and administrative staff.
What I noticed
- The typography guidelines specify Trade Gothic as the primary sans serif with Arial as an Office substitute, and Bembo as the primary serif with Times New Roman as an Office substitute.12
- The Defy Gravity logo is composed of a caret symbol alongside the wordmark set in Trade Gothic Next bold.3
- Access to downloading brand assets is gated behind an institutional login requiring a UTORid for staff, faculty, and librarians.4
- The portal is built on Frontify software.5678
Numbers refer to the screenshots above.
What I could not see
- Could not inspect the full asset library or downloadable templates because access requires a UTORid login.
Ideas to borrow
- Include an annotated layout diagram directly inside font documentation to map specific type weights and roles across headlines, body copy, and callouts.9
Quick answers
Who can download brand assets?
Downloading brand assets requires logging in with a UTORid and is restricted to University of Toronto staff, faculty, and librarians.4
What primary fonts does the university use?
The primary sans serif font is Trade Gothic (with Arial as an Office substitute), and the primary serif is Bembo (with Times New Roman as an Office substitute).12
What are the components of the Defy Gravity logo?
The Defy Gravity logo consists of the caret symbol and the 'Defy Gravity' wordmark set in Trade Gothic Next bold.3
Reviewed on 26 September 2026. Request a correction · I built this
Similar brand centers
All brand portals →While University of Toronto specifies Trade Gothic and Bembo alongside Arial and Times New Roman Office substitutes, Leiden University designates Vestula and Merriweather with Verdana and Georgia as system fallbacks. Furthermore, Denison University embeds a central search bar within its hero area, whereas University of Toronto opens with an introductory video player.
