Usage
It’s critical to maintain an open area around the Cloudinary logo so it remains recognizable and doesn’t become lost in other elements.
On all sides, the exclusion should be measured from the farthest edge of the logo.
Cloudinary Brand
This guide is intended as a helpful reference for anyone writing about Cloudinary, the Cloudinary brand, and Cloudinary products.
With many hands creating marketing materials and content, it's important to maintain consistency. This consistency is key to building trust with our customers. Adherence to these guidelines will help us maintain a consistent voice and accurately express our brand.
The Cloudinary visual brand identity is forward-looking, unique, and engaging.
Our visual identity brings the Cloudinary brand to life through visual elements like logotype, color palette, typography, and illustrations. These elements work in unison with the written copy to invoke the right sentiment and brand image in the minds of our target audience.
Logo
The Cloudinary logo is composed of a clean, modern logotype and a cloud glyph that represents our technology.
Digital: 72px x 14px
Print: 1in wide
Digital: 28px x 18px
Print: 1/4in wide
Usage to Avoid
Here are some examples of things not to do.
When in doubt, reach out to the Cloudinary Brand team.
Don’t distort the logo or glyph.
Don’t use the logo in a sentence.
Don’t change the font style.
Don’t change the color of the logo.
Don’t rotate the logo or glyph.
Don’t place the logo on top of a background that makes it illegible.
Colors
Cloudinary Blue is reserved for the logo.
Don’t use Cloudinary Blue for other graphics on the page. Pick a blue shade from one of our primary tints.
Cloudinary Blue
#3448C5
rgba(52, 72, 197, 1)
PMS 2728
Aegean Blue
#101926
rgba(16, 25, 38, 1)
Cetacean Blue
#0C163B
rgba(12, 22, 59, 1)
Midnight Blue
#3F5FFF
rgba(63, 95, 255, 1)
Sky Blue
#0D9AFF
rgba(13, 154, 255, 1)
Turquoise Blue
#48C4D8
rgba(72, 196, 216, 1)
Secondary
The secondary palette compliments the primary palette. Together the two palettes create a cohesive and unique visual language that represents the fluidity of the ever-changing sky.
Coral
#FF5050
rgba(255, 80, 80, 1)
Yellow
#F7BC00
rgba(247, 188, 0, 1)
Slate
#162436
rgba(22, 36, 54, 1)
Typography
Typography and typescale play a large role in the Cloudinary brand.
Cloudinary’s typescale is built systematically with the golden ratio using 1/2 increments.
Inter
Cloudinary uses Inter for both print and digital.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Photography
Cloudinary strives to be authentic in our photography choices. Cloudinary uses customer imagery as much as possible, or images that represent real customers and verticals.
Photographs are authentic in nature with natural lighting and composition.
Never use images where brands are recognizable, unless they’re an approved customer and/or approved customer images.
Dos and Don’ts
Lighting
Do capture images that feel like they were shot in natural light. Make sure the tonality of the objects in the shot is consistent. Images that are natural in color feel more authentic.
Don’t use low lighting.
Don’t use trendy filters or images that are overly produced.
Don’t use stereotypical stock photos.
Do
Don't
Composition
Do use images where only one story is told. When the subject is surrounded by a clear background that adds up to a single narrative, viewers can understand the intended meaning instantly.
Don’t show images with a shallow depth of field.
Don’t capture multiple subjects in one shot.
Don’t use an intricate background where unnecessary information is filled up. This approach will make brand look less intuitive and disorganized.
Do
Don't
Post-Production
Do retouch to get rid of the irregularity. Elevate the quality of the photos.
Do crop photos to remove the peripheral. It will make the imagery more focused and approachable.
Don’t superimpose or overlay multiple images.
Don’t create duotone images.
Do
Don't
Voice
Informative, Not pedantic
An informative tone of voice enhances knowledge, imparts information, and inspires personal growth.
Expert, Not pompous
We have deep expertise in our customers’ business problems. We offer actionable advice and recommendations that help our customers succeed. When necessary, we challenge our customers’ beliefs and opinions to educate them about a better solution.
We’re credible. Our years of experience coupled with our relationships with more than 10,000 of the most loved brands and 1.6 million developers gives us unparalleled credibility and authority.
We’re assertive. We develop points of view that guide our customers and take an assertive stance.
We’re a trusted advisor. We’re the authority in our field. Our knowledge and expertise make us a trusted advisor.
Optimistic, Not pessimistic
Always lead with the positive results of our solutions. Avoid focusing on the negative effects of the pain points. Positive sentiments put people in a happy frame of mind.
Conversational, Not syrupy
The Cloudinary brand voice is conversational. It’s the voice of a real person, as opposed to one company communicating with another. Our humanity is expressed through these attributes.
Be friendly. The warmth and friendliness we’d show to someone in person comes through in our written and spoken content.
Be empathetic. We’re able to see and feel our customer’s needs, motivations, hopes, and pains through their eyes. We show our ability to empathize by addressing what’s top of mind for them.
Pragmatic, Not unrealistic
We offer practical, real-world solutions.
Be honest. We’re trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere. We openly state our points of view, assessments, and recommendations. We back every claim with proof and reason, or don’t make a claim at all.
Get to the point. We cut unnecessary or irrelevant information, and are neutral in our tone.
Style Rules
The following contains (hopefully) everything you need to apply the Cloudinary voice to whatever content you create. The goal is to provide the fundamentals of clear writing and language usage, and improve clarity and consistency in your writing.
Something missing? Questions? Comments? Want to quibble over split infinitives? Contact us: brand@cloudinary.com
Write for Clarity
When writing Cloudinary content, aim for a sixth grade reading level. This doesn’t mean dumbing the content down. The key is to make sure you’re using plain language, getting the message across quickly, and understood by your audience.
- Use everyday words.
- Avoid jargon.
- Vary sentence lengths.
- Use active voice.
- Find the right words, then decide which ones to omit.
- Use inventive verbs to jumpstart your messages.
Empathize With the Customer
Try to understand how the customer feels when they’re going through every point of the user experience, and incorporate that into your content.
Maintain Consistency
With many hands creating content, it’s important to maintain consistency throughout the entire platform. Consistency builds trust. If the reader is seeing inconsistencies in terminology, style, and the overall experience, it will be confusing and make the reader feel like they can’t trust the product or the company making the product.