Brand Guidelines
The ACC brand is how we show up consistently across Canada — in trip postings, newsletters, social media, and event materials. This page gives section volunteers what they need to create on-brand communications without needing to be a designer.
This page summarizes the essentials. For the complete Brand Guidelines document (June 2026), contact brand@alpineclubofcanada.ca.
Brand in a sentence
The ACC brand carries a sense of reverence and awe for the power of nature — adventurous and exploratory, with a deep appreciation for the mountains and the community they bring us together in.
At home in the mountains — ever shifting mountainscapes, trees stretching to meet the sky, the drum of cold rushing water — in the mountains we find solace, connection, adventure and the feeling of being alive. Up here, the stories strike deeper, the friendships hold harder and the experiences are the kind that stick to your soul.
This paragraph can be used in full, in pieces, or just as inspiration for your own writing.
Voice & tone
By following these guidelines, we effectively convey the essence of the Alpine Club of Canada through our messaging.
Voice
Voice is constant — it's who we are no matter what we're writing.
- Human-first. The ACC's voice is that of a knowledgeable, enthusiastic person — not a corporation, not AI. We write with the detail and warmth of someone who has stood on a summit and can't wait to tell you about it. Our audience is smart, and we treat them that way.
- Earned authority. We demonstrate expertise through storytelling and specific detail — real places, actual experiences, concrete knowledge. We don't assert that we're passionate; we write passionately.
- Inclusivity as default. Everyone is welcome, regardless of age, background, gender, experience level, or where they are in their mountain journey.
- Values-forward. Stewardship, safety, and community are why we exist. Our voice leads with that — always.
In practice, this means we are:
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Inspiring — not didactic | Corporate or stiff language |
| Knowledgeable — not arrogant | Lecturing or talking down to members |
| Energetic — not scattered | Casual slang or typo-heavy posts |
| Human — not sloppy | Exaggerated claims or hype |
Tone
Tone is how our voice shifts by context — same organization, different register.
| Context | Tone |
|---|---|
| Member stories, social media | Enthusiastic, personal, celebratory |
| Safety communications | Direct, clear, calm |
| External organizations | Credible, professional, still human |
| Newcomer / beginner content | Welcoming, encouraging, jargon-light |
| Advocacy and stewardship | Earnest, grounded, values-driven |
The ACC spans mountaineers, hikers, scramblers, climbers, ski tourers, and cross-country skiers — all levels, all backgrounds. Before writing anything, know who you're talking to. When in doubt, ask: does this speak only to a narrow portion of our community?
Sample headlines
These approved headlines can be adapted for section trip postings, newsletters, and event materials:
- You don't just join. You belong.
- You belong in the mountains.
- This way to the stars.
- The trailhead to new adventures.
- At home in the mountains.
- Explorers unite.
- Find yourself in the mountains.
- Explore more.
- Outside is in.
- Find your fellow explorers.
- Elevate the ordinary.
- Climb with your community.
- Take life to a new level.
- Be in-tune with nature.
- Explore. Protect. Connect.
- We respect what we climb.
- Walk. Climb. Repeat.
- Find more adventures. Find your friends.
- Calluses on your hands. Blisters on your feet. Happiness in your heart.
Colours
The ACC's brand colours were chosen to reflect the natural environment across Canada. It's important that these colours remain consistent whenever used — in print and digital.
| Colour | Hex | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Slate | #1d3447 | Primary — backgrounds, text |
| Forest Green | #2f774e | Primary — headings, accents, logo |
| Arctic White | #f0f5f7 | Primary — backgrounds, reversed text |
| Glacial Teal | #66ccb2 | Hero — use sparingly for maximum impact |
| Sunshine Yellow | #ffd93b | Accent — small amounts only; never dominant |
It should never be the dominant colour in any material. The logo never appears on a Sunshine Yellow or Glacial Teal background.
Typography
The ACC uses clean, modern sans-serif typefaces inspired by Swiss design.
| Style | Use for |
|---|---|
| Eyebrow | A short kicker line above a headline adding context or category. Don't use it close to the logo. |
| Heading (H1) | The main heading — Hanken Grotesk Black. Can be upper-case where extra boldness helps (e.g. posters). |
| Sub-heading (H2) | A few more words to clarify or encourage reading on — Figtree Bold. |
| Paragraph 1 | Leading paragraph or body copy that needs more emphasis, e.g. on a dark/photo background — Figtree Medium. |
| Paragraph 2 | Most body copy, particularly large amounts — Figtree Regular. Use bold text within regular copy sparingly to add emphasis. |
Heading colour: use Blue Slate or Forest Green for H1s/H2s on a light background; use Arctic White or Glacial Teal for H1s/H2s on a dark background.
Body copy colour: Blue Slate is recommended for body copy on light backgrounds — it stays legible while upholding brand recognition. White is recommended on dark backgrounds, especially in print, where ink bleed and dot gain can hurt legibility.
Hanken Grotesk and Figtree should be used across all communications. Only when Figtree is conclusively unavailable, use the Arial font family (black, bold, medium, regular) instead.
Memos, waivers, and emails can use true black (#000000) as the body copy colour instead of Blue Slate or White.
Logo
The ACC logo is a visual abstraction of four elements: the letter A (for Alpine), a mountain, a rope or knot representing community and partnership, and a location pin — wherever you are in Canada, you belong.
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The letter A | A, for Alpine; the region we find ourselves called to, the namesake of our club. |
| The mountain | Our guide and our teacher. Everyone is on their own "pitch," journey, or path up the mountain, but we're united by a shared love of mountaineering and personal growth. |
| The rope/knot | The intertwining of ropes and knots represents commitments, partnerships, and the coming together of groups — forming a strong and unbreakable bond. |
| The location pin | No matter where you are in Canada, you are here; a part of the Alpine Club of Canada. Locational barriers are shattered; wherever you are, you are welcome. |
Which logo to use
| Logo version | When to use |
|---|---|
| Primary logo — icon centred above wordmark, horizontal or vertical | First choice for most applications. Always use the bilingual version unless space is too tight for both languages. Use the vertical version when it makes better use of the space given; when in doubt, use horizontal. |
| Secondary logo — icon left-aligned beside a single-language wordmark | When space is very limited and the primary audience is English- or French-speaking specifically |
| Section-specific logo — with your section name | When communicating on behalf of your specific section — see the list below |
| Bilingual logo — English and French | When the primary audience includes French speakers |
Section-specific logos
Each ACC section has its own section-specific logo (horizontal and vertical/stacked versions), so it can differentiate itself under the Alpine Club of Canada. Use only your own section's logo when representing your section. The stacked/vertical version was designed for social media profile images, but can be used anywhere centrally-aligned content calls for it.
Sections with a logo: Bugaboo, Calgary, Central Alberta, Columbia Mountains, Edmonton, Great Plains, Jasper/Hinton, Manitoba, Montreal, Newfoundland & Labrador, Okanagan, Ottawa, Outaouais, Prince George, Rocky Mountain, Saint-Boniface, Sault Ste. Marie, Saskatchewan, Southern Alberta, Squamish, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Whistler, and Yukon.
Don't see your section, or need the files? Contact brand@alpineclubofcanada.ca. Any future section-specific logo should follow the existing template.
Causes and social initiatives
The ACC logo, and all section-specific logos, can adapt to reflect the flagship colour(s) of a social initiative — for example, Every Child Matters (recoloured in Orange) or Pride (a rainbow gradient rotated to match the icon's angles). Only the icon is recoloured, using a solid colour or a gradient; the wordmark stays in Blue Slate. These recoloured logos should only ever appear on white/Arctic White.
Approved colour combinations
Acceptable:
- Forest Green and Blue Slate on Arctic White ✅
- Blue Slate on Arctic White ✅
- Forest Green and Arctic White on Blue Slate ✅
- Glacial Teal and Arctic White on Blue Slate ✅
- Arctic White on Forest Green ✅
- Arctic White on Blue Slate ✅
Not acceptable:
- Forest Green and Blue Slate on Glacial Teal ❌
- Arctic White on Glacial Teal ❌
- Glacial Teal and Arctic White on Forest Green ❌
- Blue Slate on Forest Green ❌
The logo never goes on Sunshine Yellow or Glacial Teal as a background.
Clear space
Maintain clear space around the logo equal to the width of two adjacent A's of the logo, on all sides, on all versions of the logo. The one exception is a knock-out (Arctic White) logo on a Forest Green side-tab, used to make it stand out against a photo background — there, the padding around the logo is the width of one A, and the padding outside the green colour block is the width of two A's.
Logo do's and don'ts
Do:
- Use the logo on approved background colours
- Maintain the clear-space rules above
- Use the monochrome or reversed version over photos or busy backgrounds
- Use only the section-specific logo when representing your section
Never:
- Stretch or skew the logo
- Colourise the logo with off-brand colours (unless it's an approved cause/social-initiative application)
- Place the coloured logo over low-contrast photos or busy backgrounds — use a monochrome or reversed version instead
- Recreate the logo with another font
- Place the logo on a Sunshine Yellow or Glacial Teal background
Photography
ACC photography showcases stunning alpine landscapes across Canada and people safely recreating in mountain sports. We play safe, but not necessarily serious.
We endeavour to represent people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, and skill levels, as we're all united by the same love of the mountains. Enjoyment, camaraderie, and connection make for powerful images — seeing happy faces and more than one person in a photo brings a sense of warmth, friendship, and community.
What works:
- Action and movement in real mountain terrain
- People of diverse backgrounds and skill levels
- Compositionally strong, high-quality images
- Authentic community moments — shared rope, summit smiles
What to avoid:
- Generic stock photography
- Low-resolution or poorly composed images
- Heavily filtered or over-edited photos — colours should be life-like rather than filtered
- Staged or inauthentic scenes
Always include a photo credit when sharing member photography in section materials.
Graphic elements
The ACC logo "knot" icon can be used as a graphic element in section materials — overlaid on photos, integrated into a scene, or used as a watermark on solid colour blocks to add texture and depth. Scale it so the location-pin element frames text or points to a focal point of an image. Use discretion with opacity — reduce it if more of the icon is in view, so it doesn't distract from the primary content. Save this device for headers, covers, and posters that have enough room for it; don't overuse it.
As an alternative, subtle topo-lines can add interest to colour-block backgrounds.
The layered mountain-ridge line illustration used on Land Acknowledgment materials is reserved for that purpose only. Don't reuse it in other section materials.
Icons
Icons are a clean line style with rounded, smooth corners — the same family as the alpine knot logo. Only fill in or silhouette an icon when it needs more visibility, such as a small size on a busy background (e.g. a location pin over a photo map).
Corners
Use square corners in most cases — for colour blocks, images, and large sections of a page. Two exceptions:
- Slightly rounded corners (5px) for multiple cards displayed together in a group, to add a friendly touch — like the Glacial Teal hero colour, don't overuse this or it loses impact.
- Buttons adopt a full pill shape, echoing the curves of the alpine knot logo.
Stationery
Organizational stationery (business cards, letterhead, and envelopes) is clean, minimal, and professional, with colour and graphics kept to a minimum. Contact brand@alpineclubofcanada.ca for the section-specific templates.
Questions?
Contact brand@alpineclubofcanada.ca before publishing any materials you're uncertain about.