Planet Blue just got larger.
The phrase Planet Blue, accompanied by a new tagline, “the sustainable difference,” now represents all things sustainability at U-M.
“We are adopting the Planet Blue identity to boost awareness of our commitment to sustainability. Planet Blue gives us a memorable visual identity to draw attention to the university’s wide-ranging programs in academics, research and operations,” says Don Scavia, special counsel to the president for sustainability, and Terry Alexander, executive director of the Office for Campus Sustainability.
The tagline “the sustainable difference” expresses the university’s commitment to making the Michigan Difference in sustainability, they say.
The broader scope for Planet Blue is a repurposing of the identity created for the Facilities and Operations program that works to conserve energy in campus buildings through a combination of technical expertise and user engagement. During the past two years, the Planet Blue identity has proved a powerful aid in communicating the program to faculty, staff and students.
“The leadership behind the existing Planet Blue buildings teams is very supportive of seeing this identity expanded,” Alexander says. “It’s a great opportunity to draw more attention to the work under way while expanding knowledge of sustainability efforts across the campus.”
Going forward, the energy conservation program will be known as the Planet Blue Operations Team, Alexander says.
The soft launch of the new identity will occur at EarthFest (formerly EnergyFest) set for Sept. 21 on the Diag, and Sept. 23 on North Campus. The event will highlight wide-ranging university sustainability programs in academics and operations.
The new identity is featured on the university’s sustainability site (which includes the Office of Campus Sustainability), available at sustainability.umich.edu, as well as the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute site, www.graham.umich.edu/index.php. It also is being incorporated into additional communications efforts.
The Planet Blue identity is available for download on the Communicators’ Forum Web site at mmd.umich.edu/forum/planetblue.php
