08 · Brand architecture

One brand, and how everything else relates to it

Source: Architecture R2, May 2026 · approved

The Area Foundation is one brand. Funds, initiatives, partnerships, and supporting organizations sit at set distances from it: unbranded, co-branded, or endorsed. The distance is a decision, not an accident.

Lockups pending. The co-branded and endorsed lockups in the May architecture deck were built on the earlier mark. A Hyperakt designer is rebuilding them on the R5 wordmark. The rules below are final; the art lands here when it's ready.

The name

Parent brand
San Antonio Area Foundation

Our name. First mention, formal contexts, and the wordmark.

Area Foundation

After the first mention. The short logo forms exist for this.

Area Fdn

Informal, in type only, for ease. Never a logo.

The five tiers

Unbranded · co-branded · endorsed

Funds & scholarships

Mostly unbranded
Typical funds and scholarships · unbrandedThe majority. The fund name appears in type, inside the Area Foundation brand, with no logo of its own. "Dr. Thomas E. Vice Fund," set in Marr Sans or Inter, on our system.
Community outreach funds · co-brandedFunds that promote philanthropy by and for under-represented and under-served communities carry a co-branded lockup with the Area Foundation.
Specialty funds · co-brandedFunds with their own branding, managed by the Area Foundation. Limited, strategic exceptions. Example: Down Syndrome Association of South Texas Fund.
Fund-name-in-type and co-brand lockups
on the R5 wordmark, coming from design

Initiatives

Unbranded, rarely endorsed
Typical initiatives · unbrandedPrograms and initiatives may have names, but they use the Area Foundation identity. No separate marks.
Branded initiatives · endorsedInitiatives tightly aligned with key strategies can carry unique branding with an endorsement line, "Powered by the Area Foundation." Rare, and only with CMO approval. Examples under review: Confluence Fellows, Power Leader Workshop.
NoteSALSA and Generations Over Dinner will be brought closer to the Area Foundation identity.
"Powered by the Area Foundation"
endorsement line, coming from design

Partnerships

Co-branded or unbranded
Santikos · co-brandedWhen referring to the Santikos relationship, use a co-branded approach with the company.
Other partnerships · unbrandedSignificant external initiatives the Area Foundation is actively engaged in, where branding is set by the external party and does not use ours.
Santikos co-brand lockup,
coming from design

Supporting organizations

Endorsed or unbranded
John L. Santikos Charitable Foundation · endorsedWhen the Foundation name is legally required, use the endorsed logo lockup.
Other supporting organizations · unbrandedOrganizations we provide operational support to are not branded with the Area Foundation.
Endorsed lockup,
coming from design

How to decide

Three questions
  • Does it legally need its own name? If yes, endorsed lockup. If no, keep going.
  • Does it serve a community that needs to see itself? Community outreach funds are co-branded for that reason. Most funds don't need it.
  • Is it tightly aligned with a key strategy and here to stay? Then, and only with CMO approval, it can be endorsed. Everything else is unbranded.
  • Default to unbranded. Every new mark costs recognition. The system is designed so a fund name in type already looks like it belongs.
  • Never mix tiers on one surface. A co-branded fund and an unbranded initiative don't share a page as equals.
  • Sub-brands don't get their own colors. They use the palette, and the same photography and pattern rules.