UAB's mission is to be a research university and academic health center that discovers, teaches and applies knowledge for the intellectual, cultural, social and economic benefit of Birmingham, the state and beyond.

Through www.uab.edu/brandworks, faculty, staff and students have access to a set of tools that significantly streamline the process of creating, customizing and updating everything from websites to letterhead to PowerPoint presentations in an effort to cement UAB's institutional branding.

"To have a successful message, it's important to consider what you say, how you say it and how you present it," says Erin Tapp, Marketing Communications director. "We affect how the UAB brand takes shape and sticks in people's minds. The Brandworks website is a tool to help every one of us be an ambassador in helping to build a powerful collective understanding of our university."

UAB's BrandWorks website is the online home of the UAB Marketing Department and Web Communications and is dedicated to the UAB brand. Eric Martin, Web Communications manager, says the website was created for two key reasons: The UAB brand is important, and getting it right is important.

"We're passionate about seeing the UAB brand flourish - because that helps our employees and students flourish," Martin says. "We want to provide the tools needed to do that, and the Brandworks website is the starting point."

Marketing and Web Communications often receive inquiries about official university colors, logos and style guides, in addition to questions about website themes, PowerPoint templates and images. The Brandworks website offers all of these products and more.

Letterhead, business cards, photography requests, brochures and other brand tools are available through the website.

And if your department is considering updating or creating a website, all of the tools needed are available; they are branded properly, offer theme choices and are hosted and administered by UAB Information Technology at no charge.

The themes, easy for designers to manipulate and tailor as desired, offer a high level of functionality while maintaining consistency across the brand.

"Joomla is our primary content management system offering, and we have tutorials available on Brandworks for how to use the application," Martin says.

"We have several theming options available, and you can preview the 150-plus color combinations right there on the site," he says. "In addition, we have HTML and CSS documents available for those who have Web-based applications or tools or just have one or two Web pages and don't want a content management system."

"The resources available at Brandworks cover broad areas," Tapp adds. "You can't execute a print ad, but you can get that started and find the resources that will set you on the right path."

While Brandworks tries to offer all of the tools and advice necessary to advance the UAB brand and yours, Martin encourages users to e-mail or call if you don't find what you need.

"There are feedback links located on the bottom of each page and request forms located throughout the website," Martin says.

"If there is a problem, or if something is not clear or missing, we don't know that unless we hear from our users. Please use the feedback link to let us know your needs, likes and dislikes."
Products are updated frequently, as are request notifications and the style guide. Tapp says users should check back often for improvements and additions.

"Every single employee and student is an ambassador of the UAB brand, and making the workflow seamless through Brandworks is our priority," Tapp says. "Arming everyone with ideas, messages and logos that are on target and correct will help us continue to build that brand."