Brand & press

How to represent the African Research Society.

The marks, the colours and the type we use, with the files themselves and the few rules that keep our name and logo recognisable wherever they appear. Journalists, partners and chapters are welcome to use everything on this page.

Get the logo files Press enquiries →

The mark

Africa, threaded by research.

At the centre of our identity is the African continent, threaded end to end by a single strand of DNA. The strand stands for research itself; the line it draws from the Cape to Cairo stands for movement — a continent connected on its own terms.

The mark comes in two versions and no others: a dark version for light backgrounds and a light version for dark ones. Both are supplied below as vectors, so they stay sharp at any size from a business card to a conference backdrop.

Dark mark on a light ground

Light mark on a dark ground

Supporting marks

Three small glyphs sit alongside the logo and carry their own meanings. Use one at a time; they are never stacked, and they never replace the logo.

Southern Cross

We navigate by our own stars. Used at moments of arrival — page openings, the membership card.

Meridian Point

The world’s origin point drawn as African. Used for maps, coordinates and data.

Weave

Stronger, woven together. Used for community, partnership and network moments.

Downloads

The files, ready to place.

Vector files, free to use in programmes, posters, slides and articles about ARS, provided they are not altered.

Primary mark, dark

SVGFor white, paper and other light backgrounds.

Primary mark, light

SVGFor black, deep-blue and other dark backgrounds.

Circular lockup

SVGThe mark with the full society name set around it. For stamps, seals and badges.

App iconSVG · scalable App iconPNG · 32 px App iconPNG · 180 px

Need print-resolution artwork, a specific file format, or the mark cleared for a particular placement? Request brand assets →

Using our name

Getting it right takes about a minute.

Write African Research Society in full on first reference and ARS thereafter. The name takes no definite article in running text — “ARS runs”, not “the ARS runs”.

For contracts, grant paperwork and anything else formal, use the registered identity line in full.

Registered identity

African Research Society
Registered NPO 294-803
African Research Society NPC K2025477702

Write “African Research Society” in full on first reference, then “ARS”.
Use the supplied files at their original proportions.
Give the mark clear space on every side — nothing should crowd or overlap it.
Place the light mark on dark backgrounds and the dark mark on light ones.
For small text on light backgrounds, use the deeper shades of gold and green.

Don’t

Don’t recolour, rotate, stretch or add shadows, outlines or glows.
Don’t redraw the mark, or rebuild it from a screenshot.
Don’t set the mark on a busy photograph or a background it disappears into.
Don’t combine the mark with another logo inside a single lockup.
Don’t abbreviate the name as “A.R.S.” or expand it to anything else.

Colour

A dark sky, warm paper, and one bright accent.

Two grounds carry everything ARS makes: a deep near-black for arrival and impact, and a warm paper for reading. Gold is the one bright note, and it is used once per screen so it keeps its force.

Grounds and text

Deep space

#0B0C15

The dark ground — headers, footers and full-width dark bands.

Paper

#F2EDE2

The warm light ground behind most reading.

Ink

#17161B

Headings and body text on light grounds.

Bone

#EFEDE4

Headings and body text on dark grounds.

Accents

Solar gold

#E8B23A

The single strongest accent — one primary action per screen.

Deep gold

#7F5A0C

Gold text and icons on light backgrounds.

Malachite

#2E9E6B

The working accent — links, active and open states.

Deep malachite

#176F47

Green text and links on light backgrounds.

Oxblood

#A33227

Warnings and closed states. Used sparingly, never as a large fill.

The pan-African halo

A gradient of the three heritage colours — red into gold into green — appears as a signature rule on ARS material. It is a divider, not a palette to design with.

Red · Heritage#E03C31

Gold · Energy#F5B301

Green · Growth#1FA24A

Typefaces

A serif to open, a sans to read, a mono for figures.

All three are open-licence families available from Google Fonts, so partners and chapters can install them at no cost.

Research for Africa, by Africa.

Fraunces — headlines, section titles and pull quotes, in regular and italic.

A youth-led research society putting African questions — and the undergraduates asking them — at the centre of the continent's science.

Archivo — body copy, navigation and buttons, in weights 400 to 700.

NPO 294-803 · NPC K2025477702 · Founded 2022 at UCT

IBM Plex Mono — small labels, figures and registration details.

Press

What to say about us, and who to ask.

Boilerplate

The African Research Society (ARS) is an independent, youth-led non-profit uniting undergraduate, postgraduate and early-career researchers across Africa and its diaspora. Founded in 2022 at the University of Cape Town and registered as a non-profit organisation in 2023, ARS works to strengthen research capacity, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and promote solutions anchored in African realities. It is backed by 40+ institutions and has connected 2,000+ students to research, training and mentorship.

Press contact

For interviews, background on our programmes, or artwork not listed above, write to npo@africanresearchsociety.org. Tell us your deadline and we will work to it.

Governance, office-bearers and the constitution are published in full at /governance.

Facts you can cite

Founded: 2022, University of Cape Town
NPO registration: 294-803 (31 July 2023)
Non-profit company: K2025477702
Institutional backing: Backed by 40+ institutions
Students connected: 2,000+
In 2024: 1,900+ students engaged
Nobel Laureate speakers: 5

Please attribute figures to the African Research Society and check with us before citing anything not listed here.

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