Our brand, used well.
How the DBIA looks, sounds, and shows up — for staff, partners, and anyone producing materials on our behalf. One system across print and web: colourful, candid, and unmistakably downtown.
The mark leads, always.
Horizontal lockup — light grounds
Do
- Give the mark clear space — at least the height of its wordmark on every side.
- Use the full-colour mark on white or light grounds; the reversed mark on ink.
- Scale it down no smaller than 40px tall on screen.
Don't
- Recolour, stretch, rotate, or add effects to the mark.
- Place it over busy photography without a solid or tinted panel behind it.
- Redraw or typeset the name in place of the logo.
Live colourfully — in strips, not washes.
Mostly black-and-white ground; colour arrives deliberately, as bands, strips, and single accent words. The four brand colours always appear in this order: blue, teal, yellow, orange.
#2699cdPrimary — links, buttons, priority bands#16b1a9Secondary grounds and accents#fbb040Accents only — never text on white#f15a29Headline accent words, calls to action#282f39Impact bands, headline textAccessibility
- White type is fine on blue, teal, orange, and ink at heading sizes.
- Yellow and teal are decorative on white — never body or heading text.
- Long-form text sits on white or ink only.
The quad strip
Our signature divider — all four colours, one bar:
Poppins does the talking.
One face nearly everywhere: Poppins — Light through ExtraBold. Red Hat Display is reserved for big numbers and knockout display moments.
Poppins Light — long-form body copy 300
Poppins Regular — interface and captions 400
Poppins SemiBold — subheadings, labels, buttons 600
Poppins Bold — headlines and page titles 700
1981 — Red Hat Display, for the numbers 700
- Headlines set tight (−0.025em) and never in all caps beyond short labels.
- Accent one word per headline, not several — see motifs below.
- Uppercase only for kickers and stat labels, with generous letter-spacing.
Say it plainly, then make one word sparkle.
This section is the system demonstrating itself: an ink impact band, a knockout headline with a single yellow accent word, and stats set in Red Hat Display.
Real people, real downtown.
Style
- Candid and street-level — faces and hands doing things, not posed groups.
- Warm daylight or dusk; real events, real storefronts, no stock.
- Crop generously; leave calm areas where headlines overlay banners.
Specs
- Page banners: landscape, 2400px+ wide (16:9).
- Cards and content images: landscape, 1600px+ (3:2 or 4:3).
- Headshots: square, 800×800+ — they crop to circles.
- Web export: JPG, quality ~80. Always start from originals, never social re-downloads.
Two names, one downtown.
Who says what
- The Boro — the consumer brand: shopping, dining, events (theboro.ca).
- Peterborough DBIA — the organization: members, governance, advocacy (ptbodbia.ca).
Core values
- People Over Everything
- Celebrate the Quirks
- Be Bold, Stay Fresh
- Leave a Little Sparkle
- Live Colorfully
Questions, source files, or anything not covered here: contact the DBIA office — 270 George Street N., Suite 202A · 705-748-4774.