Why print releases are required
Our visual identity only works if it looks the same everywhere people encounter it. A print release allows the Office of Marketing and Communications to check your materials against current brand standards for University logos and marks, graphic elements, and co-branding before anything is printed.
When to UseYou need a print release before producing any public-facing promotional material, regardless of cost. That means anything created to market, recruit, inform, promote, advertise, fundraise for, or otherwise represent the University or one of its units, programs, events, or services.
Examples Requiring a Print Release- Anything with University Marks, Companion Logos, Spirit Marks, secondary graphics or co-branding
- Branded promotional items
- Print materials (e.g., brochures, viewbooks, postcars, mailers, flyers, posters, and invitations)
- Paid advertising (e.g., print advertising, paid media, sponsorship materials)
- Physical materials (e.g., banners, signage, and displays)
- Outreach materials (e.g., recruitment, enrollment, advancement, events)
- Outside contracted work (e.g., any materials created for the University by an outside agency, contractor, or partner)
Apparel, uniforms, giveaways, and other branded products must meet UAM 4,715 and trademark licensing requirements and be produced by a University-licensed vendor or one authorized in writing by the Office of Marketing and Communications.
A print release alone doesn’t replace those approvals.
Examples Not Requiring a Print ReleaseReviews focus on high-visibility materials. The following items generally do not require a print release, provided they use approved University marks and do not include unapproved logos, custom co-branding, or branded merchandise.
- Instructional materials (e.g., tests, syllabi, articles, course packets, reports)
- Scholarly work (e.g., theses, research publications, dissertations)
- Operational materials (e.g., laboratory, safety, research) not meant for promotion
- Internal documentation (e.g., routine business forms, administrative documents)
- Stationery (e.g., letterhead, business cards, envelopes) ordered through the University's stationery business portal using approved templates and vendors
The Office of Marketing and Communications may ask to review an exempt item if its audience, use, or design raises a brand, trademark, accessibility, legal, or reputational concern.
How to submit a print release
- Submit request form. Submit your artwork through our online print release request form.
- Compliance review. We review it for compliance with current brand standards.
- We respond. We may approve it, approve it with required changes, deny it, or ask you to resubmit.
- We approve/deny. If purchasing apparel, uniforms, or other branded swag items, provide your print release number to your vendor. Vendors must submit artwork for final review for trademark and licensing requirements. You must provide your print release authorization to the vendor before they can proceed.
- Receive authorization. You will receive a print release authorization to place your order, begin production, and send artwork to a vendor.
Print release approvals
Your approval applies to the specific artwork you submitted. If you later change the content, design, marks, vendor, specifications, quantity, or co-branding, and the change affects compliance, we’ll need to review it again. This keeps what gets printed matching what we approved. If you are reprinting a previously approved design, you still need to submit it for review. You cannot use a print release authorization twice.
What happens if you skip a print release?
All promotional items must obtain a print release to be reimbursed by Purchasing or Accounting. Materials produced without a required print release, or that differ materially from what was approved, may be reviewed. They may need to be corrected, pulled from distribution, destroyed, recalled, or reprinted at your department’s expense. If needed, we may involve unit leadership, University legal counsel, Procurement and Contracts, or trademark licensing personnel.
Print releases do not approve logo exceptions
Print releases verify brand compliance. They do not grant logo exceptions. Campus units may not create independent logos, symbols, or wordmarks, nor use retired or altered marks. Any Companion Logos or Marks, secondary graphics, or co-branding arrangements require separate advance approval. Inquire at designhelp@unr.edu.
Print releases do not include editorial or legal review
Print releases verify brand compliance only. They do not serve as an editorial, legal, or content review. Your department is responsible for fact-checking, copyediting, accessibility compliance, and securing required approvals from leadership, legal counsel, Procurement, or trademark licensing. You are also responsible for confirming all rights for photography, illustrations, and data, and for submitting final, production-ready artwork.