Photo, Video & Print
What We Do
The visuals team can help you promote your department or website with a variety of multimedia products. We capture large-scale university events through photo and video, which can be used in marketing materials, websites and print products. Our team understands how great visuals can share the university’s story, enhance key messages and promote campus initiatives.
Photo Guidelines
A photo is a way to inform outside audiences about what you do, while also drawing them in and encouraging them to learn more. Here is a photo gallery with some examples of our work.
Terms and Conditions
- All photography requests must have a direct tie to Weber State University, its departments, colleges, programs, divisions, etc.
- All photography requests should have a planned future use related to marketing and promoting the Weber State story.
- All requests must be received from WSU employees. Students requesting photography must have a WSU faculty or staff sponsor who is an employee of the university.
- Please provide at least two weeks advance notice for your request.
- Marketing & Communications reserves the right to decline photo requests that promote or publicize third-party messages for companies, nonprofits, other organizations or agencies, political candidates or parties, etc., even if those entities are partnering with Weber State.
- Photography requests will be honored on a first come, first served basis. A pre-existing commitment may result in a subsequent request being declined.
Best Practices
- Real life, documentary-style photos will illustrate your message much better than posed, stock-style photos. Try to schedule photo shoots when events are taking place.
- All photos should aim to show an authentic image of Weber State University. We discourage using stock photos whenever possible. AI-generated images should never be used unless they are in a context that is specifically referencing artificial intelligence. More AI guidelines.
- Photos of small banquets or luncheons rarely get used more than once and therefore aren't a good use of Marketing & Communications resources. We recommend you document such events yourself with a cell phone camera. Here are some tips for taking your own photos.
- Photos should be able to stand on their own. While we often use photos alongside more detailed text, a photo should be able to communicate a message on its own without explanation.
- Have a final use for your photos in mind before setting up a photo shoot. If you know the eventual use of your photos, you will be able to better plan what photos to capture.
- Know the intended audience for your photos. Different audiences will connect to different elements of a photo and this will determine what exactly you should photograph and how. For example, photos of someone working in a chemistry lab could be very different if your audience is high school students as compared to a professional scientific society.
Contact
Media Developer Ben Zack
801-626-6917
benjaminzack@weber.edu
Video Guidelines
Video is an effective tool to support your campaign or program. It's great to host on your website, share on social media or play on screens in your building.
Video requests should be intended for outward facing audiences. Requests for videos for use in a course, academic offering or to assist pedagogy should be directed to the Creative Academic Technology Solutions (CATS) office on campus. For people recording their own footage (usually just on cell phones), we have a video with some tips.
Terms and Conditions
- All requests must be received from WSU employees. Students requesting a video must have a WSU faculty or staff sponsor who is a contract employee of the university.
- All video projects must have a direct tie to Weber State University, its departments, colleges, programs, divisions, etc.
- Entities requesting videos must have the budget available to cover the hourly rates of photographers and videographers.
- Marketing & Communications reserves the right to decline video requests that promote or publicize third-party messages for companies, nonprofits, other organizations or agencies, political candidates or parties, etc., even if those entities are partnering with Weber State.
- Please try to provide at least three weeks advance notice for your request. Clients must meet all agreed upon deadlines.
- Video requests will be declined if they represent a conflict of interest for the university and the individual making the request. Videos cannot be created with the intent for direct/indirect personal financial gain or benefit (e.g., videos promoting a course or textbook that would result in personal gain for a WSU employee).
- Video project requests will be honored on a first come, first served basis. A pre-existing commitment may result in a subsequent request being declined.
Best Practices
- Like any other visual material, your video should align with the Weber State brand. Use the brand guide to ensure your video upholds brand standards. The brand guide also has downloadable assets you may use in your video.
- Decide who your audience is first. This will help you better develop the content of your video. It can also help determine appropriate length (shorter is usually better) and tone of the video.
- Is your content suited for video? Consider this question to determine if you need to re-write, re-script or re-think how your material should be shared.
- Avoid jargon or acronyms the average person wouldn’t immediately recognize. Also avoid “talking heads,” which are long, uninterrupted segments of an individual speaking. Video is your opportunity to be visually creative; take advantage of that.
- Music almost always elevates your video. YouTube’s audio library provides free options that you can use (some of their music files have additional requirements such as attribution, so be sure to check). Other sites such as Premium Beat, Epidemic Sound, Artlist, Music Vine, Soundstripe and Pond 5 are great options to purchase royalty free music for your video.
- Include a call to action, which will direct viewers to take a next step after watching your video. This could include visiting a webpage or registering for something.
- We have a university-wide subscription to LinkedIn Learning. If you have a desire to dive deeper into any technical aspects of video, that is a great place to start.
Sharing a Video
YouTube: If you only want your video viewable to certain people with your link, you can post your video as “private” or “unlisted.” If you want a link viewable to anyone, you can post your video as “public.”
Social Media: Upload it natively; don’t post a YouTube link. People are more likely to watch a video that starts playing automatically.
Kaltura: Found under Video Management in your eWeber portal, Kaltura allows you to upload and share videos.
No matter where you post, your video needs closed captioning.
- Follow these directions to add closed captioning on YouTube.
- Most other platforms don’t make adding closed captioning quite as easy. In those cases, create and upload a SubRip Subtitle file that contains the captioning and formatting. Follow these directions.
- If you would like Marketing & Communications to upload a video to Weber State's YouTube page, please give us four days’ notice and provide closed captioning.
Contact
Associate Media Developer Ryan Ash
801-626-6917
ryanash1@weber.edu
Design & Print Products
Whether it’s a simple mailer to prospective students or a suite of promotional materials for an upcoming event, we can create files and assets for your print and digital needs.
Design and Print Guidelines
- If your division, college or department has a marketing director you must reach out to that contact prior to reaching out to Marketing & Communications for assistance.
- All requests must be from WSU employees.
- All design projects must have a direct tie to Weber State University, its departments, colleges, programs, divisions, etc.
- Entities requesting design must have a budget available to cover any print or production costs.
- Marketing & Communications reserves the right to decline design requests that promote or publicize third-party messages for companies, nonprofits, other organizations or agencies, political candidates or parties, etc., even if those entities are partnering with Weber State.
- Clients must meet all agreed upon deadlines. Failure to do so will risk the project not being completed on time or not completed at all.
- Depending on the size of a project, lead time on all requests should allow at least 6 weeks. If printing is needed, an additional two weeks may be needed, depending on the type of project.
- Upon the clients final project approval, we will share print ready files of the project materials. We can help connect you with a vendor to print your project if necessary.
If we can not accept your request, we will share other internal and/or external resources to aid you with your project, WSU brand tips and resources. You can also visit our brand information website.
Contact
Creative Director Matt Zacher
801-626-6469
matthewzacher1@weber.edu