WWU Digital Signage
Overview
University Communications, in partnership with Information Technology Services, administers the Optisigns digital signage platform across campus to to publicize campus events, activities and services by displaying legible and engaging messages to an internal audience of students, staff, and campus visitors.
Get Started! Join the Digital Signage Team.
If you plan to post frequently then its recommended to request to have signage posted to this group.
- Become a member of this Microsoft Team.
- Once you've joined, upload Graphics to the Files > Current Media folder in that Team.
- Post in the discussion of that channel to notify everyone that content is ready for posting.
Content Guidelines
University digital signage shares timely, campus-focused information that serves the Western community and supports university priorities. All content must comply with university policies governing commercial, political, fundraising and private promotional messages.
Eligible for Display
- Activities, events, programs and services sponsored or coordinated by university departments, offices, governance groups or recognized student organizations
- Events open to the campus community or a clearly identified campus audience
- University news, announcements and institutional messages
- Recognition of significant student, faculty, staff and alumni achievements
- Welcome messages for speakers, visiting groups, prospective students and other university guests
- Campus safety, health, wellness and emergency information
Not Eligible for Display
- Personal messages, classified advertisements or items offered for sale
- Content submitted by individuals or external organizations without an eligible university sponsor
- Partisan political campaign materials or content endorsing or opposing a candidate, political party or ballot measure
- Fundraising or solicitation materials that have not been approved through University Advancement
- Promotion of private, invitation-only or closed events
- Commercial advertising, product promotion or endorsements
- Content that violates university policy or applicable law
Design Guidelines
To maintain a consistent, high-quality appearance across the digital signage system, slides should be created by professional graphic designers. Departments needing design assistance should make a request through Creative Services.
All slides must be high resolution .jpg or .png and landscape-oriented with a 16:9 aspect ratio (1920x1080). Static slides display for 20 seconds per rotation, so content should be concise, clear and easy to understand at a glance. Animated or video content may run for up to one minute.
Information in all graphics will be reviewed for content and clarity. If the signage has any grammar or typographical errors, is not sufficiently legible, is the wrong format or has other errors, it will be rejected and returned for corrections and/or revisions.
- Image should be high resolution .jpg or .png and landscape-oriented with a 16:9 aspect ratio (1920x1080). It is important to realize this is a horizontal, widescreen format. Vertical slides will not be accepted.
- The bottom 1 inch/72 pixels of your slide must be clear of text, logos, and important graphic information, such as QR codes.
- Digital slides are generally displayed for 15 to 20 seconds at a time.
- Due to the rotating nature of digital signage, concise messages are critical.
- The simpler the graphic, the better the communication will appear.
- Limit word count to no more than 30 words per slide.
- A maximum of 6 lines is also a good target. Remember, most people are walking by the displays.
- Keep fonts simple and legible.
- Simple sans-serif and serif fonts are recommended (such as Univers, Utopia, Minion, Franklin Gothic, Calibri, Helvetica or Myriad Pro)
- Never use more than two font styles in a single graphic.
- Use italics sparingly, as they can be hard to read from a distance.
- Avoid light, ornate fonts with thin lines - they are difficult to read.
- Good contrast improves legibility.
- Dark backgrounds should utilize light foreground colors.
- Finished slides must be sized to 1920 x 1080 pixels at 72dpi, (”1080p”).
- Static/still slides should be saved as a high quality PNG or JPEG file.
- Animated slides should be saved as an MP4 or SWF file.
- The bottom 72 pixels (1 inch) of each slide must be free of text to leave room for the
moving news ticker. See example above for a visual template. - All file names must include an end date, or a date when the file should stop running. Please type “End x-xx” at the beginning of the file name. Example: End 2-20 Awesome event.png
Digital Sign Locations
| Building | Sign locations |
|---|---|
| Arntzen Hall | Arntzen Hall Market |
| Commissary | Commissary |
| Fine Arts Building | Room 104 Room 116 |
| Haggard Hall | ATUS, Red Square entrance ATUS, High Street entrance |
| Kaiser Borsari Hall | Room 425, Engineering Lobby Room 421, Computer Science Lobby Room 224, Student Lounge |
| Miller Hall | Lounge near Red Square |
| Old Main | Room 360 hallway West hallway East hallway Student Business Office |
| Performing Arts Center | Room 024 Main lobby Room 399 |
| Ross Engineering Technology Building | Room 218, Engineering Office Lobby |
| Viking Union | First floor, Outdoor Center Fourth-floor lobby Fifth-floor lobby Sixth-floor lobby, large sign Sixth floor, Bookstore Sixth floor, Information Desk Seventh floor, The Centers and Multicultural Center lobby |
| Wade King Student Recreation Center | Welcome desk |
Dining Hall Locations
Chartwells, WWU's dining services vendor independently manages a digital signage program across dining halls and food venues on campus. Fill out the Chartwells Signage Submission Form to submit signage for them to consider posting.
Contact Us
Need support? Get started by joining this Microsoft Team.
For display requests or questions, email chris.casquilho@wwu.edu.
If you need design support for your digital display image, please complete the WWU Marketing and Creative Request Form.