What are FutureLearn's marketing design guidelines?

FutureLearn has created a set of assets with which partners can easily create their own flyers, postcards, MPUs and banners to market their courses when desired.

These guidelines advise what information and images you will need to create each asset, and explain how to customise the assets for your particular course.

Whilst partners should feel free to explore other avenues of promotion and marketing, it is important that the core values of the FutureLearn brand are upheld, in the same way that the partner brand should always be respected.

If you would like to have the templates for these assets which we have created on Illustrator and InDesign, please send an email to partner.marketing@futurelearn.com and we will endeavour to send you the files via WeTransfer.

 

Imagery and logo

Course images

A single image that represents a course should be used to promote the course across all marketing channels. The selection of this image can significantly impact how much attention a course receives.

 

FutureLearn logo

The FutureLearn logo can be used on marketing materials associated with your course.

The logo is available in three colour options:

Black and pink logo on a white background

White and pink logo on a black background

White logo on the FutureLearn gradient background

Please ensure there is always a clear space around the logo, as shown below.

There are different sizes for logo use in print and on screen. The minimum sizes are shown below.

 

Printed collateral

Course flyer A4

Printed flyers help to raise awareness about your course offline. FutureLearn have created a template to assist you in this process. The template is available in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

To customise the flyer template just input the following information from your course page:

A. Partner name (in caps)

B. Title of course (if your course title extends to two lines please use the alternate template provided)

C. Start date of course

D. One high resolution course image at 183mm wide x 98mm high, 300 dpi, CMYK

E. Intro sentence (approx. 20 words)

F. Course description (approx. 80 words)

G. Unique URL of your course page

H. Partner Logo (with a max height of 14 mm and a max width of 40 mm)

Export the file as a high-resolution PDF and print professionally or on a colour copy machine.

 

Course postcard A5

It can be useful to create printed postcards to raise awareness about your course offline. FutureLearn have created a template to assist you in this process. This A5 template is available in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

To customise the A5 postcard template just input the following information from your course page:

A. One high resolution course image at 220mm wide x 158mm high, 300 dpi, CMYK (includes a 5mm bleed)

B. Partner name (in caps)

C. Title of course (if your course title extends to two lines please use the alternate template provided)

D. Start date of course

E. Intro sentence (approx. 25 words)

F. Course description (approx. 60 words)

G. Unique URL of your course page

H. Partner Logo (with a max height of 45mm and a max width of 90mm)

Export the file as a high-resolution PDF and print professionally. It is not advisable to print this on a colour copier.

 

Course postcard A6

This A6 postcard template is identical to the template shown on the previous page but half the size. It is available in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

To customise this A6 postcard template just input the following information from your course page:

A. One high resolution course image at 158mm wide x 115mm high, 300 dpi, CMYK (includes a 5mm bleed)

B. Partner name (in caps)

C. Title of course (if your course title extends to two lines please use the alternate template provided)

D. Start date of course

E. Intro sentence (approx. 25 words)

F. Course description (approx. 55 words)

G. Unique URL of your course page

H. Partner Logo (with a max height of 45mm and a max width of 90mm)

Export the file as a high-resolution PDF and print professionally. It is not advisable to print this on a colour copier.

 

Online promotion

MPU

When there is an opportunity to promote a course on another site, a set of assets in standard online advertising sizes will often be required.

FutureLearn have created a set of templates for some of the most common formats to assist you in this process.

This template is for the standard MPU 300 px wide by 250 px high, available in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

These assets should be presented as animated gifs in the order shown.

To customise this MPU template just input the following information:

A. One high resolution course image at 300 px x 250 px, 72 dpi, RGB

B. Partner Logo (with a max height of 115 px and a max width of 220 px)

C. Title of course (The title should fit within a space with a max height of 115 px and a max width of 220 px. For most visual impact pull out one or two key words in a larger font size as shown here.)

D. Start date of course

 

Leaderboard

This template is for a Leaderboard 728 px wide by 90 px high, available in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

These assets should be presented as animated gifs in the order shown.

To customise this Leaderboard template just input the following information:

A. One high resolution course image cropped to at 728 px wide x 90 px high, 72 dpi, RGB

B. Partner Logo (with a max height of 60 px and a max width of 300 px)

C. Title of course (The title should fit within a space with a max height of 60 px and a max width of 360 px. For most visual impact pull out one or two key words in a larger font size as shown here.)

D. Start date of course

 

Vertical banner

This template is for a vertical banner at 120 px wide by 240 px high, available in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

These assets should be presented as animated gifs in the order shown.

To customise this Leaderboard template just input the following information:

A. One high resolution course image cropped to at 120 px wide x 240 px high, 72 dpi, RGB

B. Partner Logo (with a max height of 129 px and a max width of 32 px)

C. Title of course (The title should fit within a space with a max height of 145 px and a max width of 32 px. For most visual impact pull out one or two key words in a larger font size as shown here.)

D. Start date of course

 

Examples

Advertising your course through another website where the topic is directly linked to the subject of your course can hugely increase interest in your course.

This is an example of a Leaderboard and an MPU for a course on Climate Change in a section of the Guardian website focused on the climate.

Homepage promotion

There’s great value in raising awareness of your course within your own organisation, and one of the most effective ways to do this is to highlight the course on your organisation’s website.

Many partners have a set of images that they rotate regularly on their homepage in a carousel. Negotiating a spot in this carousel for the week leading up to the start of your course is a great way to let lots of people know about your course and increase signups.

Usually homepage carousels have a set of predefined requirements regarding the size of the image, and the amount of copy allowed. We recommend using your course image when possible and linking through to your FutureLearn course page to encourage signups.

 

Social media

Facebook assets

Please note: recent changes to Facebook ads mean that these templates may contain too much text to be approved as a paid advert. We advise you check Facebook’s guidelines.

Promoting your courses on social media channels is a great way to spread the word about a course, extending reach through sharing and retweeting.

FutureLearn have created a template for Facebook posts to assist you in this process. This template provides details for a full column width post as well as the half size column width. The template is available in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

To customise the Facebook template just input the following information:

A. One high resolution course image at 72 dpi, RGB in one of these sizes:

843 px x 403 px (full width image)
403 px x 403 px (half width image)

B. Title of course (For most visual impact pull out one or two key words in a larger font size as shown here.)

C. Start date of course

If you would like to have the templates for these assets which we have created on Illustrator, InDesign and Word, please send an email to partner.marketing@futurelearn.com and we will endeavour to send you the files via WeTransfer.