NSF Logos and Usage Standards
NSF's logo can be used by recipients of NSF support for the sole purpose of acknowledging that support.
NSF's logo can be used to link to an NSF website or acknowledge NSF assistance or affiliation.
WHO CANNOT USE THE LOGO?
NSF's logo cannot be used in a manner that falsely implies employment by or affiliation with NSF. NSF's logo cannot be used to imply or endorse a product or service.
DO I NEED PERMISSION TO USE THE NSF LOGO?
No explicit permission is necessary to use the NSF logo.
NSF LOGO AND VISUAL IDENTITY GUIDELINES:
STANDARDS, INFORMATION AND USAGE
The NSF Logo and Visual Identity Guidelines provides information on what you may and may not do with the NSF logo.
Questions regarding use of the NSF logo should be sent to nsf-logo@nsf.gov.
NSF 4-COLOR BITMAP
The 4-color logo is NSF's primary trademark. Strong effort should be made to use this version at all times. The variations below help to solve certain issues when use of the 4-color version is not feasible. As such, they should not be used based on artistic preference. There are specific reasons for using these variations below.
NSF 4-COLOR VECTOR
The 4-color vector logo should be used when size is a concern. Though the high resolution bitmap logo can be scaled quite large, it cannot be sized infinitely. At a certain size, you will start to see pixelation. The larger it is scaled, the more evident the pixels will become. The vector version of the logo, if necessary, could be scaled to the size of a building or any other large type of print. The slight visual difference in the logo is its lack of a beveled look on the gold portion of the logo and on the letters NSF. The overall design however remains consistent.
NSF 4-COLOR VECTOR NO SHADE
The 4-color vector logo without shading is almost identical to the 4-color vector logo. The only difference here is the shading is not present and each component of the logo is a solid color. This logo is for limited use, generally only in the case where we are having patches made, or other uses of embroidery where shading is not possible.
NSF GREYSCALE BITMAP
The grayscale vector logo is another limited use logo. It should only be used when it is known that it will be printed using a black and white laser printer.
NSF ALL BLACK OR ALL WHITE VECTOR
The 1-ink vector logo is generally limited for use only when the task necessitates that only one ink be used, such as hot stamping on giveaway items. This logo is also approved for use on documents where the logo must be placed on a background that has similar colors to the 4-color logo resulting in loss of impact of the primary logo or when the logo needs to be too small to see the letters clearly on the 4-color logo. In these cases, it may only be used in black or white. There are no exceptions to color choice with this logo.
NSF BUILDING
2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314
The following image of the NSF building may be reused without explicit permission:
Web format:
Low Resolution JPG - 72dpi (186kb)
Print format:
High Resolution JPG - 300dpi (5.7MB)
Questions should be sent to nsf-logo@nsf.gov