Marq Platform
Welcome to Marq
IMC would like to welcome you and your team to our new self-serve design platform called Marq. The purpose of the Marq platform is to allow individuals and teams around the University to create professional, Pepperdine-forward collateral, while maintaining Pepperdine brand identity consistency. The platform costs nothing to use for all Pepperdine Marq users.
How does it work?
Marq is similar to other on-line template platforms, but it is unique in that all of the templates have been designed by IMC designers and have the Pepperdine brand elements already built in. Each template is merely a guide for starting your project. You can choose to either stick with the template layout as it exists, or make alterations to suit your message. The Pepperdine color palette and suggested typefaces are included to help guarantee that your design retains a consistent Pepperdine look and feel.
The Marq templates are focused primarily on the development of simple print collateral. These include flyers, bi-fold and tri-fold brochures, posters, post cards, info cards, certificates, birthday and Christmas cards, and more. Marq also includes a variety of digital-only templates related to web ads and social media.
When you choose a template that works for your project, Marq will create a copy that lives in your project folder. That way, the master template is never touched. Your project can be shared with other Marq users for collaboration, review, or approval.
Once you complete your project, the files will then be sent to Printing Services in the form of a PDF to be printed. If it is a digital-only project, you can download it as a JPG or PNG.
Template versus Custom
All Pepperdine Marq users may use any of the templates in the system and they will all be branded with the primary University logo (see Restrictions below). If you are affiliated with a school, those same templates can be rebranded with the school logo, Simply find the template you want to use, make a new project from it, then send a comment through Marq to an IMC designer, and we will apply the correct logo.
If you don't see a template that meets your needs, the IMC designers can create a new one or take a project that was created for you in the past and turn it into a Marq template.
For templates with school logos, they will be assigned only to the school's Marq users and won't be seen by anyone else.
What sort of restrictions are there to the templates?
Marq follows the same logo strategy for all major platforms that IMC manages, such as the primary Pepperdine web ecosystem, email signatures, and Google slide decks. It is a strategy that limits the number of logos being used to represent the University. In these cases, only the University, schools, and libraries are represented by a logo. All offices, divisions, centers, and institutes are listed by name in the content areas, not in the brand areas. Some specialty groups such as Boone Center for the Family, Center for the Arts, and Athletics use their own logo.
All brand-related elements in the Marq templates are locked in place and cannot be moved or altered, thus ensuring brand consistency.
Who can become a Marq user?
Everyone with a Pepperdine email can be a Marq user. Students are allowed to be users as long as they are working in the capacity as a student-worker and under the supervision of a University manager.
How do I become a Marq user?
We will send you an invitation to join. You will then use your Pepperdine email as your log-in name and create your own unique password (Marq is not a part of the University CAS system). Then, let us know when you are available to receive training and we will go over the features of the platform and the basics of how to use it. Please email Keith Lungwitz at keith.lungwitz@pepperdine.edu.
The future of Marq
Our goal is to have the entire Pepperdine community using his platform to create general print (and some digital) collateral by the end of the calendar year 2024. Custom designs and larger projects would still come to the designers in IMC. In the near future, Printing Services will begin turning away print files made with platforms other than Marq, including Canva.
How can I find out more?
If you have any questions you can look at tutorials on Marq.com, or contact Keith Lungwitz at 1440 or at keith.lungwitz@pepperdine.edu. He can invite you to be a part of Marq, and set up a time to review the platform and answer your questions.