The College of American Pathologists (CAP) is a member-based physician organization serving board-certified pathologists and the laboratory community worldwide. Its current visual identity centers on a circular emblem made of dots of varying sizes, a mark that also appears in several related accreditation and program-specific versions.
Design and History
The CAP’s current primary emblem is a circular design comprised of dots of varying sizes in blue, red, black and grey. The colors are claimed as a feature of the mark in its federal trademark registration, which was registered on November 3, 2015.[1] A companion registration for the same circular dot design, without the color claim, was registered the same day.[2]
CAP refers to this identity as its “Master Brand Mark,” describing it as the key element of the organization’s brand and an emblem of affiliation.[3] The full-color version of the Master Brand Mark uses four specified colors: Blue (Pantone 7703), Gray (Pantone 428), Red (Pantone 7621) and Black.[3]
Before the dot-based mark, CAP used a different emblem featuring concentric circles adjacent to the stylized word “CAP,” with the words “COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS” within the outer circle and a stylized triangle atop a flat sphere with a smaller circle contained therein within the inner circle. That mark was registered in 2012.[4]
The dot-based design has been extended into related program marks. A “CAP ACCREDITED COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS” certification mark, registered in 2017, combines the circular dot design with the words in black vertical format and a blue check mark to the right of the word “ACCREDITED.”[5] A newer trademark application filed in 2022 describes the mark as the words “COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS” in black stacked format with the circular dot design to the left of the words.[6]
Meaning and Symbolism
CAP’s own brand guidelines describe the Master Brand Mark as functioning as an emblem of affiliation for the organization, but they do not publicly assign specific symbolic meanings to the individual dots or colors.[3] The trademark record for the mark describes only its visual composition, a circular design of dots of varying sizes in blue, red, black and grey, without stating any intended symbolism.[1]
Typography and Design
CAP’s brand guidelines specify that the full-color Master Brand Mark uses four Pantone colors: Blue (Pantone 7703), Gray (Pantone 428), Red (Pantone 7621) and Black. Single-color versions in black or knocked-out white are also acceptable usages.[3] The guidelines do not publicly identify a specific typeface for the logotype or a designer or agency responsible for the mark’s creation.
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