New guidelines
The new colourÌýpalette below hasÌýbeen createdÌýafter work byÌýUCL's Brand, Digital Experience and Accessibility teams to streamline our use of colour and ensure accessibility and consistency across all our collateralÌýin the digital and physical world.Ìý
As these changesÌýare an interimÌýmeasureÌýwhile the Brand Refresh Project isÌýongoing,ÌýweÌýstrongly advise departments to holdÌýoff on commissioning a lot of new materialsÌýuntil theÌýrefreshedÌývisual identity from January 2025, as future changes are anticipated.
Websites
Starting in 2024, all UCL websites will be migrated to the newÌýversion of our Content Management System (CMS - Drupal 9)Ìýwhich includes updatedÌýtemplates created using the revised colour palette. Until then, no changes will be made to our current templates. As the content isÌýmigrated, the new templates and colours will come into effect.Ìý
New colours
Eight colour core palette
The palette has been streamlined to eight core colours -Ìýsix from the full palette (below) plus black and white. These are for:
- everyday assets and resourcesÌý- such as standard documents (Word), presentations (PowerPoint)
- social media icons
- research posters
- merchandise (excluding tote bags),Ìýetc.
OurÌýbranded templatesÌýhave been updated to use the eight core colours. You can download these from Imagestore.
Video bookends and watermarks will only be available in black or white versions. Revised guidance is available underÌýbrandÌýessentials, templates and toolkits.
HEX: #500778 RGB: 80/7/120 CMYK: 87/100/18/6 | HEX: #52C152 RGB: 82/193/82 CMYK: 62/0/83/0 | HEX: #34C6C6 RGB: 52/198/198 CMYK: 66/0/29/0 | HEX: #FFCA36 RGB: 255/202/54 CMYK: 0/23/84/0 |
HEX: #AC145A RGB: 172/20/90 CMYK: 24/99/31/15 | HEX: #002248 RGB: 0/34/72 CMYK: 100/87/43/46 | HEX: #000000 RGB: 0/0/0 | HEX: #FFFFFF RGB: 255/255/255 |
Full colour paletteÌýforÌýexternal facingÌýcampaign work
The remaining nine colours in the full palette (plusÌýthe shades in the monotone palette) are regardedÌýasÌýsecondary colours and should only be usedÌýfor external-facing campaign/creative work by UCL designers or commissioned designers.ÌýNB - please use only the exact colours on the palette shown below. No tint variationÌýof any colour isÌýallowed.
The palette comprises Dark, Vibrant and Muted tones - available below with CMYK, RGB and HEX references.
If you need theÌýPantoneâ„¢Ìýreference in particular for printing (coated and uncoated), please contact the Brand team.Ìý
- CMYK are the values for print.
- RGB shouldÌýbeÌýused these for online display and in Office documents to get the exact colour you need.Ìý
- HEX values are an alternative way of expressing RGB values in a shortened form. HEX values can be used in CSS and HTML.
Accessible colour pairings
Where the full range of colours is used digitally or in creative design work, care must be taken toÌýensure allÌýcolour pairings are accessible andÌýcomply with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), e.g. you should aim for a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1.
Further information on creating accessible content and the use of colour can be found in the Digital Accessibility pages. We have also created clear guidance showing the correct colour pairingÌýcombinations, which is available as a Figma file:Ìý. You can also download these pairings as a pdf.
Ìý
HEX: #2C0442 RGB: 44/4/66 CMYK: 94/100/36/48 | HEX: #113B3A RGB: 17/59/58 CMYK: 88/49/59/60 | HEX: #002248 RGB: 0/34/72 CMYK: 100/87/43/46 | HEX: #504D48 RGB: 80/77/72 CMYK: 59/51/54/50 | HEX: #4B0A42 RGB: 75/10/50 CMYK: 57/100/36/60 |
HEX: #500778 RGB: 80/7/120 CMYK: 87/100/18/6 | HEX: #52C152 RGB: 82/193/82 CMYK: 62/0/83/0 | HEX: #34C6C6 RGB: 52/198/198 CMYK: 66/0/29/0 | HEX: #FFCA36 RGB: 255/202/54 CMYK: 0/23/84/0 | HEX: #AC145A RGB: 172/20/90 CMYK: 24/99/31/15 |
HEX: #C6B0BC RGB: 198/176/188 CMYK: 25/33/18/2 | HEX: #C9D1A8 RGB: 201/209/168 CMYK: 27/10/41/1 | HEX: #B6DCE5 RGB: 182/220/229 CMYK: 33/2/11/0 | HEX: #DAD6CA RGB: 218/214/202 CMYK: 17/13/22/1 | HEX: #DEB8C3 RGB: 222/184/195 CMYK: 13/33/15/1 |
Monotone palette
A range of 10 monotone shades from Black to White are also available as shown below.
HEX: #000000 RGB: 0/0/0 | HEX: #1A1A1A RGB: 26/26/26 | HEX: #333333 RGB: 51/51/51 | HEX: #666666 RGB: 102/102/102 | HEX: #999999 RGB: 153/153/153 |
HEX: #CCCCCC RGB: 204/204/204 | HEX: #D9D9D9 RGB: 217/217/217 | HEX: #E6E6E6 RGB: 230/230/230 | HEX: #F2F2F2 RGB: 242/242/242 | HEX: #FFFFFF RGB: 255/255/255 |
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