Colours

Primary colour palette

An image indicates the four main colours in the primary palette.

Lancaster University’s primary brand colours are internationally recognised and inspired by our roots in the historic city of Lancaster.

Lancaster red communicates our strength and prestige as an academic institution.

The dark grey, previously known as Quaker grey, reflects the city and region’s strong association with the Quaker movement.

Black and white provide balance and simplicity and are a clean contrast for our whole colour palette.

Always lead with the red and grey before adding any secondary colours.

	Lancaster red	Dark grey	White	Black
CMYK	0,90,85,29	1,0,0,66	0,0,0,0	0,0,0,100
RGB	181,18,27	85,86,86	255,255,255	0,0,0
HSL	356.7,81.9%,39%	180,0.6%,33.5%	0,0%,100%	0,0%,0%
Hex	#B5121B	#555656	#FFFFFF	#000000

Secondary colour palette

We have four secondary colours. They have been chosen to create impact and support the primary palette.

The green and blue are inspired by our countryside and coastal surroundings. Avoid using the green and blue together.

Pale grey can be used to complement any of our colours.

Orange is our accent colour. Use it to add small highlights to a page or draw attention to details.

	Green	Blue	Pale grey	Orange
CMYK	42,0,24,62	74,31,0,53	2,1,0,24	0,43,84,1
RGB	56,97,74	32,84,121	190,192,194	253,144,41
HSL	146.3,26.8%,30%	204.9,58.2%,30%	210,3.2%,75.3%	29.2,98.1%,57.6%
Hex	#38614A	#205479	#BEC0C2	#FD9029

Secondary tints

Tints offer flexibility – particularly for web design. They are also handy for designs featuring heavy use of infographics or illustration.

These are the only approved tints. The primary colours and orange are not available to use as tints.

A diagram showing the different tint options for the colour palette.

Colour	Green	Blue	Pale grey
80%	CMYK (26,0,15,49) RGB (96,129,110) HSL (145.5,14.7%,44.1%) Hex #60816E	CMYK (48,20,0,42) RGB (77,118,148) HSL (205.4,31.6%,44.1%) Hex #4D7694	CMYK (1,0,0,19) RGB (203,205,206) HSL (200,3%,80.2%) Hex #CBCDCE
60%	CMYK (15,0,9,37) RGB (136,160,146) HSL (145,11.2%,58%) Hex #88A092	CMYK (31,13,0,31) RGB (121,152,175) HSL (205.6,25.2%,58%) Hex #7998AF	CMYK (1,0,0,15) RGB (216,217,218) HSL (210,2.6%,85.1%) Hex #D8D9DA
40%	CMYK (9,0,5,25) RGB (175,192,183) HSL (148.2,11.9%,72%) Hex #AFC0B7	CMYK (17,7,0,21) RGB (166,187,201) HSL (204,24.5%,72%) Hex #A6BBC9	CMYK (1,0,0,9) RGB (229,230,231) HSL (210,4%,90.2%) Hex #E5E6E7

Colour use

The quickest way to maintain a cohesive and refined visual, as well as ensuring your designs are accessible, is to restrict colour use to:

A mockup of a website on a mobile phone. A 3 colour palette swatch is on the left-hand side.

Three colour palette

One colour plus black and white gives a clean layout, allowing photography to shine and headlines to stand out.

A mocked up prospectus page, with a colour swatch on the left-hand side.

One colour and pale grey

Combining one colour with pale grey helps to highlight content where necessary.

A mocked up web page shown on an iPad, with a colour swatch on the left.

One colour and its tints

Colour drenching can be an effective tool for producing designs with impact. This should be used sparingly to maximise effectiveness. If colour drenching uses the secondary colour palette, efforts should be made to include Lancaster red through photography or iconography to ensure there’s a link to our primary palette.

Accessible colour combinations

Larger font sizes

For use with 14pt or larger fonts.

Smaller font sizes

For use with 13pt or smaller fonts.

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