Official Print Colors
Color use is one of the most effective ways to make an immediate connection to UW–Madison. The official university colors are Badger (also referred to as cardinal) red and white. Below are the breakdowns for print colors:
| Color | Name | Pantone | CMYK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Badger/Cardinal Red | Badger/Cardinal Red | PMS 200 | 3, 100, 66, 12 |
| White | White | 0, 0, 0, 0 |
Secondary Colors
University Marketing recommends several secondary colors—shades of gray and darker red—that complement UW–Madison’s official colors.
These colors work well as backgrounds, tint boxes, and other subtle design elements in print. Each color swatch is displayed with its CMYK breakdown.
| Color | CMYK |
|---|---|
| Print Dark Red | 24, 100, 78, 17 |
| Print Darkest Red | 9, 100, 64, 40 |
| Print Lightest Gray | 0, 0, 0, 10 |
| Print Light Gray | 0, 0, 0, 30 |
| Print Medium Gray | 0, 0, 0, 55 |
| Print Black | 0, 0, 0, 100 |
Accent Colors
When greater color variation is desired, University Marketing recommends several accent colors for subtle design elements. These should neither be used in place of the primary colors nor be the dominant colors on printed materials. Each color swatch is displayed with its CMYK breakdown.
| Color | CMYK |
|---|---|
| Print Orange | 0, 50, 100, 0 |
| Print Yellow | 0, 25, 100, 0 |
| Print Beige | 0, 4, 28, 9 |
| Print Green | 18, 0, 48, 28 |
| Print Blue-Gray | 30, 0, 0, 40 |
| Print Dark Blue-Gray | 45, 0, 0, 60 |
For easy access to the UW color palette in Adobe applications, open the “Swatches” palette in your application and click on the top right menu. Select “Open Swatch Library” and then select “Other Library.” Navigate to where the downloaded swatch file is located on your computer.
Download the UW Adobe Color Palette for Print (.ase file in zip archive)