Colors

Western’s brand colors are alive and vibrant, playful and impactful. They reflect Bellingham and the Pacific Northwest’s diverse geography and culture, with hues that harken to the ocean and the mountains.

Main Colors

These should be the most prominent colors in a design, comprising about 90% of the visual space.

Dark Blue

~20% of design

CMYK(100, 58, 0, 21)

rgb(0, 63, 135)

#003F87

CSS: var(--dark-blue)

Light Blue

~20% of design

CMYK(85, 24, 0, 0)

rgb(0, 122, 200)

#007AC8

CSS: var(--blue)

White

~50% of design

rgb(255, 255, 255)

#FFFFFF

CSS: var(--white)

Accent Colors

The remaining 10% of the design should be composed of accent colors, with light green being the dominant accent color in most cases.

Light Green

 CMYK(29, 0, 100, 0) ·

 rgb(186, 216, 10) ·

 #BAD80A ·

 CSS: var(--light-green)

Dark Green

CMYK(100, 0, 95, 55)

rgb(0, 107, 63)

#006B3F

CSS: var(--dark-green)

Yellow

CMYK(0, 22, 88, 0)

rgb(255, 198, 30)

#FFC61E

CSS: var(--yellow)

Red

CMYK(0, 78, 78, 20)

rgb(204, 45, 48)

#CC2D30

CSS: var(--red)

Black

CMYK(20, 9, 0, 86)

rgb(28, 32, 35)

#1C2023

CSS: var(--black)

Gray

CMYK(24, 10, 0, 47)

rgb(102, 121, 134)

#667986

CSS: var(--gray)

Tints & Shades ​ 

In addition to the base colors, use of the following tints and shades is also acceptable. Tints and shades should be used in similar proportion to accent colors, comprising about 10% or less of the overall design.

Shades of Dark Blue

Any amount of black added to the base dark blue.

Tints of Light Blue

Any amount of white added to the base blue. Watch out for text contrast!

Black, Gray, and White

Any shade or tint on the spectrum between the brand black and white, with the brand gray as an intermediate value

Western marketing and promotional communication pieces should use brand colors to identify them as coming from Western. The majority (90%) of all colors used on all communications should be primary brand colors, with the majority within that group consisting of the two Western blues. White/paper is the color of choice for type, as it presents good contrast with Western's primary blues. Additional colors should be complementary and used sparingly. Color usage is not limited in photography and colorful photos are encouraged. When in doubt about color composition in a designed communication, reach out to creative@wwu.edu for review.