Colors

Maroon and Gold are well known by the University of Minnesota audiences and are critical in ensuring audiences quickly recognize that a message, product, or precedence is connected to the university. All marks and campaign graphics must use official colors or black and white.

Maroon and gold must be prominent in all designs for print and digital. This means that, at first glance, the design “looks and feels” like it is coming from the University.

Versions for Print and Digital

For print, use CMYK or Pantone versions of University colors. For digital, such as the web, presentations, or PDFs that will be viewed online, use the RGB or HEX versions.

Primary Colors

The official UMN maroon, gold or both should be the primary colors used for any print or digital communications.

UMN Maroon
CMYK 0 100 61 43
Pantone 202c, 201u
RGB 122 0 25
HEX #7a0019

UMN Gold
CMYK 0 27 76 0
Pantone 136c, 116u
RGB 255 204 51
HEX #ffcc33

Secondary Colors

Besides the official maroon and gold, shades of maroon and gold may be paired with the official versions for tone-on-tone graphics, etc.

These official secondary colors are also used with the Folwell web theme.

Dark Maroon
CMYK 23 84 54 68
RGB 91 0 19
HEX #5b0013

Light Maroon
CMYK 5 100 71 22
RGB 144 0 33
HEX #900021

Dark Gold
CMYK 0 38 95 0
RGB 255 183 30
HEX #ffb71e

Light Gold
CMYK 1 11 62 0
RGB 255 222 122
HEX #ffde7a

Darker Gray
CMYK 69 63 62 58
RGB 52 51 51
HEX #333333

Dark Gray
CMYK 63 55 54 28
RGB 90 90 90
HEX #5a5a5a

Medium Gray
CMYK 55 47 45 11
RGB 119 118 120
HEX #777677

Light Gray
CMYK 16 11 14 0
RGB 212 214 210
HEX #d5d6d2

Secondary Colors — Digital Only

Lighter Gray
RGB 240 239 238
HEX #f0efee

Off White
RGB 249 247 246
HEX #f9f7f6

U of M Color Swatches for Digital and Print are Available

Download Adobe Suite Swatches (.ase)

Optional Secondary Colors

Optional secondary colors and their tints may also be used as long as they are used sparingly and the maroon and gold are prominent. Apply the 80/20 rule. Only 20% of the design can utilize a secondary color. Recommended use is for accent colors or graphic elements that augment the University brand.

Any secondary colors may be used with University branding, except any combinations that appear similar to other primary color combinations for Universities within the Big10.

For example:

Black and Gold - Iowa Hawkeyes
Gold and Blue - Michigan

Color and Contrast Accessibility

Colors and their contrast are an important consideration for our designs to ensure that they are visible and understood by all audiences. The Office for Digital Accessibility (ODA) has specific best practices for color and contrast. With the University brand, there are important takeaways:

Certain combinations of Maroon on Gold and Gold on Maroon do not meet WCAG 2.1 guidelines.
Font size is critical to legibility and while certain colors may pass, they may not at reduced font sizes.

Fonts

Typography is one of the best mechanisms to add visual complexity and storytelling to a piece. It’s a way to showcase the University of Minnesota’s brand personality and reinforce our unique identity.

Primary Typefaces

Neutraface

Neutraface is the University’s official font and is primary used as our display font — meaning it is used for titles, headings/display, and other prominent elements connecting back to the overarching University identity.

Neutraface may be use on websites when purchased through the vendor that created the font, House Industries. The University does not have an enterprise license for this font, but units are not required to use it online.

Open Sans

Open Sans has been selected to be our primary body text as it provides a robust set of options and is easily readable in both print and web applications. Open Sans is used throughout University web pages.

Text Considerations

Clear, readable type is essential for accessibility. The Office of Digital Accessibility has developed a great resource for understanding the 7 Core Accessibility Skills. While WCAG 2.1 does not prescribe exact font sizes, it emphasizes making text perceivable, scalable, and easy to understand. Here’s how we can apply those principles across our brand touchpoints:

Documents (Word, PDF, etc.)

Minimum body text: 10-12pt
Headings/Display: 12pt or larger
Line Spacing: 1.15-1.5 recommended

Presentations (Slides)

Minimum body text: 16pt
Headings/Display: 24pt or larger
Note: Stick to sans-seif fonts and limit dense blocks of text.

Posters and Signage

Body text: 18pt-24pt
Headlines/Display: 36pt-72pt+
Note: Prioritize clarity through use of bold type, high contrast, and ample whitespace.

Web

Base body text: 16pt (default)
Headings/Display: 20px and higher
Note: Use of Folwell guarantees compliance.

A few additional tips:

While specific minimum font sizes aren’t prescribed by WCAG 2.1, some fonts at 11pt or smaller may appear too small to users and affect readability. For example, 10pt Open Sans has an equivalent size to 12pt Times New Roman. If you’re unsure whether your typeface is accessible, we recommend starting with at least 12pt as a baseline.
When we state minimum body text, this is for the main paragraph text. Captions on images and pagination can be smaller, but no smaller than 8pt font.
Avoid all caps in body copy — it’s hard to read.
If you use bold (strong) text for emphasis, you will need to state so in text, as e-reading devices do not render font-weight.

When using Headings/Display, ensure to match heading levels with content structure. The Office of Digital Accessibility has developed a framework for matching heading levels to content structure. You can learn more about this on the Headings page.

Colors and Type