Color

Color plays a significant role in everyday life. It can attract attention, trigger emotion, or even influence behavior. Combined with other brand elements, color enhances the impact of the visual storytelling in all of our brand materials.

Our color palette helps audiences identify us at a glance, and the way we use color sets the mood for each of our pieces. Using our color palettes consistently and appropriately is one of the most effective ways our communications create a recognizable Ohio State look.


Primary palette

Our primary colors—scarlet and gray—have been Ohio State’s official colors since the university’s earliest days. Consistent and appropriate use of our primary identity colors is one of the most effective ways our communications create a recognizable Ohio State look.

Our primary palette consists of scarlet (red), gray and white.

 

 

        

Scarlet
PMS 200

CMYK 3-100-70-12
RGB 186-12-47
HEX BA0C2F

  

Gray
PMS 429

CMYK 21-11-9-23
RGB 167-177-183
HEX A7B1B7

K only: 35%*

  

White

CMYK 0-0-0-0
RGB 255-255-255
HEX FFFFFF


 


Scarlet shades

 

      

Note: These are the only approved shades of scarlet to be used. Do not use lighter shades or tints of scarlet.

40% darker

CMYK 32-100-84-45
RGB 112-7-28
HEX 70071c

  

60% darker

CMYK 44-89-71-67
RGB 74-5-19
HEX 4a0513

  

 

 


Gray tints and shades

             

80% lighter

CMYK 4-2-2-5
RGB 239-241-242
HEX eff1f2

K only: 7%*

  

60% lighter

CMYK 8-4-3-9
RGB 223-227-229
HEX dfe3e5

K only: 14%*

  

40% lighter

CMYK 13-7-6-14
RGB 207-212-216
HEX cfd4d8

K only: 21%*

  

20% lighter

CMYK 17-9-7-18
RGB 191-198-203
HEX bfc6cb

K only: 28%*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

             

20% darker

CMYK 25-13-11-38
RGB 134-142-146
HEX 868e92

K only: 49%*

  

40% darker

CMYK 30-15-13-53
RGB 100-106-110
HEX 646a6e

K only: 62%*

  

60% darker

CMYK 36-18-16-68
RGB 65-68-69
HEX 3f4443

K only: 75%*

  

80% darker

CMYK 43-22-20-83
RGB 33-35-37
HEX 212325

K only: 88%*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Unless you're printing something using Pantone spot colors, UniPrint recommends using shades of black ink to represent the gray in your materials. See the "K only" formula for the correct percentage to use. 



Accent color palette

While our primary color palette should be used the most across touchpoints, accent colors—when used in a supporting role—can provide added context to marketing and communications materials.

These accent colors were chosen to complement the primary palette and provide units with the flexibility to distinguish themselves while building alignment and consistency.
 

PMS 298 BLUE

PMS 298
Base color

CMYK 67-2-0-0
RGB 65-182-230
HEX 41b6e6

 
PMS 1645 orange PMS 1645
Base color

CMYK 0-63-75-0
RGB 255-106-57
HEX ff6a39
 

 
PMS 7487 green PMS 7487
Base color

CMYK 42-0-62-0
RGB 142-221-101
HEX 8edd65

 
PMS 4635 brown PMS 4635
Base color

CMYK 12-58-81-42
RGB 148-96-55
HEX 946037

 
PMS 1777 pink

PMS 1777
Base color

CMYK 0-66-29-0
RGB 251-99-126
HEX fb637e

 
PMS 2425 purple PMS 2425
Base color

CMYK 40-100-10-26
RGB 131-0-101
HEX 830065

 
PMS 563 teal PMS 563
Base color

CMYK 50-0-29-2
RGB 110-187-171
HEX 6ebbab

 
PMS 5473 dark teal PMS 5473
Base color

CMYK 86-20-32-51
RGB 38-104-109
HEX 26686d

 
PMS 7549 yellow PMS 7549
Base color

CMYK 0-22-100-2
RGB 255-182-0
HEX ffb600

 
   


Note: These are the base colors only. The university brand site has an expanded accent color palette with formulas for tints and shades of each color. Please visit their Color page for formulas you can manually create in your design program. If you use Adobe applications, you can download complete color palettes in both CMYK and RGB here. You must be logged in with your Ohio State credentials to access the files. 

Creating Brand Colors in Microsoft Programs (PDF)