Color

Color palettes work together to help tell a cohesive story while supporting the McCombs brand. Using color consistently reinforces our brand and increases recognition. Our colors fall into three palettes: primary, neutrals, and secondary.

PRIMARY COLORS

The primary colors are burnt orange and white.

Never use screens or tints of burnt orange. Other colors in the palette may be screened, if appropriate as part of the design.

These colors look best as spot inks (Pantone), and do not reproduce as richly in four-color process (CMYK).

Color Values

SECONDARY COLORS

Secondary colors add boldness to materials; they also lean towards a more casual tone. They are useful for celebratory or informal use. In general, these colors will be used less often.

They will be paired with our primary palette, and will be most successful in targeted application. If used as accent or highlight, they should be used sparingly.

Secondary colors may be used as a transparency or tint in very targeted applications — screened treatments of some of the secondary colors are not successful.

NOTE: Avoid pairing secondary colors in configurations associated with other Tier One Universities. For example, pairing Sunshine with Bluebonnet would create a color palette similar to the University of Michigan and dilute our brand.

NEUTRAL COLORS

The colors in our neutral palette were specifically selected to work with burnt orange.

Neutrals help convey a sense of elegance and professionalism. They are particularly useful for formal pieces, where a white background may provide too much contrast against type or imagery.

McCombs has identified buff and charcoal as its preferred neutrals from this palette.

Neutrals may be used as a transparency/tint when more subtlety is required.