Color

See the world in CWRU colors.

Color is important when creating a brand identity. It is one of the most visible ways of evoking a precise brand association.

A focused color palette was chosen to help build brand awareness for Case Western Reserve University. This palette comprises four colors: Blue, gray, white and black. Blue and gray were officially adopted as the university colors in the 1967 federation. Today, the university’s color palette builds on the original colors but with a more distinct appearance: Unique blends of blue and gray have been created specially for the university.

Blue represents knowledge, power, integrity and purpose. It is brilliant, dynamic and innovative. It engages and influences.

Gray is a blend of the intellectual and practical. It connotes wisdom, formality and sophistication.

The university blue should be the dominant color in all marketing communications, with gray, black and white serving as secondary colors. Tertiary colors are not permitted. Prominent use of the blue, especially on the covers of our printed pieces, best reinforces our brand.

Color Guide

the Case Western Reserve University color palette (blue, gray, black and white)

Our color guide, available for download as a PDF, is designed to ensure consistent color across various print and digital media for all Case Western Reserve University projects. It should be sent to your vendor with every job. Color swatches are available if you need a color reference for silk screening or other projects that don’t involve offset printing. Please contact University Marketing and Communications at marcominfo@case.edu or 216.368.4440 with requests.

For offset, digital or web printing, the CWRU ink colors should always be used, either as a spot or a CMYK build; PMS colors should only be used for banners, signage and other specialty items where using the official CWRU ink colors (as spot or CMYK) is unavailable.

CWRU Blue

Print

Ink Mix: 

  • 18.98% rubine 
  • 64.30% process blue 
  • 16.80% black

CMYK (c): C100, M47, Y12, K62
CMYK (u): C100, M47, Y12, K62
LAB(c): L23, A-5, B-23
LAB(u): L32, A-1, B-14
PMS: 7463

Web

HTML: 0a304e

Video

RGB: R10, G48, B78

CWRU Gray 

Print

Ink Mix: 

  • 72.98% transparent white 
  • 0.57% yellow 
  • 2.19% rubine 
  • 6.37% process blue 1
  • 7.89% black

CMYK(c): C35, M22, Y23, K62
CMYK(u): C35, M22, Y23, K62
LAB(c): L45, A0, B0
LAB(u): L44, A0, B-2
PMS: 425

Web

HTML: 626262

Video

RGB: R106, G106, B106

Black

Print

CMYK(c): C0, M0, Y0, K100
CMYK(u): C0, M0, Y0, K100

Web

HTML: 000000

Video

RGB: R0, G0, B0