COLOR GUIDELINES
Questions? Please contact Karen Leibowitz, Art Director, Marketing and Communications: Karen.Leibowitz@stonybrook.edu
These guidelines outline the information you’ll need to properly express the University brand colors. We have provided a series of color formulas to ensure that each brand color is rendered appropriately and consistently across digital and printed media.
When creating and viewing files on your computer, set your application and screen to the sRGB color space.
When matching official brand colors, start by reviewing the Pantone Matching System (PMS) chip from a current Pantone color book. This is the only reliable guide for how the official color should appear.
When printing a brand color, be sure to compare a test print to the approved PMS chip as different printers will render color differently. Adjustments to your design’s CMYK values may be needed to calibrate your printed output in order to achieve the intended result of matching the Pantone chip. When rendering a brand color digitally, use the HEX value as your primary formula. We’ve provided a RGB value for instances where that is not an option.
Remember: the PMS chip from a current Pantone color book is the only official version of each color. The following guidelines intend to provide the tools to best simulate that color in a variety of media, but your final work should always be adjusted to match the official PMS chip.
PRIMARY COLORS
Stony Brook Red and Stony Brook Black are the primary brand colors and should be clearly featured when color is used. These are also the colors used in the primary University logo.
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Stony Brook Black |
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Stony Brook Red |
SECONDARY COLORS
These colors play a supporting role in the brand hierarchy. They are only to be used in support of the primary colors, and may be paired with each other to achieve a more dynamic design. Proportion of reds to non-red secondary colors should be 80:20. This can be achieved through the Prisms in addition to other elements in the design.
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Stony Brook Dark Red |
Stony Brook Navy Blue |
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Stony Brook Bright Red |
Stony Brook Royal Blue |
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Stony Brook Dark Gray |
Stony Brook Turquoise |
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Stony Brook Medium Gray |
Stony Brook Pear |
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Stony Brook Light Gray |
Stony Brook Celery |
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Stony Brook Forest Green |
Stony Brook Cream |
PRIMARY GRADIENTS
Gradients are used to elevate a design by providing depth and space to a composition.
For Dare To Be, primary gradients may be made by combining two HEX, CMYK gradients or RGB Stony Brook Red values (see secondary colors). A gradient tool is available in most design programs and platforms.
Stony Brook gradients are always linear; never radial. The angle of the linear gradient should be between 70° and 20° to ensure the gradient always appears to move up and to the right.
SECONDARY GRADIENTS
Secondary Stony Brook colors of the same family may be paired to create a secondary
gradient (grays with grays, blues with blues, greens with greens, etc.)
Like secondary colors, secondary gradients should always be used in support of the primary Stony Brook colors and gradient.
Secondary gradients follow the same rules as the primary gradients; linear and always up and to the right, between 70° and 20°
COLOR ACCESSIBILITY
Contrast between content color and background color is crucial for legibility, especially for individuals with visual impairment.
The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) ensures that content is accessible to everyone, regardless of disability or user device. To meet these standards, visual elements should have a color contrast ratio of 4.5:1 or greater. Shown below are some examples of acceptable contrast.
Check contrast at: webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker
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WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK BLACK |
WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK RED |
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WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK DARK RED |
WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK BRIGHT RED |
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WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK NAVY BLUE |
WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK DARK GRAY |
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WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK MEDIUM GRAY |
BLACK TEXT ON STONY BROOK LIGHT GRAY |
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WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK ROYAL BLUE |
WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK TURQUOISE |
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BLACK TEXT ON STONY BROOK PEAR |
WHITE TEXT ON STONY BROOK FOREST GREEN |
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BLACK TEXT ON STONY BROOK CELERY |
BLACK TEXT ON STONY BROOK CREAM |
COLOR DON'TS
These are color applications that DO NOT align with the SBU Brand Guidelines:
- DON'T use gradients that combine different color families
- DON'T use gradients that are no angled up and to the right
- DON'T use radial gradients
- DON'T have secondary colors overpower primary colors
- DON'T use color combnations that fail WCAG Accessibility Guidelines
- DON'T use colors that are not part of the SBU Brand Guidelines
