Color

In addition to representing the university, our colors were chosen with accessibility and differentiation in mind.

Jump to Web Color

Primary Colors

Illini orange and Illini blue are central to our brand identity and should be the dominant colors used in university designs. Research shows orange is the color most identified with our brand.
We encourage orange being incorporated as much as blue.

Secondary Colors

Our secondary colors provide additional, neutral color options to supplement Illini orange and Illini blue on a limited basis. With the exception of white, these should only be used minimally as necessary or in applications where it’s not possible to use only Illini orange or Illini blue. The use of additional neutral colors is not permitted. 

Supporting Colors

Some specialized designs require additional colors for functional use. Our supporting colors complement our primary and secondary colors, but should not compete with them. They should be used only when necessary and should never be used in place of Illini orange or Illini blue.

Only use supporting colors to enhance icons and make charts, infographics and graphs more readable. They should never be used for large floods of background colors.

Using Color

All university designs must use Illini orange and Illini blue as the dominant colors in the available design space. They are our primary colors and should be used boldly. Designers should not feel compelled to use the entire palette and instead should aim to use the fewest number of secondary and supporting colors possible. Only introduce secondary and supporting colors when necessary.

Tints

In very rare cases, you may need a tint of a supporting color to display complex information. You can use 80%, 60%, 40% and 20% versions of the supporting colors if needed. You should never use a tint of a color if you don’t use the 100% version.

Accessibility

No matter what form design work takes, it is critical to prioritize accessibility. In both digital and print design, color plays a large role in whether content is accessible or not. Ensure there’s enough color contrast between text and background elements for users to easily view and engage with the content. For more information on how the university brand colors can be used together in an accessible way, please reference the example images and guidance in the accordion menus below.

Altgeld orange for accessibility

Altgeld orange was built to serve as an accessible option when Illini orange does not provide enough color contrast — for example, when using orange type at a small size or when orange is on light gray. It provides the appropriately accessible contrast to be inclusive of our diverse audience needs. Only use Altgeld orange to aid in meeting contrast and legibility accessibility requirements.

Hosted Brand Assets for Web

Our color codes have been added to the collection of hosted brand assets, also known as a content delivery network (CDN), so you can implement them to your website with simplified variable names. Find the documentation on all the hosted brand assets.

Web Color Pairings for Accessibility

To help you create consistent, accessible designs, use the color pairings below. Color pairings change based on the background color. University websites should not introduce additional supporting colors, unless used in charts, graphs or infographics. Below are several examples of accessible color pairings as well as guidance for each color background.

White background

Color	Variable Name	Hex Code	Regular Font Size	Bold Font Size	Proper Usage
	white	#ffffff	Not applicable	Not applicable	Background
	il-storm-10	#252525	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text
	il-industrial	#1d58a7	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link
	il-altgeld	#c84113	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link hover/focus
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading link
	il-orange	#ff5f05	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Default heading link hover/focus

Limited use options

Color	Variable Name	Hex Code	Regular Font Size	Bold Font Size	Proper Usage
	il-orange	#ff5f05	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Specialty heading
	il-orange	#ff5f05	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Specialty heading link
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Specialty heading hover/focus

Gray background

Color	Variable Name	Hex Code	Regular Font Size	Bold Font Size	Proper Usage
	il-storm-95	#f4f4f4	Not applicable	Not applicable	Background
	il-storm-10	#252525	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text
	il-industrial	#1d58a7	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link
	il-altgeld	#c84113	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link hover/focus
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading link
	il-altgeld	#c84113	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Default heading link hover/focus

Limited use options

Color	Variable Name	Hex Code	Regular Font Size	Bold Font Size	Proper Usage
	il-altgeld	#c84113	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Specialty heading
	il-altgeld	#c84113	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Specialty heading link
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Specialty heading hover/focus

Orange background

Color	Variable Name	Hex Code	Regular Font Size	Bold Font Size	Proper Usage
	il-orange	#ff5f05	Not applicable	Not applicable	Background
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link hover/focus
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading link
	il-blue	#13294b	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Default heading link hover/focus

Blue background

Color	Variable Name	Hex Code	Regular Font Size	Bold Font Size	Proper Usage
	il-blue	#13294b	Not applicable	Not applicable	Background
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link
	il-orange	#ff5f05	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link hover/focus
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading link
	il-orange	#ff5f05	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Default heading link hover/focus

Orange gradient background

Color	Variable Name	Hex Code	Regular Font Size	Bold Font Size	Proper Usage
	il-orange-gradient	#fcb316 to #ff5f05	Not applicable	Not applicable	Background
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link
	il-blue	#13294b	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link hover/focus
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading link
	il-blue	#13294b	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Default heading link hover/focus

Blue gradient background

Color	Variable Name	Hex Code	Regular Font Size	Bold Font Size	Proper Usage
	il-blue-gradient	#1d58a7 to #13294b	Not applicable	Not applicable	Background
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link
	il-arches-90	#C4E9F5	All sizes	All sizes	Default body text link hover/focus
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading
	white	#ffffff	All sizes	All sizes	Default heading link
	il-arches-90	#C4E9F5	Accessible at 24px or larger	Accessible at 18.66px or larger	Default heading link hover/focus