Our colour palette

Primary colours

We have primary colours of black, white, violet and scarlet, which are instantly recognisable as Essex and should be used to make all our external content consistent.

Secondary colours

Our secondary colours of greys are used with black and white as foundation colours for the palette, as all our bold colours work alongside these.

Highlight colours

Our highlight colours are for different departments or services to differentiate their areas. They can be used in combination as either lead colours or as accents with the greys. (Please see recommended colour combinations below – the best combinations are with one of our primary colours for strong contrast).

Graduation only

Our gold is to be used for graduation only.

Using our colours

Less is more when it comes to using our bold colours. Two contrasting colours are enough (with black and white).

Text colour – black and white should be used predominately, but other colours from our palette can be used to add accents such as bullet points.

When choosing images or taking new photos incorporating our bold colours can help your marketing content look like Essex and really make it pop, capturing your audience's attention.

And remember:

• Primary colours of black, white, violet, and scarlet should be used to make our external content consistent and recognisably Essex.
• Departments can use highlight colour combinations to differentiate their area.
• Gold is for graduation use only.

Our colour combinations

We’ve done the work for you and come up with colour combinations that give effective colour contrast on your communications and marketing materials/content.

Choose from these combinations:

Our colour gradients

We use gradients as backgrounds to text, flowing either horizontally or vertically.

Gradients use a combination of two of our bold colours.

Primary gradient

Our primary gradient is violet to scarlet, as these colours are most recognisable as Essex.

Secondary gradients

We have five other gradients that give a good level of colour blend and can be used to add variety to your communications.

Applying our colour gradients

For a straightforward and bold application that fits our visual style:

Use gradients in a linear way either horizontally or vertically.

Don’t apply the gradient in any other angle nor in a radial style, as this looks inconsistent and compromises our style.

Use gradients as a background behind text, or within the text. For legibility, make sure to use a strong contrast to the background colour.

We no longer apply gradients or duotones over photography, as it takes away from our vibrant, colourful, authentic photography style.

Gradients should be applied flat and never animated as this reduces the quality and impact.

Applying our colours as tints

Our colours are generally used at 100%. However, tints can be used sparingly, as when over-done they can look old-fashioned. Always work to the spec of 100% solid, 60% tint and never use a tint independently from full strength colours as they shouldn’t dominate the design.

Use tints sparingly to create blocks of colour as part of a background area, or as the base colour for rows or columns in tables.