The University’s official colors are WMU brown and WMU gold.
The following guidelines apply when working with the color palette:
- Primary colors must be used on all materials to ensure that the promotional W mark is produced in the proper color combinations.
- Secondary colors may be used in addition to these primary colors on all materials.
- Accent colors may be used in small amounts (20 percent or less of the layout) in addition to the primary color palette and other supporting colors.
- Units must choose brown or gold polo shirts for their staff. Brown must be used for tablecloths.
- Spot and process colors are for coated and uncoated paper.
WMU color palette
Primary colors
Always used at 100 percent and as a strong part of the color scheme.
| Swatch | Spot color | Process color (CMYK) | HSL | RGB | Hex | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ¹A custom color mix is replacing PMS 131 only for spot color printing. The CYMK formula remains the same. Contact Kim Nelson, director of university creative services, for more information. | ||||||
 |
WMU Brown Pantone 4625 |
0, 60, 100, 79 | 18, 50%, 18% | 68, 36, 22 | #442416 | |
 |
WMU Gold¹ Custom Mix |
0, 28, 100, 6 | 45.6, 97.5%, 52.4% | 252, 195, 15 | #fcc30f | |
Primary colors for novelty items
Use this palette only for novelty items. Refer to the primary colors above for all other applications.
| Swatch | Color |
|---|---|
|
WMU Brown Pantone 4625 |
 |
Pantone 7406 or athletic gold (Pantone 123) |
Secondary colors
Suitable for background color or accent color.
| Swatch | Spot color | Process color (CMYK) | HSL | RGB | Hex | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Chocolate Pantone 464 |
13, 51, 87, 48 | 35, 53%, 32% | 124, 88, 38 | #7c5826 | |
 |
Khaki Pantone 466 |
5, 17, 42, 14 | 43, 39%, 60% | 192, 170, 113 | #c0aa71 | |
 |
Sienna Pantone 1675 |
5, 82, 100, 30 | 16, 70%, 39% | 169, 67, 30 | #a9431e | |
 |
Tangerine Pantone 7413 |
15, 70, 100, 0 | 30, 73%, 49% | 216, 124, 33 | #d87c21 | |
 |
Light Tan Pantone 7402 |
0, 6, 38, 0 | 49, 66%, 80% | 237, 225, 170 | #ede1aa | |
Accent colors
These must not dominate primary colors.
| Swatch | Spot color | Process color (CMYK) | HSL | RGB | Hex | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Teal Pantone 562 |
83, 10, 41, 37 | 175, 80%, 22% | 11, 100, 93 | #0b645d | |
 |
Red Pantone 200 |
10, 100, 100, 20 |
348, 82%, 40% | 185, 18, 51 | #b91233 | |
 |
Plum Pantone 5135 |
37, 61, 9, 26 | 311, 17%, 45% | 134, 95, 127 | #865f7f | |
 |
Sky Blue Pantone 639 |
100, 1, 5, 5 | 195, 100%, 38% | 0, 145, 193 | #0091c1 | |
 |
Green Apple Pantone 376 |
53, 0, 96, 0 | 80, 100%, 36% | 122, 183, 0 | #7ab700 | |
Color matching will vary between computer monitor, digital printing, desktop printing, paper choice and spot versus CMYK printing. A master color match guide is available from marketing and strategic communications.
Neutral colors
These must not dominate primary colors.
| Swatch | Spot color | Process color (CMYK) | HSL | RGB | Hex | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Black | 20, 20, 10, 100 | 0, 0%, 0% | 0, 0, 0 | #000000 | |
 |
Dark Gray Pantone 7531 |
16, 28, 36, 49 |
28, 15%, 44% | 129, 111, 95 | #816f5f | |
 |
Warm Gray Pantone 7529 |
7, 14, 20, 21 | 28, 15%, 70% | 189, 177, 167 | #bdb1a7 | |
Metallic colors
Always use at 100 percent. These are spot ink only for print.
| Swatch | Spot color | HSL | RGB | Hex | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Metallic Gold Pantone 874 |
32, 28%, 43% | 139, 111, 78 | #8b6f4e | |
 |
Metallic Brown Pantone 8622 |
28, 22%, 29% | 89, 72, 57 | #594839 | |
 |
Metallic Silver Pantone 877 |
204, 2%, 55% | 138, 141, 143 | #8a8d8f | |