Colours

Black and white

A black and white colour scheme is an integral part of ETH Zurich’s brand identity. Our logo is black on white, for example. For single-colour applications, it is best to use black and white.

ETH colour palette

There are seven corporate design colours that can be used for emphasis or decorative purposes. You are free to use these colours as you please – there are no rules on matching certain colours to certain types of content.

Colours should be used subtly and with restraint. Avoid creating a rainbow-coloured mishmash: ideally, no more than two corporate design colours should be combined. ETH Zurich’s corporate design colours are included in our templates and web content management system.  

For instance, colours can be used for label elements, typographic elements such as quotation marks or leads for articles. Colours should be avoided for headlines. For digital media, colours are also used for interactive elements.

White text should always be used on coloured backgrounds (accessibility).

Colour
RGB
HEX
CMYK
Pantone
RAL
ETH Blue33, 92, 175#215CAF100, 57, 0, 029355005 Signalblau
ETH Petrol0, 120, 148#007894100, 25, 30, 106335009 Azurblau
ETH Green98, 115, 19#62731355, 10, 100, 303646010 Grasgrün
ETH Bronze142, 103, 19#8E671330, 36, 100, 2544957008 Khakigrau
ETH Red183, 53, 45#B7352D0, 90, 80, 1717973031 Orientrot
ETH Purple167, 17, 122#A7117A22, 100, 0, 102344006 Verkehrspurpur
ETH Grey111, 111, 111#6F6F6F0, 0, 0, 70Cool Gray 117046 Telegrau 2

Colour shades in addition to the seven CD colours

Different shades of our corporate design colours (lighter shades and one darker shade) can be used in graphics, illustrations, info boxes and layouts.

 

Ensure sufficient contrast

Surfaces with 10%, 20% and 40% colour shades always have black lettering (accessibility). It is better not to use any text on 60%. From 80% we use white lettering.

Contrasts for digital applications can be verified using programmes on the Internet (example: external page Contrast Checker).

ETH Blue:
Colour shades
RGB
HEX
CMYK
10%233, 239, 247#E9EFF710, 6, 0, 0
20%211, 222, 239#D3DEEF20, 11, 0, 0
40%166, 190, 223#A6BEDF40, 23, 0, 0
60%122, 157, 207#7A9DCF60, 34, 0, 0
80%77, 125, 191#4D7DBF80, 46, 0, 0
120%8, 64, 126#08407E100, 62, 0, 30
ETH Petrol:
Colour shades
RGB
HEX
CMYK
10%231, 244, 247#E7F4F712, 0, 5, 0
20%204, 228, 234#CCE4EA20, 3, 7, 0
40%153, 202, 213#99CAD540, 7, 12, 4
60%102, 175, 192#66AFC060, 14, 18, 6
80%51, 149,171#3395AB80, 20, 24, 8
120%0, 89, 109#00596D100, 25, 30, 38

Contact

Corporate Design team
  • corporate_design@hk.ethz.ch