Color Palette and Typography
UT Southwestern has an approved color palette and typography standards for both our print and digital materials. By using these approved standards, we exhibit a consistent appearance and reinforce our brand.
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Color
UT Southwestern has three primary colors and two secondary or accent palettes, all of which allow for shades.
Primary Palette
In any given piece of design, most of the area will be taken up with our standard colors – the familiar blues and grays of UT Southwestern. That’s by design. These clinical blues and grays evoke reliability, intellect, and expertise.
These three primary colors are our main brand colors and should always be the most prominent.
Institutional Accent Palettes
Our personality, our heart, comes through in our accent colors. Careful complementary color use can go a long way in connecting with our audiences on an emotional level.
The colors in Accent Palette 1 are strongest when used sparingly. They are most effective when they complement an underlying piece of photography or illustration.
Accent Palette 1
Accent Palette 2
Brand Extension Palettes
UT Southwestern’s brand extensions (i.e., care facilities, service lines, schools, etc.) should feel free to use a wider palette of accent colors than the main UT Southwestern brand as a way to help differentiate themselves.
For Instance, the O’Donnell Brain Institute palette (shown below) uses the same primary brand colors as UT Southwestern, but adds to them a gradient of pink and blue as an accent color.
O’Donnell Brain Institute Accent Palette
Look for opportunities to incorporate this palette into designs, especially web. Consider using these colors for CTAs (calls to action) and small graphical elements.
Complementary Brights
Website Color Palette
UT Southwestern’s academic website (utsouthwestern.edu) has its own color palette based off UT Southwestern’s primary and accent palettes.
The website palette can be found here: https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/edu-guide3/design-elements/colors.html
Typography
Consistency in the use of our brand fonts promotes familiarity with our audiences and reinforces the idea that we are meticulous in all we do.
The following guidelines are intended to enhance the legibility and impact of our communications.
Print Communications
Helvetica Neue is the recommended typeface for UT Southwestern print communications. It not only increases legibility, but its sharp, sleek design represents the precision of the education we teach, research we conduct, and care we provide.
Secondary typefaces are Minion Pro Regular and Myriad Pro Condensed, which can be used for subheads or body copy as noted below.
Helvetica Neue Family
Headlines in Helvetica Neue Bold
- Should be left justified
- Should be in sentence case
- May be in ALL CAPS when using 1-2 words, or used sparingly for graphic effect
Subheads in Helvetica Neue Light
- Should be in sentence case
Body Copy in Helvetica Neue Reg
- Should never be smaller than 10 points
- Legal copy can be as small as 6 points
Minion Pro Regular
Subheads in Minion Pro Regular
- Use to add complexity to a design
- Serifs add sophistication
Body Copy in Minion Pro Regular
Serif face may project a more conservative tone
Myriad Pro Condensed
Body Copy in Myriad Pro Condensed
- Use when the design is content-heavy
- Use when legal copy is extensive
- Body copy should never be smaller than 10 points
- Legal copy can be as small as 6 points
Font Substitutes
When working with software that doesn’t have access to UT Southwestern brand fonts (or is meant to be sent externally and needs to be universally compatible), substitute our brand fonts with these options:
- Arial for headlines
- Times New Roman for body copy
Online Communications
UT Southwestern’s academic website (utsouthwestern.edu) uses five fonts on its pages:
- Open Sans (Headings only)
- Arial
- Helvetica
- Roboto Sans
- Sans-Serif
Visit the .edu site for a description of typographical styles and standards.
Glossary and Best Practices
Leading – the space between lines of copy
Lines of copy should not feel too crowded or overly spaced apart.
Kerning – the space between two characters
Spacing should feel natural and even between each character.
Tracking – the space between all characters
Sentence Case – only the first word of the headline is capitalized
Title Case – all major words in the headline are capitalized
Serif – a small line or stroke attached to the end of a letter
Sans-Serif – no line or stroke extending at the end of a letter