If you need help with any of our visual elements, please contact Colin Buckner, Art Director in University Marketing and Communications.

Brand Color Palette

Primary Colors

Santa Clara University has used red and white as its official colors since its earliest days. Our Primary Color Palette is the cornerstone of our visual identity and should take precedence in most high-level brand communications. Within this Primary Palette, Santa Clara Red and White are our main colors. Bronco Red (used most significantly by Athletics), Stone, and Black are used as supporting colors.

Secondary Colors

Our Secondary Color Palette offers flexibility and variety, reflecting the diversity within our community and the beauty of our campus. The hues and color names were carefully selected to complement the primary colors and highlight our rich history and the flourishing plant life in our campus environment. By drawing on nature, these colors evoke feelings of warmth, inclusiveness, and serenity, aligning with our university’s values.

Note: Our Sunrise color, which appears in our logo, is part of our Secondary Palette. However, it should be used sparingly and never as the dominant color in our communications.

Tertiary/Neutral Color

Our Tertiary/Neutral Color Palette is the final component of our color system. Inspired by the tones and textures found around our campus, this palette can be used to create depth and interest while maintaining a cohesive and elegant look that works in harmony with the Primary and Secondary Color Palettes.

Typography

Consistent use of typography across all communications creates a strong and recognizable visual identity. This consistency reinforces our core values and messaging across all touchpoints. Our carefully selected brand typefaces are an essential component of our brand identity.

Primary Typeface

Our primary brand type family is Avenir Next. It is a versatile and modern geometric sans-serif typeface that functions well as body text and as headlines. Avenir Next has a clean design construction, approachable neutrality, and has been developed not only for print legibility but also to meet the demands of digital environments. Its wide range of weights, glyphs, and multilingual support make it accessible and consistent on many different platforms.

Secondary Typeface

Minion Pro is our secondary brand type family. This supporting typeface is inspired by classic, old-style typefaces. It has balanced proportions, moderate contrast between thick and thin strokes, and is supported by serifs for enhanced readability. Suitable for both body text and headlines, Minion Pro combines classic aesthetics with modern functionality.

Minion Pro complements Avenir Next because of its understated elegance. Use Minion Pro for pull quotes and/or elevated communications that require an extra degree of sophistication, such as commencement announcements or letters from the President.

Alternate Typeface

If our brand typefaces are unavailable we have two substitutes. Whenever possible, we strongly encourage the use of our brand typefaces but our alternates are suitable for general communications such as PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. In lieu of Avenir Next, use the typeface Figtree. In lieu of Minion Pro, use the typeface Crimson Pro.

Our alternate typefaces have been selected as substitutes because they are widely available and have many of the same design characteristics of our primary and secondary brand typefaces.

Google Font Download—Figtree

Google Font Download—Crimson Pro

Patterns

We have three collections of patterns: Shield, Mosaic/Tile, and Campus Foliage. These collections offer a range of options while remaining neutral enough to be interchangeable.

Our patterns should be used as textural elements to add subtle visual interest to compositions. They can be used to cover wide fields or as thin bands. Use these patterns sparingly and only with intention. Be careful to avoid large fields of high contrast patterns as this can tire the eyes. Each of these patterns has been developed using shared principles so that the pattern libraries can be expanded upon as needed. New patterns should be designed to fit into one of our three collections and should follow the same design principles.

Shield

Our shield patterns are the closest translation of our brand into patterns. Inspired by the shape of our shield, this makes the clearest connection to our University Logo. These patterns are also representative of the Spanish tile roofs that sit atop many of SCU’s historic buildings.

Mosaic/Tile

Also found throughout our campus, mosaics and tiles add color and life to many of our buildings. This rich history and culture of tile work translates well to repeatable patterns.

Campus Foliage

Our campus landscaping makes for a beautiful and inspiring environment. The translation of this foliage into patterns reflects our commitment to sustainability.