Colors

Nested Applications
StyleGuide_Colors

Colors


The Naval Postgraduate School uses three primary, signature colors that establish and strengthen our identity as both a U.S. Navy institution and a university, and the colors’ appropriate usage is an integral part of effective strategic communications.

NPS’ official primary colors are represented in the chart below, with appropriate supporting secondary colors included. Consistent and professional use of color is a critical feature of effective communication design. Simply using more colors does not necessarily mean a product will be more effective.

Secondary colors are carefully selected to match hues and tones together, providing a portfolio of shades that work in concert with each other, rather than competing with each other. The human eye will be more engaged with displays of color that are complementary and connected, not disjointed and diverse.

When creating your own communications, take care to use these exact numbers when creating color on your documents — do not use “close enough” colors. In addition to the colors at 100% tint, screens can be used where indicated at the following percentages: 65%, 40%, 20%, 10%.

NPS Blue and its screens should be used as the “go-to color” when creating documents, with NPS Yellow used as an accent color. Never use NPS Yellow for body copy on a white or light grey background. If creating graphs and charts where many colors are needed, select a few complementary colors and use their tints. It is not recommended that you use all the colors for a single document or graphic, but rather choose a few that look good together in conjunction with their tints. Always avoid using other blues that might compete with NPS Blue.

 

NPS Primary Colors and Screens at 65%, 40%, 20% and 10%


 

Nested Applications
Primary Colors and Screens

  NPS Blue

  PMS 295
  CMYK 100 57 0 40
  RGB 0 69 124

 

  NPS Yellow

  PMS 109
  CMYK 0 15 100 0
  RGB 255 213 3

 

  *NPS Grey (black 40%)

  CMYK 0 0 0 40
  RGB 140 140 140

 

Colors and Screens

 

 

 

Secondary Colors Title

*Use black at 40% as a substitute for Metalic Pewter which is a specific PMS color for offset printing.

 

NPS Secondary Colors


 

Nested Applications
Colors 1

*NPS Metalic Pewter

PMS 8403

65% Grey

CMYK 0 0 0 65
RGB 112 112 112

20% Grey

CMYK 0 0 0 20
RGB 190 190 190

NPS Navy Blue

CMYK 100 57 0 65
RGB 0 43 88

Dark Plum

CMYK 61 86 35 55
RGB 68 30 64

Plum Grey

CMYK 61 65 35 14
RGB 108 92 118

Umber

CMYK 0 91 100 69
RGB 106 12 0

Cardinal

CMYK 24 100 100 11
RGB 175 34 38

Colors 2

Rust Orange

CMYK 0 60 100 32
RGB 178 94 17

Earth

CMYK 61 56 58 44
RGB 76 73 70

Brown

CMYK 11 33 57 64
RGB 107 82 55

Rust Yellow

CMYK 0 38 100 20
RGB 206 141 19

Forest

CMYK 100 59 90 35
RGB 0 71 51

Camo

CMYK 74 49 68 0
RGB 92 120 104

Jade

CMYK 50 0 90 25
RGB 108 158 63

Color Cirlce Graphs

 

NPS Colors in Graphs


 

NPS Colors in Graphs