Overview

To ensure consistency and reinforce recognition, the following colour palette should be used in core council communications and materials.

The palette is made up of three levels: the primary palette, the secondary palette and the highlight palette.

Primary palette

The primary colours are cool blues and white, these are the colours present in our logo, and most easily associated with our brand. Colours from the primary palette should always be present.

Secondary palette

The secondary colours are cool tones from the same side of the colour spectrum as the primary blues, which can be used to support the primary palette without contrasting too heavily.

Highlight palette

The highlight colours are punchy warm tones which may be used to contrast against the cooler primary and secondary colours – these colours should be used sparingly to draw attention to a specific element or piece of information.

Colour balance

Colour coverage is determined by its level. Colours from the primary palette should aim to account for at least 65% coverage. If used, colours from the secondary palette should account for 25% coverage. If used, colours from the highlight palette should account for up to 10% coverage.

Tints

To increase the range, tints of all colours may be used. Tints should always be a multiple of 20 (100% / 80% / 60% / 40% / 20%).

Colours from the primary palette should always outweigh the use of tints.

Make sure to check the accessibility of tints against WCAG accessibility grades.

Colour accessibility matrix

The colour accessibility matrix compares all of the brand colours as a background contrasted to text. This determines the best colour combinations by checking how highly they rate on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) accessibility grades. Use this chart to help you choose colour combinations which are accessible.

As an organisation, we aim for AAA rating where possible, but legally must meet at least AA rating.

This chart does not take tints into account. When pairing tints and text, please perform your own accessibility checks.

Common colour pairings

Below are examples of common colour pairings for text and backgrounds which meet accessibility standards.