Colour bar

The University colour bar always uses a black bar on top and four levels of gold on the bottom. Use this version for corporate or multi-faculty communications

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Each faculty bar uses its own distinct colour palette to make it identifiable while still connecting to the Waterloo brand.

Arts

Engineering

Environment

Health

Mathematics

Science

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Schools and satellite campuses have the option to use one of three colour bars:

1. Red colour bar
2. University colour bar
3. Associated faculty colour bar

Choose one colour bar and use it consistently in all communications

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Follow these guidelines to properly apply the colour bar.

Placement

The colour bar always appears with the Waterloo logo. Place it at the top of the layout, spanning the entire width of the canvas. Use padding above the colour bar to accommodate the horizontal logo on black.

Frequency

Use the colour bar only once in a given communications piece or channel (e.g., on the cover of a brochure or in a social media profile). 

After the first instance, do not repeat the colour bar (e.g., throughout a multi-page publication or across multiple social media posts). On a website, you can include the colour bar on every page, but only once per page.

Mobile design

When designing for mobile apps or small-scale layouts, use the colour bar only on the first page or view (e.g., app login page or social media profile).

To ensure legibility in smaller applications, you can remove the black part of the colour bar or omit the colour bar entirely.

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Throughout design and concept exploration, barriers with the traditional placement of the colour bar became apparent. In some applications, the colour bar holds too much visual prominence and takes away from important campaign elements. 

There are also instances where the technical specs don’t work with the colour bar at the top, we’d like to add flexibility (it was flexible) with this brand element and say it can be used at the top OR side.

The examples shown here are standard 320 x 50 px mobile display ads and use the minimum size colour bar requirement of 20 px high.

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Ensure that the entire colour bar is never less than 5.5 millimetres (mm) or 20 pixels (px) high.

To determine the optimal size for the colour bar, divide the canvas into 24 across its longest side to calculate “x” (the minimum size of the margin). The thickness of the colour bar should be 3/4x.

While this sizing is based on a canvas of 8.5" x 11", in some layouts the bar thickness may appear too large or too small. The colour bar may be resized, but it must stay proportionate to the logo.

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When using the colour bar, do not do the following:

• Change the placement order of the colours.
• Mix colours from different palettes.
• Use the colour bar multiple times on a single canvas.
• Flip the colour bar so the black line is on top.
• Change the placement of the colour bar within the layout.
• Place elements over the colour bar.
• Alter the thickness of the colour bar.
• Alter the number of colours.

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If you can’t print in colour, create a one-colour version of the colour bar using the colours in the table below. Don’t use the colour bar if you can’t print tints.

Sample colour bar for one-colour printing.

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Use the examples below to guide you in using the colour bar effectively in your communications.

Print samples

The Global Impact Report cover uses the University colour bar and logo.

The Waterloo Engineering Alumni Letter uses the faculty colour bar and Faculty logo.

Digital samples