Guideline
The Audi colours
Status: 04/2009
Corporate Design | Colours
Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
Contents
Introduction
3
Design
4
1.0 Primary colours
4
1.1 Using the primary colours
4
1.2 Audi Aluminium Silver
5
1.3 Audi Red
6
1.4 White
6
1.5 Black
6
2.0 Grey shades
7
2.1 Using the grey shades
7
Production
8
3.0 Using the colours 8
3.1 Overview of colour values
8
3.2 Colour ranges for layout software 8
3.3 Printing information
8
The most important rules
9
Downloads
10
General information
10
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Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
Introduction
The Audi colours reflect the technical competence and emotional
warmth of our brand. The primary colours Audi Aluminium Silver,
Audi Red, White and Black serve to clearly distinguish us from
our competitors and to define our identity in all areas, from
architecture to digital media and printed brochures.
The most important primary colour is Audi Aluminium Silver:
no other brand has more experience in using aluminium. Lightweight construction is one of the most crucial technologies for
car manufacturing in the future. Audi Aluminium Silver stands
for the brand essence, “Vorsprung durch Technik”, and as a
result is used consistently in all media.
Audi Red communicates the brand value “sporty”. It is used for
the “Audi” logotype and as a highlight colour. Greater use is
made of Audi Red in the area of Audi Sport.
To complement the primary colours, four grey shades are defined
on a second level. They accentuate layouts and graphics and give
them a high-quality appearance.
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Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
Design
1.0 Primary colours
The primary colours appear in all media, forming the colour
Audi Aluminium Silver
Audi Red
White
Black
character of all Audi applications. The corporate colours are
Audi Aluminium Silver in combination with Audi Red; White
and Black are defined as further primary colours.
Audi 4C gradation
1.1 Using the primary colours
• Whenever possible, Audi Aluminium Silver is used in all
­applications. As an alternative the Audi gradation could
be used. This is available for download on the CD portal.
Audi primary colours
• Audi Red is used for the “Audi” logotype and as a highlight
colour.
• The identity of the brand is formed not only by the choice of
colours, but also by the extent of their use in relation to one
another.
• All colours may only be used with the correct colour values.
An overview of all colour value definitions can be found on
page 8 of the “Production” section.
Audi dealership
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Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
1.2 Audi Aluminium Silver
Audi Aluminium Silver
• Audi Aluminium Silver can be used as a special colour or
a fixed gradation; priority is given to full-area coverage.
also for accentuation and lines
• The colour PANTONE® 877 is defined as the special colour.
It cannot be replaced by a grey value or one of the specialcolour grey shades as they do not contain any metallic
Aluminium Silver
PANTONE® 877 as a full-area colour or for accentuation
­pigments.
• If a special colour cannot be used for production or budget
reasons, the Audi gradation is used. It is available in two
different formats as a picture file for download on the
CD portal.
Audi 4C gradation
• A simple gradation produced in a layout program
(e. g. Illustrator) may not be used as a substitute under
any circumstances.
• In addition to full-area coverage, the special colour
PANTONE® 877 can be used for typography and
Fixed picture file for downloading
Gradation produced in a layout program
accentuation. It is never screened.
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Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
1.3 Audi Red
• Audi Red is used primarily for the “Audi” logotype and for
subtle highlights such as lines and accentuation.
• The CMYK value 0/100/80/5 is used; as a special colour,
PANTONE® 186 can be used as an alternative.
Audi Red
for typography and lines
CMYK 0/100/80/5 or PANTONE® 186
No expansive use of CMYK 0/100/80/5 or PANTONE® 186
• If the brand value “sporty” predominates, Audi Red can
also be used to cover a large area.
• In this case however, a darker shade with the CMYK value
Audi Red for large areas
0/100/80/20 is always used (or the special colour PANTONE® 187 as an alternative) to prevent the colour from
­looking too loud.
CMYK 0/100/80/20 or PANTONE® 187
No screening of the red shades
• Screening of the two shades of red is not permitted.
Because of the generous use of red in the area of Audi Sport,
only the dark shade of red is used in this area (CMYK 100/80/20
or PANTONE® 187); it also serves as a reference colour for all
stickers and clothing. The Audi Sport logotypes on the CD Portal
The darker shade of red is always used for Audi Sport.
are therefore all designed in the dark shade of red.
1.4 White
• Large areas of White are used as backgrounds and – in three-
White
dimensional designs – for surfaces.
• On dark backgrounds it is also used to a lesser extent for text
and graphics.
1.5 Black
Black
• Black is primarily used for text.
• Black should be used for surfaces, blocks or backgrounds
only in very limited cases.
CMYK 40/0/0/100 or PANTONE® Black
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Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
2.0 Grey shades
The fixed grey shades extend the range of design options for
Pale Grey
Light Grey
Medium Grey
Dark Grey
communication media and reinforce the typical Audi identity.
The Audi grey shades are defined by their technically cool
­colour spectrum and harmonise particularly well with the
Audi logo.
PANTONE® 427
PANTONE® 429
PANTONE® 431
PANTONE® 432
2.1 Using the grey shades
• The grey shades are defined as a second level of the primary
60 % Pale Grey
60 % Light Grey
60 % Medium Grey
60 % Dark Grey
30 % Pale Grey
30 % Light Grey
30 % Medium Grey
30 % Dark Grey
colours and are Audi Pale Grey, Light Grey, Medium Grey and
Dark Grey. They are suitable for accentuations, highlights and
large areas.
• For the grey shades, either the special colours or their CYMK
values are used.
• For a wider range of design options, it is also possible to
screen all four grey shades at 60 % and 30 %.
• If several grey shades are required for printed applications
using special colours, for example, the lighter grey shades
can be replaced by screened versions of the dark shades in
order to reduce costs.
An overview of all colour value definitions can be found on
page 8 of the “Production” section.
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Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
Production
3.0 Using the colours
Each colour value in the Audi colour spectrum is defined. This
Colours
CMYK
(grey scales)
Special colour
Offset/screen printing
sRGB
(hexadecimal)
Audi Aluminium Silver
—
PANTONE® 877
—
RAL 9006
White Aluminium
Avery 990
Audi 4C gradation
Picture file
—
—
—
—
Audi Red (lighter)
0/100/80/5
PANTONE® 186
204/0/51
(CC0033)
—
—
Audi Red (darker)
0/100/80/20
PANTONE® 187
170/20/45
(AA142D)
NCS
S 1580-R
Avery 950
White
—
—
255/255/255
(FFFFFF)
RAL 9010
Pure White
Avery 900
Black
40/0/0/100
PANTONE® Black
0/0/0
(000000)
RAL 9005
Jet Black
Avery 901
Pale Grey
0/0/0/15
PANTONE® 427
213/217/216
(D5D9D8)
NCS
S 1005-R80B
Avery 961
Light Grey
5/0/0/35
PANTONE® 429
176/182/184
(B0B6B8)
NCS
S 3005-R80B
Avery 960
Medium Grey
15/0/0/70
PANTONE® 431
109/117/121
(6D7579)
NCS
S 6005-R80B
Avery 983
Dark Grey
25/0/0/80
PANTONE® 432
67/76/83
(434C53)
NCS
S 8005-R80B
Avery 962
definition is binding. The following tables detail the colour
values in various colour systems.
3.1 Overview of colour values
To ensure the greatest possible flexibility in terms of budget
and design, CMYK values and special colours are defined and
are always permitted for all Audi colours – with the exception of
NCS/RAL
Avery 900 Super
Cast films range
Audi Aluminium Silver (PANTONE® 877). If colours are to be
applied to large areas, however, the use of special colours is
­recommended.
3.2 Colour ranges for layout software
The Audi primary colours are available on the CD Portal as
ready-made colour libraries for use in standard DTP programs.
3.3 Printing information
The Audi colour spectrum and the Audi gradation were designed
for offset printing in accordance with the ISO 12647-2 international standard. For generating print data (colour ­conversion of
RGB data and proofs), we recommend the ECI offset profile
“ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI)”, which can be downloaded free of
charge from www.eci.org.
Detailed information is contained in the free guideline
entitled “Media Standard Print”, which can be downloaded from
www.bvdm.org.
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Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
The most important rules
Fundamental rules
• The Audi primary colours are Audi Aluminium Silver (or the Audi gradation), Audi Red, White and Black;
Page 4
the most important colour is Audi Aluminium Silver.
Audi Aluminium Silver
• Four grey shades complement the range of primary colours.
Page 7
• Audi Aluminium Silver is used in all applications whenever possible; either the special colour or the fixed
Page 5
Audi gradation (picture file) may be used.
Audi Red
• The colour definition of Audi Red depends on the size of the area. In the “Audi” logotype, for typography and
Page 6
accentuation, a lighter shade of red is used; a darker shade of red has been defined for full-area coverage and
very large typography.
• Audi Red can be used in the CMYK version or the special colour.
• Audi Red may not be screened.
Audi grey shades
• The grey shades can be used in the CMYK version or the special colour and can be screened at 60 % and 30 %.
Page 7
Production
• All colours are defined by unambiguous colour values and may only be used with these values.
Page 8
• Ready-made colour libraries are available in the CD Portal for use with standard layout programs.
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Corporate Design · Colours · AUDI AG · 07/2009
Downloads
General information
You can obtain digital templates and additional information
Responsible for content:
from the Corporate Design Portal on the internet.
AUDI AG
URL: www.audi.com/cd
I/VS-21
User name: audiuser
Markenentwicklung/Corporate Identity
Password: marketing
85045 Ingolstadt
Area: “Basic Elements | Colours”
Note:
The reproduction of colours may vary depending on the output
device used. The colours of the illustrations are not binding,
and in some cases illustrations are shown reduced or enlarged.
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