Visual Style

Color

Gettysburg’s orange and blue are deeply ingrained in the culture of the College, is seen daily all over campus, and has served as a key institutional element since 1889. They are always the dominant colors for projects originating from the College. Secondary colors are also listed below for use as accents or as needed for other aesthetic reasons. Designers, printers, and other related third-parties should refer below for ink formulation and color matching information. 

Whenever budget and production equipment allows, our Pantone spot colors should be used. If using spot colors is not feasible then please print all materials using our custom 4-color process mix listed below.

Note: Color swatches on this page may appear inaccurately when viewed on different computer screens, and color printouts from this page will not be accurate. For accurate color matching, please refer to the official specifications below.

Core colors

Secondary colors

Our extensive web color palette is listed here, in its entirety. The selection and use of these colors within all digital applications help to further strengthen the Gettysburg College brand. These colors have been carefully selected to meet WCAG 2.0 AA compliance for color contrast throughout the site. Much of the site already accounts for appropriate color pairings, but as new content is added, it’s important to make sure contrast is sufficient by first using a tool like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker. As of this time, the contrast ratio must be 4.5:1 or greater for color accessibility.

Typography

Print

Our primary print typefaces include Gotham, GT America, Blacker Pro Text, GT Super Text. These work together to help make our communications legible and visually interesting. Each family is used in specific weights and styles. By using these fonts whenever possible, you will ensure that your communications align to others across the College.

These fonts are available only to Gettysburg College's design team. When these fonts are not available to you, or practical (such as when sharing a live document from Microsoft Word or PowerPoint for example), substitutions are available. In place of Gotham, Verdana Bold may be used for small "eyebrow" type. Impact Regular can replace GT America for headlines. Georgia replaces Blacker Pro and GT Super Text for large body text, subheads, and body copy.

Digital

For digital applications, ITC Avant Garde and Mrs. Eaves are our brand’s webfonts and are used exclusively on gettysburg.edu.

ITC Avant Garde is a sans serif face that is used for headings, and Mrs. Eaves is a serif face that is used for body copy. For more information, see our digital style guide.

When ITC Avant Garde and Mrs. Eaves are not available, the following typefaces are our fallbacks. Helvetica Bold, Arial Bold, or “sans serif” in place of ITC Avant Garde, and Georgia or “serif” in place of Mrs. Eaves.

Photography

Photography allows us to showcase our community including its high-caliber students and faculty, thought-provoking events and the institution’s initiatives. Highlighting these moments is a crucial part of our Gettysburg College story, when paired with thoughtful design or on their own. While individual students, alumni, faculty and staff are incredibly important to our storytelling, it's meaningful to show their interaction with others to reinforce the sense of collaboration and community. Throughout, we have the opportunity to capture stories that convey our energy, purpose, and inspiration. These are the pictures we strive to take and share with the world.

Gettysburg College is a strong, authentic community. Our photos should be just as impactful and authentic. Always use our images, not generic stock photos. To fulfill your image needs, you can find our galleries on Flickr.

Videography

Video provides us an opportunity for storytelling in a different type of engaging and emotional way. Building upon photography’s direction, we can produce compelling videos of people, ideas, events and places across our community. Our videos should create a visual narrative and help advance the reputation of the College.

If you are in need of photography or videography help, please contact us via our photo/video request form.