Guideline

The Audi colours

Status: 04/2009

Corporate Design | Colours

Corporate Design Colours AUDI AG 07/2009

Contents
Introduction

Design

1.0 Primary colours

1.1 Using the primary colours

1.2 Audi Aluminium Silver

1.3 Audi Red

1.4 White

1.5 Black

2.0 Grey shades

2.1 Using the grey shades

Production

3.0 Using the colours

3.1 Overview of colour values

3.2 Colour ranges for layout software

3.3 Printing information

The most important rules

Downloads

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General information

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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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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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