Color

Our five brand principles—confident, optimistic, accessible, curious, and human—reflect the unique personality of the Autodesk brand. They should be present not only in the stories we tell but in everything we design. Embodying these principles in your design will help strengthen our relationships with customers and establish consistency across all Autodesk interactions.

The primary colors of Autodesk are black, and then white. This allows the individual Autodesk products and content to have their own colorful centerstage; this is demonstrative of a company with confidence and self-assurance.

When representing the parent company, all materials should be in black and white.  Parent Black and then Parent White are the primary colors of Autodesk.

In every instance, the goal should be to use only the primary colors black and white. But there are times when two colors simply aren’t enough. Something may need to be defined in a way that capitalization or size contrast can’t accomplish. A minute level of hierarchy may need to be clarified without calling out too much attention. Or a partition needs to be subtly defined in a layout. This is when our detail grays, Dark Slate and Light Slate, can be used.

The accent colors are primarily intended to serve a functional purpose as opposed to a decorative one. Use accent colors in places where color cues are needed to indicate status, emphasis, or the need for action when black, white, or detail grays cannot function in those capacities.

Follow these guidelines to help ensure the accent colors support the parent brand and do not compete, overwhelm, misdirect, or otherwise weaken the integrity of the parent brand.

• Accent colors are used to highlight key points, features, functions, or actions.
  No single accent color should be mistaken as a primary color. This is to allow content that naturally has a lot of color, such as photography or illustration, to deliver the fullest expression of our brand.
• We recommend using no more than three accent colors per visual material.
  Keeping a minimal palette can elevate the look and make color more effective.
• Do not use accent colors for type without checking the contrast level. 
  Accessibility of information is important to us. In general, we strive to achieve at minimum AA standards. Consult contrast charts to make sure visual materials are both legible and accessible for everybody. Choose higher contrast combinations for pertinent information such as type and iconography.
• Do not combine accent colors with product colors.
  The accent colors are to be used on parent brand material only. Visual materials with product color should not use the accent colors.

This color proportion wheel breaks down color usage for visual materials, to help maintain consistency across the brand.

These proportions apply to graphic elements and not to imagery.
Percentages exclude photography or illustration, which may or may not have additional colors.

These proportions apply to the parent brand only.
These guidelines apply to parent brand communications only, as product communications may or may not have additional colors.