# Stanford

> `stanford@1.0.0`

Stanford University — the private research university whose institutional voice has rested on Cardinal red since the university's founding. The Stanford Identity Guide pairs Cardinal Red (#8C1515) with a warm black (#2E2D29) and Cool Grey on a white canvas, with a distinct digital palette that reserves Digital Blue for links and Digital Green for form validation. The brand voice is restrained, scholarly, and unmistakably West-Coast: confident colour, generous whitespace, and a refusal to use Digital Red as a stand-in for Cardinal.


**Tags:** `stanford`, `university`, `education`, `cardinal`, `conservative-institutional`, `light-first`

## Atoms

### Palette

**Stanford** · `stanford@1.0.0` · Proprietary — All Rights Reserved (Stanford trademarks)

> The Stanford University brand palette as published in Stanford's Identity Guide. The primary palette is Cardinal red, white, black (#2E2D29 — a warm near-black), and Cool Grey. A digital accent palette adds Digital Red, Digital Blue (links only), and Digital Green (form validation). Black tints in 10% increments expand the neutral ramp. The Identity Guide is emphatic that Cardinal Red is the institutional colour and Digital Red is an accent — not a replacement. 

### Fonts

| Role | Font | License | Classification |
|------|------|---------|----------------|
| `heading` | **Source Sans 3** `(source-sans-3@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | sans-serif |
| `body` | **Source Sans 3** `(source-sans-3@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | sans-serif |
| `serif` | **Lora** `(lora@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | serif |
| `mono` | **JetBrainsMono Nerd Font** `(jetbrainsmono-nerdfont@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | monospace |

## Swatches

| ID | Name | Value |
|----|------|-------|
| `cardinal-red` | Cardinal Red | `#8C1515` |
| `cardinal-red-light` | Cardinal Red Light | `#B83A4B` |
| `cardinal-red-dark` | Cardinal Red Dark | `#820000` |
| `white` | White | `#FFFFFF` |
| `black` | Black | `#2E2D29` |
| `cool-grey` | Cool Grey | `#53565A` |
| `black-90` | Black 90 | `#43423E` |
| `black-10` | Black 10 | `#EAEAEA` |
| `digital-red` | Digital Red | `#B1040E` |
| `digital-red-light` | Digital Red Light | `#E50808` |
| `digital-red-dark` | Digital Red Dark | `#820000` |
| `digital-blue` | Digital Blue | `#006CB8` |
| `digital-blue-light` | Digital Blue Light | `#6FC3FF` |
| `digital-blue-dark` | Digital Blue Dark | `#00548F` |
| `digital-green` | Digital Green | `#008566` |
| `digital-green-light` | Digital Green Light | `#1AECBA` |
| `digital-green-dark` | Digital Green Dark | `#006F54` |

## Mode role mappings

### Light mode

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `background` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `surface` | `black-10` | `#EAEAEA` |
| `surface-elevated` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `text-primary` | `black` | `#2E2D29` |
| `text-secondary` | `cool-grey` | `#53565A` |
| `text-tertiary` | `black-90` | `#43423E` |
| `primary` | `cardinal-red` | `#8C1515` |
| `primary-hover` | `cardinal-red-dark` | `#820000` |
| `accent` | `digital-red` | `#B1040E` |
| `accent-hover` | `digital-red-dark` | `#820000` |
| `link` | `digital-blue` | `#006CB8` |
| `link-hover` | `digital-blue-dark` | `#00548F` |
| `warning` | `digital-red` | `#B1040E` |
| `warning-hover` | `digital-red-dark` | `#820000` |
| `error` | `digital-red` | `#B1040E` |
| `success` | `digital-green` | `#008566` |
| `border` | `black-10` | `#EAEAEA` |

### Dark mode

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `background` | `black` | `#2E2D29` |
| `surface` | `black-90` | `#43423E` |
| `surface-elevated` | `cool-grey` | `#53565A` |
| `text-primary` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `text-secondary` | `black-10` | `#EAEAEA` |
| `text-tertiary` | `cool-grey` | `#53565A` |
| `primary` | `cardinal-red-light` | `#B83A4B` |
| `primary-hover` | `cardinal-red` | `#8C1515` |
| `accent` | `digital-red-light` | `#E50808` |
| `accent-hover` | `digital-red` | `#B1040E` |
| `link` | `digital-blue-light` | `#6FC3FF` |
| `link-hover` | `digital-blue` | `#006CB8` |
| `warning` | `digital-red-light` | `#E50808` |
| `warning-hover` | `digital-red` | `#B1040E` |
| `error` | `digital-red-light` | `#E50808` |
| `success` | `digital-green-light` | `#1AECBA` |
| `border` | `cool-grey` | `#53565A` |

## Brand semantic roles

### Colors

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `identity` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `on-identity` | `black` | `#2E2D29` |
| `primary` | `cardinal-red` | `#8C1515` |
| `primary-hover` | `cardinal-red-dark` | `#820000` |
| `accent` | `digital-red` | `#B1040E` |
| `accent-hover` | `digital-red-dark` | `#820000` |
| `mark` | `cardinal-red` | `#8C1515` |
| `success` | `digital-green` | `#008566` |
| `warning` | `digital-red` | `#B1040E` |
| `error` | `digital-red` | `#B1040E` |
| `text-primary-light` | `black` | `#2E2D29` |
| `text-primary-dark` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `background-light` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `background-dark` | `black` | `#2E2D29` |
| `surface-light` | `black-10` | `#EAEAEA` |
| `surface-dark` | `black-90` | `#43423E` |
| `text-secondary-light` | `cool-grey` | `#53565A` |
| `text-tertiary-light` | `black-90` | `#43423E` |
| `border-light` | `black-10` | `#EAEAEA` |

### Typography

| Role | Font role key |
|------|---------------|
| `display` | `heading` |
| `prose` | `body` |
| `code` | `mono` |

## Rules

### 🛑 error (7)

#### `colorChoice` → `roles.colors.primary`

- **allowed:** cardinal-red, cardinal-red-dark
- **forbidden:** digital-red, digital-red-light, digital-blue, digital-green

> Cardinal Red (#8C1515) is Stanford's institutional colour. The Stanford Identity Guide is explicit that Digital Red "is not a replacement for Cardinal red" and that Digital Blue and Digital Green are role-restricted (links and form validation). The primary brand colour role MUST be Cardinal — no exceptions. 

#### `colorChoice` → `roles.colors.mark`

- **allowed:** cardinal-red, black, white
- **forbidden:** digital-red, digital-red-light, digital-blue, cardinal-red-light

> The Stanford wordmark, block-S, and tree mark are reproduced in Cardinal Red, solid black, or solid white (reversed). Digital Red MUST NOT be used to colorize the Stanford wordmark per the published guidance. 

#### `contrastRatio` → `text-primary`

- **against:** `background`
- **minRatio:** `7`
- **standard:** `WCAG-AAA`

> Stanford Black (#2E2D29) on white gives ~14:1 — clears AAA. As a research university with extensive long-form scholarly content and obligations under ADA / Section 504, Stanford's surfaces target the enhanced 7:1 floor rather than the AA 4.5:1 minimum. 

#### `contextRestriction` → `roles.colors.link`

- **forbiddenContexts:** error-state, confirmation, destructive-action, data-viz-positive
- **allowedContexts:** link, navigation

> The Identity Guide reserves Digital Blue (#006CB8) "exclusively for links" on digital communications. Repurposing it for confirmation, error, or data-viz roles breaks the link-affordance contract Stanford visitors rely on. 

#### `contextRestriction` → `roles.colors.success`

- **forbiddenContexts:** error-state, destructive-action, link
- **allowedContexts:** confirmation, completion, form-validation, data-viz-positive

> Digital Green (#008566) is documented as the form-validation colour. Using it for errors or as a link colour inverts the semantics the Identity Guide assigns it. 

#### `forbiddenTreatment` → `logo`

- **treatments:** stretched, rotated, recolored, drop-shadow, outlined, gradient-fill, on-busy-photo, tilted

> Stanford's brand standards prohibit stretching, rotating, recolouring, outlining, or applying decorative treatments to the wordmark, block-S, or tree. Marks render in solid Cardinal Red, solid black, or solid white only, with documented clear-space. 

#### `fontPairing` → `typography.display`

- **requires:** `prose`
- **minSizeRatio:** `1.5`

> Stanford's editorial hierarchy pairs a large display sans with body sans at a minimum 1.5× ratio. The Identity Guide depends on that gap for the legible scholarly voice the institution projects. 

### ⚠️ warning (2)

#### `enumMembership` → `typography.heading.fontWeight`

- **allowed:** 400, 600, 700

> Stanford's Identity Guide type ramp anchors on Regular (400), SemiBold (600), and Bold (700) for headings and body. Heavier display cuts (800/900) are not part of the published institutional ramp. 

#### `accessibilityRequirement` → `*`

- **standard:** `WCAG-AAA`
- **criterion:** `1.4.6`

> WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.6 (Contrast Enhanced) — Level AAA. Stanford's research / scholarly posture and its obligations to a diverse academic community justify the enhanced 7:1 target on core text-on-background pairs. 

### 💡 recommendation (1)

#### `compositionConstraint` → `roles.colors.primary`

- **pairsWith:** white, black-10, black
- **doesNotPairWith:** digital-red, digital-red-light, cardinal-red-light

> Cardinal Red reads cleanest on white, soft black-tint surfaces, or against the warm institutional black. Adjacent to Digital Red or the light Cardinal tint, the two reds vibrate without resolving into hierarchy — and the Identity Guide treats their roles as semantically distinct. 

## Provenance

- **Source:** <https://identity.stanford.edu/design-elements/color/primary-colors/>
- **License:** `Proprietary — All Rights Reserved (Stanford trademarks)`
- **Attribution:** The Board of Trustees of The Leland Stanford Junior University — visual identity captured from the Stanford Identity Guide (identity.stanford.edu). "Stanford," the Stanford block-S, the Stanford wordmark, and the Stanford tree are registered trademarks of the Board of Trustees. 
- **Imported:** `2026-05-19`
- **Notes:** Stanford ships a proprietary type system anchored on Source Sans 3 and Source Serif 4 (both open-source) for digital surfaces. This atom references inter@1 as the sans surrogate where Source Sans is not the chosen substitute, source-serif-4@1 is unavailable in catalogue so lora@1 is used as the serif substitute, and jetbrainsmono-nerdfont@1 for code. The Identity Guide is explicit that Digital Red is "not a replacement for Cardinal Red" and that Digital Blue is reserved for links. Assets are kept empty per trademark policy. 

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*Generated by the brand-atoms converter. Source: `stanford@1.0.0` from the encyclopedia.*