Brand guidelines

We created these brand guidelines to explain how we use our brand to consistently communicate with our customers visually and verbally.

For more information, Crown Commercial Service (CCS) colleagues can read our brand toolkit.

Who we are

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is the biggest public procurement organisation in the UK. We are here to help procurement professionals to do their job as well as they can.

Our brand guidelines

Tone of voice

When we say ‘tone of voice’, we’re talking about the language we use to describe our services, express our values and explain how we do things differently. Our tone of voice expresses our brand personality.

As a brand we are:

Knowledgeable

This should come across as confident, evidence-based, and solution-oriented.

Reassuring

This should come across as empathetic, approachable, and supportive.

Inspiring

Human, positive, and forward-looking.

Plain language

It is important we use our brand tone of voice in all our communications and that we are using the right words at the right times.

We should always aim to use plain language and ensure we check our communications and take note of any words to watch or words not to use.

Brand mark (logo)

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) brand mark consists of our name, a divider and the Royal Coat of Arms. Our brand mark is 1 of the main tools for identifying our brand.

The Royal Coat of Arms should not be used in isolation. It should always be used in conjunction with the department or organisation name.

We use our stacked brand mark wherever possible on our print and digital communications. It should sit consistently to the left hand side of any asset and should be clearly visible.

The proportion, size of icon and typography have all been carefully considered in relation to each other, they should never be separated or altered and always scaled in proportion.

The brand mark can appear in black or white, on top of any solid colour. Make sure you check your colour contrast to ensure the brand mark is clear. We recommend using the highest contrast.

Landscape brand mark

Use our landscape brand mark for online use only. It can appear in black, white, reverse and CCS blue.

In partnership

Our brand mark is also available with the words ‘in partnership’. This is available in both stacked and landscape versions.

Colour palette

We have a colour palette for digital use and 1 for print use.

Copy text and the brand mark should be kept to neutral black or white as this will create the best contrast for accessibility reasons.

Digital colour palette

Primary colours

Our primary colours should form the basis of the palette and be the most prominent.

Digital colour	Hex Value
Growth sapling green	#a6b808
Reassured cornflower blue	#699aff

Secondary colour

Our secondary colour should be used to provide contrast and visual interest.

Digital colour	Hex value
Positive vibrant yellow	#ffc300

Accent colour

Our accent colour should be used sparingly and strategically where extra attention is needed.

Digital colour	Hex value
Professional claret	#930047

Neutral colours

Whites, greys and blacks remain essential alongside our colour scheme.

Digital colour	Hex value
Nautral white	#fcfcfc
Neutral light grey	#fc8c8c8
Neutral grey	#535459
Neutral black	#000000

Typography

Our typeface is Source Sans Pro and it should be used in all online and printed communications.

Where it is unavailable, use Arial as a substitute typeface.

For more information around how to structure your content, read the formatting section of this style guide. The section includes information about headings, subheadings, sentence and paragraph structure and punctuation.

Explore more of our style guide

Our style guide is designed to help you communicate in a clear and consistent way. Find out more about how to write and design for Crown Commercial Service (CCS).

• Accessibility

  Accessibility is the practice of making information meaningful and usable for as many people as possible.

  Find out how to make your content accessible.

• Designing for CCS webpages

  Learn about the design components we use on our website and how you can use them to create webpages. Includes page components such as buttons and hero banner design.

  Find out how to design webpages for CCS.

• Formatting

  Everything you need to know about how to format your content. Includes links, bullet pointed lists, heading styles and punctuation.

  Find out how to format your content.

• Language

  Everything you need to know about language and spelling. Includes how to use plain language, abbreviations, capitalisation and words to avoid.

  Find out about using language in your content.

• Numbers

  Everything you need to know about formatting and writing numbers in your content. Includes dates and time, percentages and how to write about ages.

  Find out how to use numbers in your content.

• Checklist

  When you have finished writing your piece of content, use our checklist to check you have followed the style guide and are ready to publish.

   

  View our checklist.

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Information for buyers and suppliers

Find helpful information to help you start buying or supplying.

Find information for buying and supplying.

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Glossary

Find explanations for common terms and abbreviations used in public procurement.

Explore our glossary.