Choosing your favorite colors is just the beginning of the process that goes into creating a logo; your color palette is an integral aspect of your brand’s identity. Color can convey a wide range of emotions and ideas, which in turn affect behavior and decision-making.
It could seem like a huge undertaking to select your brand’s color palette from the vast array of hues available.
To help you find the perfect color for your brand, this guide compares and contrasts a variety of hues.
The Significance of Brand Colors
To most people, a logo is the first thing that comes to mind when discussing branding. As significant as a logo is, brand colors are just as subtle yet no less integral. Imagine yourself navigating the soda aisle of a grocery store while under attack from bottles of various colors.
In this situation, what comes to mind first? You can’t miss the red box with the white writing on top. Coca-Cola red, that is correct! From far away, you can see it. That’s how influential brand colors are.
Allow us to fill you in:
Recognition at a glance: Certain colors, as shown with Coca-Cola, help people recognize your brand immediately. Imagine it as a covert superhero outfit for your company. When consumers see your brand’s colors and typography, they instantly recognize it: your brand is making a statement!
A bond based on emotions: Colors have an emotional impact, right? I agree! Wearing red might make you feel excited and energized. The blues have the power to soothe and inspire trust. A brand’s ability to strike an emotional chord with consumers is directly correlated to the color scheme it employs.
Harmony and steadiness: Consistent use of color throughout all of your marketing collateral (website, business cards, and ads) conveys a sense of cohesiveness. Your brand comes across as more reliable and polished because of this uniformity.
Differentiating you from the competition: Finally, the colors you use for your brand might make you more noticeable than the competition. If every other brand employs shades of blue and gray, standing out with a bright green or yellow will set yours apart.
You shouldn’t let your personal taste dictate the colors you use for your brand. Think about what these hues convey about your company. Think about the message you want your brand’s colors to convey before you start dotting the town (or your logo) with them.
Is your company prepared to rethink its branding?
Tips for deciding which colors to use in your logo and brand
Within the first three minutes of a product’s visual presentation, consumers form an unconscious opinion about it, with color accounting for as much as 90% of that opinion. Color also has the ability to boost brand recognition by 80%. You may reach your target audience on an emotional level with the help of your brand colors if you wish to foster a strong relationship with them.
1. Decide on a color scheme with a certain number of colors.
You may ask yourself how many colors are necessary to establish your brand’s identity when you initially begin to think about them. It is clear by looking at some of the most well-known brand color schemes in the world that many successful palettes have these three components:
Foundation colors mostly represent your brand. Therefore, it should be both engaging to your target audience and a reflection of your most essential brand personality feature. To discover the perfect match, experiment with a wide range of colors and tints, from very dark to very light and pastel.
After the foundation color, the accent color is the most crucial part of a brand. It should complement your basic hue, represent another quality of your brand, and be appealing to your audience.
A neutral color is one that blends in with its surroundings without drawing too much attention to itself, yet still helps to create a cohesive color scheme. Consider various tones of white, beige, or gray—colors often used for backgrounds.
2. Locate complementary colors using the color wheel.
When you’re working on a brand’s color palette, you’ll definitely encounter a lot of design and color theory jargon. An important idea to grasp is the color wheel, a graphic depiction of the connections between the main colors and many hues.
The origins of the color wheel can be found in the work of English mathematician and scientist Isaac Newton, who in 1666 concluded that visible light, or the rainbow of colors, consisted of seven distinct wavelengths.
The color wheel’s essential components consist of
- Primary colors like yellow, blue, and red. These hues are incompatible with any other color scheme.
- Colors other than primary ones, such as orange, green, and purple. When the primary colors are combined, these hues are produced.
- Tertiary colors, which combine primary and secondary hues, include aqua and violet.
To further illustrate the two separate color temperatures, the color wheel can be divided down the middle:
- Those hues that are considered cool, such as greens, purples, and blues, Moods of tranquility and peace are often linked with these, as are the colder seasons of winter and spring.
- Vibrant, warm hues, such as yellows, oranges, and reds, Feelings of vigor, motion, and warmth are linked with them, as are the summer and fall seasons.
We can also identify three essential color schemes by examining the color wheel:
- Two colors that are diametrically opposed are called complementary colors.
- Three colors that are next to each other are called analogous colors.
- When three hues are evenly spaced on the color wheel, we say that they are triads.
3. Learn how color schemes reflect a company’s values and identity.
You are now prepared to begin considering brand colors after gaining some basic knowledge of color theory. Color matching tools are powerful tools that marketers may utilize to communicate the essence and mission of their brand. Before you even think about narrowing your options, you need to give serious consideration to your brand’s identity and the impression you want to give to your intended consumers.
A company with a lighthearted brand attitude might use a vibrant and enthusiastic color scheme, like pink and yellow. Colors like dark blue and gray, on the other hand, should reflect a more serious and mature brand identity.
Culture also has a significant influence on color preferences and connotations. In many Asian countries, for instance, the color white is linked with death, while in Western ones it represents joy and innocence. Be sure your brand colors don’t evoke any bad feelings in the nations where your target customer resides by doing some research beforehand.
You can also read: Types of Logos- Exploring the World of Logos
4. Figure out which brand colors work best in your sector.
Did you know that many industries have preferred color schemes based on the thoughts and feelings they evoke? When deciding on brand colors, it’s crucial to have a good grasp of your sector.
- Red: Many sectors, including agriculture, technology, food production, and transportation, use the color red.
- Orange: Many companies in the IT and healthcare industries use the color orange for their brand.
- Yellow: Energy, food, and home products firms often choose yellow as their color palette.
- Green: Many companies in the energy, banking, food, home goods, and technology sectors use the color green for their branding.
- Blue: Among the most common brand color schemes is blue, which is especially common in the energy, banking, aviation, technology, healthcare, and agricultural industries.
- Purple: Many people in the banking, tech, and medical fields favor the color purple. Pink Several sectors, including those dealing with food, health, toys, and technology, use pink as a color scheme.
- Black: Brands that frequently use black include those in the fashion, tech, and automotive industries. Brands like Apple, Nike, Sony, and Mercedes are examples.
- Off white: White is often used as a dominant brand hue, especially in the fashion and health care industries, despite its neutrality.
- Dark blue: Several sectors, including transportation, electronics, the petrochemical industry, and home furnishings, use gray as their brand color.
- Brown: Brands in the fashion, automotive/transport, and agriculture sectors frequently utilize brown color schemes.
- Gold: Companies in the fashion, gourmet food, entertainment, and automotive industries often use the color gold as their brand color.
- Silver: is a multipurpose brand color that is commonly associated with industries including the web, electronics, technology, news, and video games.
5. Familiarize yourself with the color codes of your brand.
Color is a big deal in branding; therefore, it’s crucial to keep your selected palette consistent across all mediums, including desktop, mobile, and print. To accomplish this, you must be familiar with the PMS, CMYK, RGB, and HEX color codes for all of your brand’s colors.
Logo colors used for printing
The way color is shown in digital and print media is drastically different. Use the PMS or CMYK color spaces to represent your brand’s colors when printing promotional materials like brochures or magazine ads.
Digital use of brand colors
Use the RGB (red, green, and blue) or HEX (hexadecimal color) color types for presenting your brand colors digitally, like on desktop or mobile.
Discover the best resources for brand color palettes.
You can’t finish your quest for the ideal brand colors without familiarizing yourself with a number of practical, user-friendly resources.
6. Use the colors of your company in your designs.
It is time to include your trademark colors in your designs now that you have them. You can incorporate them into several parts of your company, such as:
- Product packaging Logo and website
- Online platforms
- Commercials in both digital and print formats
- Traditional retail outlets
- Electronic mail advertising
The colors of your brand will permeate your entire company. You can establish a memorable brand image with their support. Make sure that all of your platforms adhere to your color scheme.
Conclusion
With your newfound knowledge of brand color theory, you can now complete your color palette and put it to good use in your company. By carefully selecting your company’s color palette, you can convey your brand’s values to consumers and appeal to their emotions. Color is undeniably important to your company’s success because most brand purchasing decisions are based on emotions.
Those all-important “first impressions” really do matter. When people think of your company, the first thing that comes to mind is probably your logo and the colors it uses.