Colors For A Brand
When choosing colors for a brand, it’s essential to remember that colors set the mood, attract attention, and make a statement. Captivating colors and images make people stop and look. Your story can be powerful and well-written, but “the look” will provoke people to read it.
The first impression is crucial and the colors, are a big part of it.
A brand must have a consistent color palette, that is used across all its media and publications to be recognized and remembered. It is one of the basic elements of a good branding strategy.
How to Choose your Brand Colors
1. Align your brand values with color psychology.
Recall your company’s mission, vision, and unique selling propositions, and think about the emotions you want to evoke to support them.
Different colors are associated with different emotions. Blue can suggest trust and professionalism, red can signify energy and passion, and so on. Look again at the PDF listing meanings of colors and choose the color that aligns best with what your company wants to offer.
2. Confirm your target audience preferences
Research the preferences of the demographic and cultural backgrounds of the people you want to reach. Different colors have different cultural and regional associations. For example, while white signifies purity in Western cultures, it represents mourning in some Eastern cultures. Younger people prefer colors that are bold, bright, and flashy. A mature audience may respond better to a harmonized and toned-down color palette.
4. Evaluate industry standards.
Research the color schemes commonly used in your industry. While it’s important to differentiate your brand, it’s also essential to fit within the industry’s norms and standards. Analyze the colors used by your competitors and identify opportunities for differentiation. This will help you strike the right balance between standing out and fitting in.
All these analyses give you a couple of colors to work with.
How Many Colors Do You Need for a Brand?
The number of colors in a brand palette can vary depending on, again, the brand’s industry, target audience, and overall brand identity. That being said, unless you are in something like fashion design, in many cases, less is more.
It is recommended to start with two colors: a primary and a secondary.
The primary color is typically the dominant color used in the brand’s logo and overall visual identity. The secondary color complements the primary color and can be used to provide visual contrast or highlight specific elements.
Some brands may choose to include accent colors or additional shades and tints of the primary and secondary colors. These additional colors can create visual interest, differentiate various brand elements, or accommodate design needs across different platforms or media. The key is to ensure that the selected colors work in harmony and create a cohesive and visually appealing look.
How to ensure colors "harmony"?
There is a rhyme and reason behind how colors work together (or not), and the color theory advises combining colors to create something pleasing to the eye. The color theory is based on a color wheel and basic color concepts that can guide you in selecting colors that naturally look together well.
- Complementary colors are the colors opposite to each other on the color wheel. As the name suggests – they complement each other.
- Triadic colors are three colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel. They should work well too – so you may use this concept when looking for an additional accent color.
- Analogous colors are the colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel. They are close, often similar – they work together too.
- You can also include some monochromatic colors. They are just different shades and tints of your primary color. You create them by adding to the color black (shades) or white (tints).
There is also the visual balance of colors to respect.
It means to use light and dark colors, as well as warm and cool colors, throughout your palette. Using established color schemes can help create coherence in your brand palette. Unless you are sure that your target audience will appreciate bold and clashing schemes, you should strive for balance, where the colors work together without competing with one another.
Photography can be a good source of a color scheme. Previously, I suggested taking pictures representing your brand. But if the brand is not a brick-and-mortar reality, look for photos online. With your initial colors in mind, look for good-quality photos, that could serve this purpose.
Pinterest is a good place to look. Many photos there became a source of great color palettes.
How do you select colors from a photo?
I rely on the good old Adobe Creative Suite application: Adobe Illustrator (Ai). Upload your photo, from the “object” menu select “create object mosaic” and voila!
But this is a paid option. If you’d rather use something free, go again to Canva. Place the photo in a project and select a color picker. In your color menu, you will see not only all colors used in the project but also, all colors that Canva will pick from the photo.
There are many good and free tools online to build your palette when you start with just one, the primary color. Visit the Canva Color Wheel. It’s a great place to learn more about color theory and build your palette. Recently I tried the Color Space and was also very pleased with the results!
Test, refine and record.
Create a mood board and mock-ups using the colors that you collect. Experiment with different combinations, proportions, and placements of colors to find the most pleasing arrangement. Consider how they appear in various media, such as print and online. Often the same colors look different on paper than on the screens. If you have a favorite print shop – check with them about your final choices too. Some colors are not easy to replicate in the printing process.
The process of selecting colors for your company’s branding is complex. It may require multiple rounds of testing, feedback, and refinement. Therefore, when you decide on the perfect color palette, record it.
Every color can be defined by a set of numbers. The most often used are Hexadecimal, RGB, and CMYK. Create a document showing your colors with all numbers and descriptions of when and how to use them. This will be another document to include in your Brand Assets Library.
Share this document with all your future marketing services with a clear order to follow them religiously. Otherwise, your colors will disappear in their aesthetics before you know it.
Very helpful post! Branding is truly important for any business, online or otherwise. And color is a powerful and aesthetically pleasing way to do that. Going over this guide to try to improve my own color scheme. Thanks for the tips!
Thank you! I could tell you like colors when I saw your blog. The photography style you are using is great! If you plan to add more graphics in the future, try to build your color scheme by selecting colors from your best photos and then using the free color palette generators listed in this blog. Looking forward to reading more about your travels!