The colors used to represent a brand can have a huge impact. Learn some of the psychology behind brand colors so you can make the right choice.
Composition, color, and light are just a few actors that come into play when our brains evaluate something visual. Every detail has some influence, depending on the context, on our love of design, art, and imagery.
Color plays an especially important role as it’s one of the first things our brains process when we register an image. So, it’s no wonder companies put so much thought into choosing the right brand color palettes that work best for them.
Whether you’re working on a major rebrand or just getting started at a new company, the impact of choosing the best brand color for your logo and brand guidelines can make a huge difference.
In order to understand how an audience will see your brand, you might want to first consider the way your viewers will interpret different colors.
The Psychology of Brand Colors
You make color choices all the time, even if you don’t realize it. It usually happens by instinct, but there’s actually an entire science behind it known as Color Theory.
Color Theory vs. Color Psychology
Color theory describes how different colors relate to each other, and how they look when they are combined into various color schemes. An offshoot of color theory is color psychology, which explores colors and emotions perceived by people within the context of their cultures.
Combined, these areas of color knowledge are important information for anyone developing a brand color palette.
Color psychology focuses on color symbolism and meaning, and how colors and their combinations impact human emotions, helping marketers create effective branding. Each hue evokes different emotional responses from viewers, shaping how that consumer perceives the overall design.
It’s important to understand your audience when leveraging color meanings, because the psychological effects of color aren’t inherently universal. People of different cultures, identities, and demographics will have unique interpretations of color, which makes research and understanding of your target audience essential to your creative process.
When it comes to branding and marketing, this positive brand identity can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions and ultimately increase sales.
Warm Colors
Warmer colors—such as reds, oranges, and yellows—stimulate the senses and elicit a sense of cheerfulness with their vibrancy. These colors pack tons of emotional meaning, but they can easily be overwhelming when used as the dominant hue in a composition.
Tints, tones, and shades of warm hues are your best friend, simply because they help to desaturate a hue without negating its positive effect.
Apply warm hues in moderation by sprinkling them as an accent color across branding elements, or pair them with cooler tones for a harmonic balance.
Cool Colors
On the other side of the spectrum, cooler hues tend to elicit calmness and trustworthiness. Blues, greens, purples, and even pinks tend to be more versatile. They can be integrated into branding elements as a dominant or accent color.
Add emphasis to your composition by experimenting with a cool hue’s complement, or apply warmer tones as an accent to its cooler counterpart.
Let’s explore the ins and outs of all things brand color. This information is incredibly helpful when choosing specific colors to use in your design.
Brand Color Palettes
Red as an Attention-Grabber
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Different countries have different meanings for the color red but, in general, it makes us feel energized, passionate, powerful, strong, and quick. It demands attention and can stop the viewer in their tracks, prompting a moment of careful thought.
What’s most interesting about this color is just how often it’s seen in brand logo designs and advertisements every day. For example, CNN, Coca Cola, and Pinterest all use red in their company logos, showcasing some common brand themes across three different companies.
These brands all convey, in one way or another, that their product holds the key to ultimate success. CNN gives the power to learn, Pinterest provides the power to create, and Coca-Cola offers the power to have fun, with empowering brand messages and an iconic red logo.
Capture Your Audience with Orange
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Orange is another bright hue that brings both vibrance and balance to a project. Like red, it demands attention, but it’s little more muted than the primary color, and therefore feels less aggressive.
Because of its association with fruit, orange is often seen in drink logos. Fanta and Crush are both good examples—fun drinks associated with the orange flavor.
But orange’s tone can also be subtly seen in the Amazon logo, which is entirely black and white, except for a smiling orange arrow that connects A to Z. It’s not as bold or brash as red would be, but it still catches your eye and gives off a warm feeling.
Yellow as an Accent Color
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Many colors can have conflicting meanings, and that’s especially true when it comes to yellow. While the bright color has some positive associations, like joy, sunshine, summer, and happiness, there are also negative connotations. In some parts of the world, yellow is linked to illness, jealousy, and hazard.
Companies that use yellow in a positive way include McDonald’s, Nikon, and National Geographic. Each of these companies is very different, but all share a brand color that suggests they bring joy to consumers’ lives.
Go Green with Eco-Friendly Awareness
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Green is sometimes associated with “go,” especially in American culture, because of traffic lights. But on a global scale, brands tend to use green in their company logos if they’re environmentally inclined, representing values of health, wellness, nature, and renewal.
Green is commonplace in natural food markets and agriculture-related products, with brands like Whole Foods and John Deere adopting emerald-hued logos.
Add a Calming Element with Blue
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If you want to inspire calmness and tranquility, think blue. Its strong associations with the ocean (relaxing ocean sounds) and meditation (channeling the blue light that some say equates to enlightened thinking) make blue the perfect color for the type of brand awareness that strives to bring serenity to a stressful process.
That’s why we often see banks and financial companies—like Chase and Visa, for example—with logos that incorporate the color blue.
If a customer is going to make a monetary transaction, their subconscious association with the financial institution should at least feel calm and worry-free. Even if the transaction itself is a little more stressful.
Make a Royal Impression with Purple
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If nobility or wisdom is the vibe you’re going for, purple is the best way to achieve it. Not only is it most commonly known as the color of royalty, but it also denotes imaginative, creative behavior.
Brands like Yahoo and Cadbury use purple as the background for their company logos, and both brands are instantly recognizable to their consumers.
Yahoo, on the one hand, goes for the wisdom connotation, with tools that provide both knowledge (Internet search) and inspiration.
Meanwhile, Cadbury—whose founders once supplied their products to England’s Queen Victoria—embraces the royal connotations of its history with a rich purple hue.
The Monochromatic Appeal of Black & White
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Black and white are often used against each other, with black denoting mystery and sophistication, and white claiming cleanliness and purity. But, when combined, they create balance.
Cartoon Network effectively uses black and white to create a simple, balanced logo, with the two shades showing the yin and yang of the brand name itself.
“Network” on it’s own conveys sophistication and can even feel stuffy, but when combined with the lighthearted “Cartoon,” it plays on the balance of two opposite ideas—a concept that’s also seen in the design of the brand’s black-and-white logo.
Considering the emotional value and meaning behind a color can do wonders for your brand, and it can make or break a logo. It’s easier to work with simple colors, and the impact of a strong and consistent hue will help to make your brand memorable. (Plus there’s nothing worse than a crowded or confusing logo!)
Keep it simple and stick to just one or two well thought-out colors.
FAQs
What is the most popular brand color?
Blue. This calming hue symbolizes relaxation and confidence. And, it’s easy on the eyes.
Are there any rules for picking a brand color scheme?
Yes. A good rule of thumb is to pick a primary color to use in 60% of your design, a secondary for 30% of your design, and the third color for the remaining 10%.
Do colors really matter for branding?
Yes. Color branding is an essential role in grabbing the attention of your audience and the ultimate goal of brand recognition (think Starbucks).
Can a brand change its colors?
Yes. And no. Consistency is key. Therefore, keeping the same color scheme helps with developing a visual pattern for people to remember.
That being said, if your brand services a number of locations and/or a variety of products, changing the color is an option. Just make sure your logo (lettering and symbol) stays consistent.
For more color theory and inspiration, check out the posts below:
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