Choosing the Right Brand Colors: Here’s How

One of the many decisions business owners have make is choosing the right brand colors. Creating a brand is a big task with a lot of small but important pieces. Though a seemingly simple task, it can be hard to know which colors to chose. The good news is there is some methodology to the color selection process. Read below for tips on choosing the right colors for your brand.

Whether it’s a new business or an existing business undergoing a rebrand, it is important to choose the correct colors. This task can seem daunting. There are so many colors on the wheel. It can even be tempting to choose colors based on what you like, or what fits your individual personality. If there’s any advice we can give to business owners both those new and undergoing rebrands, it would be to look into color theory before deciding on your brand colors.

Humans are interesting in that everything with which we interact, whether by sight, touch, smell, or any of the senses reacts in the brain. Because of both nurture and nature, our brains react differently when introduced to different colors. Of course, not every human processes every single color the same way, but still there are some overarching themes for certain colors. This article will discuss color psychology, and how brands can use color theory to work in their favor by choosing the right color palette for their brands.

Research shows up to 85% of consumers believe color is the biggest factor when choosing a particular product.

Colors are the first thing consumers see when introduced to your brand. In a way, your color scheme plays a large role in your first impression. Colors evoke emotions in us. People look at brands and often base whether or not they want to engage with a brand based on their colors. Therefore you want to choose colors that make sense for your brand, but that also attract consumers to your brand.

Choosing the Right Brand Colors

When you’re in the process of creating a new logo and color scheme for your business it may seem like small details such as color don’t matter as much causing you to choose your favorite colors as your brand colors. The truth is, colors do matter and do play a large part in how consumers will interact with your brand.

For humans, sight is our most important means for survival as well as our primary source for any and all experiences. This is important to know because you want to make sure you chose colors that consumers already have a good relationship with. Color increases brand recognition. This is something that should be considered throughout the process of choosing the right colors for your brand.

What is color psychology?

Color psychology is the study of how colors affect perceptions and behaviors.

Let’s briefly break down each color:

Red: energy, passion, love, danger, excitement

Yellow: playful, happy

Blue: Sad, calm, trustworthy, reliable,

Orange: creative, adventurous, fresh

Pink: sentimental youthful, romantic,

Green: natural, sustainable, eco-friendly, wealth

Purple: royal, majestic

Brown: natural, organic, down-to-earth

White: pure, simple, innocent

Black: elegant, sophisticated, expensive

Branding With Colors

Now that we know a little more about color psychology, let’s talk about choosing a color pallet for your specific brand. One pattern we see in successful brand color palettes is the fewer colors the better. The most successful brands have one or two main colors and only deviate from that when the cause permits. Some popular brands that make good examples are McDonald’s, Apple, Coca Cola. You’ll hear these brands discussed often when it comes to color in branding and that’s because they’ve done it so well.

Select one-two main colors that represent your brand. What service or products do you offer? What are your company’s mission and core values? Some good questions to ask yourself are:

• What adjectives describe this company?
• Who is our target audience?
• What is the message we wish to convey?
• What colors will we be competing against?

By using these questions along with the color chart above, determine the colors that make the most sense for your brand’s message. A health-food company may choose shades of orange and green as brand colors, while an event coordinating service may work better with red or black. The color selection won’t necessarily be forever. However, once you create a website and collateral, changing all of those things just for the sake of changing colors can be time-consuming. That being said, this is something you want to think through.

Where will your brand colors appear?

Think about all of the different places brand colors can appear. Again, colors help build brand recognition, but it’s important to analyze through which channels consumers will be interacting with your brand. The brand colors will appear in obvious places like the logo, website, and any collateral like business cards, mailers, and the website. However other places to think about our social media, email headers, events and signage, and even uniforms. Think about the different uses of a log and places it will appear. It makes a huge difference.  

Evaluate the market.

For those unsure of what color fit their company’s persona, market research is a good place to start. Check out competitors in the field and see what colors they are using for their brands. A common mistake many business owners make is recreating the wheel when there are plenty of examples of good wheels out there already. See what colors other successful brands in your industry are using and take note. What emotions do their logo and color pallet evoke? What colors are most memorable?

If you are working with a marketing professional or designer to come up with a concept, logo, fonts, and other collateral it is important to work with someone who understands the importance of color. Your brand strategist should be your guide through these decisions.

How Rooted Webs Can Help

If you find that you aren’t quite as creative or feel like you aren’t creative at all that’s okay. The most successful business owners understand the important of hiring an expert. Rianne is our resident creative and is committed to understanding a brand’s unique message and needs before entering the design process. For more information about Rooted Webs or to get a quote on your web design, fill out this form to set up a discovery call.