Choosing the Perfect Colours for Your Brand

So you’ve got a solid logo design that’s clear, reproducible and eye-catching. Now it’s time to think about colour. Colour — and what each colour group can symbolise — plays a major role in human perception and therefore influences customer intentions.

The right colour combination can highlight the strengths of your business and draw customers to you, while the wrong combination can have the reverse effect.

Here are a few elements to consider when choosing a colour scheme for your logo or brand.

Know your focus

Nobody knows your business — its strengths and goals — better than you. So when considering a colour scheme, think about the message you most wish to convey about your business. Remember that your logo will be the first point of contact between you and your potential clients.

First, look at your brand’s personality. What virtues do you want to highlight? Speed, bold innovation, efficiency, compassion, intuitiveness? Knowing the tone can go a long way to refining your colour choices.

For example, blue hues can emphasise responsibility, planning and deliberation, while reds can symbolise bold action, simplicity or innovation. A company that provides in-home care for seniors will likely have a colour palette unlike that for a company that makes auto parts.

Identifying your focus will lead you to successful colours for your brand.

Try more than one

Remember that you are not limited to one colour. If what you choose to emphasise about your business is its variety of products (eBay), the diversity of its target audience (Apple) or its appeal to youth (Toys R Us), you may want to go with a multicolour design. If you want to keep it simple, you can use two contrasting colours.

Don’t be afraid to experiment before making your final palette choices. See what works and what doesn’t.

Know how colours translate

If your brand is international in scope, as so many today are, you should be aware of the symbolic meanings your colour scheme can have when viewed in other cultures. A common example is the way white is viewed in most Western cultures as symbolic of purity, while in some Eastern cultures as symbolic of death.

A little foresight and cultural sensitivity can go a long way toward making effective colour choices.

Stand out from the competition

As you know, the key to an effective logo is brand recognition. So if you want to stand out, it’s a good idea to choose a colour scheme that differs dramatically from those of your largest competitors.

Ford Motor Company, for example, introduced its famous “blue oval” nearly a century ago, and it remains a powerful brand identifier, as well as a symbol of the company’s stability.

By contrast, Land Rover, while employing an oval design element in its logo, uses a forest green palette to emphasise its adventurous off-road feel.

Be aware of what design schemes your competitors are using and what attributes those colours emphasise to ensure that the colours of your brand stand out.

SOURCE: 99 Designs