The Impact of
Brand Colors
People have a psychological connection to color, so choosing a strong brand color scheme can affect the consumer’s perception of your brand and even drive sales. Color influences how people feel, interpret messages, and bring out the emotions from memories. Whether you want your company to be known for being efficient and loyal, or down-to-earth and compassionate, brand colors subconsciously strengthen the message for the consumer.
Choosing Brand Colors
Primary Colors
The single core color, or two at the most, is what consumers will first remember when thinking of your brand. Like when we think of the yellow McDonald’s arches or the blue and yellow IKEA logo, most people can immediately visualize the colors and logos. When the colors are chosen correctly, they will also psychologically bring up emotions or feelings that encourage sales for the company. For example, warm colors attract attention and have been known for encouraging an appetite, like the McDonald’s yellow.
Secondary Colors
Secondary colors are typically two to four colors that support the primary color, further driving your company’s message into the consumer’s mind. Whether you choose analogous, monochromatic, or contrasting, the color scheme can change the message of your color palette in relation to your brand.
Shades of Colors
Hue, Saturation, and luminance are factors that matter just as much as the color choice. A deep red shows passion, sophistication, and power, while a pale pink is more innocent, soothing, and compassionate. Every color has a different visual effect on what a consumer initially feels about a brand. Choosing a palette that reflects your brand’s identity helps to create a lasting impression on consumers.
Color Meanings
Red
Red is a color that has both positive and negative meanings. It can be a passionate, strong, and confident color that is known for encouraging people to make decisions faster. However, it is also known for representing anger and danger. Don’t let that deter you from choosing to include red in your brand color scheme! The surrounding colors in your brand palette will be strong factors in how the red is interpreted within your brand.
Yellow
Happiness, hope, warmth, and permanence are all feelings brought on by the color yellow. Being part of the warm color family, yellow is known for drawing attention and increasing appetite among consumers, making it a strong choice for companies within the food industry.
Orange
Orange is an energetic and warm color that brings out the youthful side of a color palette. Its attention-grabbing characteristics make it a great color to enhance your brand’s message.
Green
Green is one of the most used colors within brands thanks to the various emotions it brings out of people. When a deeper green is chosen it symbolizes growth, money, groundedness, and success, making it a popular color among banks and financial advisors. A softer green is more soothing and relaxing, which is why spas and wellness brands are typically drawn toward shades of green. Whether a deep or light shade, green is a solid choice to include within your brand palette.
Blue
Calmness, stability, trust, creativity, authority, and masculinity are just a few of the feelings brought on by the color blue. While different shades of blue drive different emotions among consumers, it is chosen among many brands because it is such a versatile color.
Purple
Purple is most often associated with royalty, nobility, and luxury. However, it also can be used to bring out creativity and has an element of mystery when deeper shades are used. Purple is commonly used among high-end restaurants, nightclubs, luxury sales, and spas.
Pink
As a color associated very closely with feminism, pink is known for being nurturing, playful, passionate, and youthful. A vibrant pink is a powerful primary color, while a dustier pink is more calming, making it a fantastic secondary color to include within your brand palette.
White
White is not often chosen as a primary brand color, it is a good choice as a secondary color. White is often known for its simplicity, cleanliness, and clarity. It’s a great color to provide neutral space within your brand designs.
Black
Power and authority are the emotions most often brought on by the color black. Most brands include a shade of black within their brand to add defined details for a crisper look. Recently, black has become more popular as a primary color within the palette. The use of black in your brand color palette can be done in a variety of ways, from the use of minimal touches to the use of bold accents.