Colors play a huge role in branding, without proper explanation and the use of color, you may be sending the wrong message to your audience. You may not know, but every color that you see out there, particularly in the marketing domain explains color and a story behind it. There is always a relationship between the branding colors and the message that you want to convey to your audience. Therefore, it is important to research well and then choose a color for the brand while still looking for the answer to a very obvious question “who is going to make a Logo for me”? Once you have decided on something, it is important you send over the message to the designers so they know what they are expected to do.
With the use of the right color in the logo, you can influence your audience. There is a critical influence of color on the way we see the world. In case you are planning to start a new business or maybe thinking of rebranding, it’s time you understand the impact of colors on the consumer’s behaviors.
It is time you take a closer look at how you can incorporate colors into your brand strategy by keeping the following things in mind because obviously, you do not want to mess up your branding.
Colors and Its Meanings in Branding Life (Your Brand)
First thing first, here we are going to discuss how each color indicates something and means something in marketing. The use of the wrong color can just completely jeopardize your whole branding. Nevertheless, here we go!
- Red: If you are looking to grab attention and get your audience excited about something, red is the color to go with. It signifies anger, comfort, love, and life.
- Yellow: When advertising something adventurous, travel, enthusiasm, or happiness, yellow is the color to choose.
- Green: Sustainability, health, knowledge, and anything educational or healthy, if your brand promotes any of such a thing, go with green.
- Blue: It is the color of competence, integrity, high quality, reliability, and honesty.
- Purple: When it is about creativity, respect, and royalty, there is no better color than purple.
- Pink: It signifies romance, sophistication, compassion, love, and gentleness.
- Black: When you have to be sophisticated, serious, and intelligent, choose black.
- Grey: Choose grey, if your brand is all about class, timelessness, practicality, and neutrality.
- White: It shows innocence, space, cleanliness, and purity.
If you are still confused about how to choose the right colors for your brand, you need to read stay here and keep reading.
5 Tips to Choose a Brand Color
- Create Your Brand Identity
The colors that you choose for your brand say a lot about you, we have already discussed it before. However, you need to understand how the colors reflect your brand identity. They are one important part of your whole identity and how you should go about it. The whole palette explains your values and the message that you want your brand to communicate. In order to reach this point, you need to first explain your brand identity.
The most common practice that is followed normally is listing all adjectives that explain your brand character, list them as if you are talking about a person in general. Ask questions to yourself and see what perception you want of your brand in your customer’s minds. What is that thing that differentiates you from the other brands in your industry?
2. Explore the Meanings of the Colors
The industry you are in and the message you want to send over to the customers is the deciding factor in the overall branding. However, you must understand that colors are not the exact science and there is no particular equation that can accurately explain what the color defines. And this is where we make the use of the color combinations. If your message does not come in the palette of regular colors, it is time you make some right combinations.
As we have already discussed colors, explain the brand message therefore, proper study and research should be done to ensure you are on the right track. In order to understand, if you have chosen the right color for your brand you need to think of the differences in the meanings of the different shades when combined with the other colors. Blue alone may show something else but when combined with another color, it would mean something else.
Following industries use these colors in order to signify the right meaning.
a) Food industry: You would see most of the logos of the restaurant industry in the warm tones, one of the reasons is because they attract attention and hunger. Colors like yellow, red, and orange are a few of the many colors that are used for this purpose. However, when the brand is all about nutrition and health, green is the color that most brands use for their identification. And of course, pink and blue for the desserts and sweets.
b) Health and wellness: When we talk about health and wellness, cleanliness is the first thing that comes to your mind and nothing represents cleanliness better than blue color. The blue color shows responsibility and trustworthiness. Other colors to choose from are green and orange as they represent nature and wholesomeness.
c) Fashion: If your brand is all sophisticated and elegant you MUST go with the black color. No fashion brand can ever go wrong with the black color. You would be surprised to see how black and white are the most classic colors and they are always the safest choice. Nevertheless, you can also go with pink, red, and orange as well to show excitement, passion, and confidence as well.
d) Technology: You would most see blue color when it comes to advertising technological products. The color symbolizes intelligence, efficiency and trust. Moreover, you can also use orange as well as it is more friendly and optimistic. Other than this, purple also stands for creativity and quality.
3. Look for Inspiration
There must be a story behind your brand? Or a reason why you started it? Or something that must have influenced you to begin your brand. When you are working on branding your brand, you need to look for the reasons why you started the brand, what was the initial inspiration for you. It would help you decide your brand colors. Look through the colors your competitors are using the palettes they go through and try to think of their pattern. We are not in any way recommending you to copy their theme or influence, but you should look for inspiration from them. You both are in the same industry and nobody can guide you better than someone who has already been in your shoes. Think of all the lessons that you can take from their color choices, and the ways you can be different from them.
4. Choose the Main Color
Once you have taken all the inspiration from the competitors, it’s time you decide on the main color. The primary color will later then decide the whole palette for the brand. Such as the primary color for Tiffany’s is blue, you would see different shades of it in their whole branding. The same goes with the brands like Pinterest and Facebook, there is always so much that you can do with your primary color. The only thing is how you choose to do it.
Choose one main color that you think explains your business the best and their meaning is perfect for a brand. In order to reach the final color, you can try o the different colors and then choose the one that goes with the brand the best.
5. Choose Secondary Colors
You cannot depend on a single color for your whole branding, as good as it looks sometimes you have to choose other colors as well for the same purpose. When you have chosen the final color, look for the combinations and the colors that make the best combination with the primary color. You can choose more than one for it and then make sure the meaning of the combination is not confusing for your customers. It might be tricky for you but once you have decided on the whole palette everything later becomes easy.
Wrapping up!
Going with a branding color only because it’s your favorite is one irrational decision, you should know the science behind all the colors and understand why should it go with your brand. Most brands make the mistake of going with the colors only because the color is trending or the vibe of the color is good. It is not recommended at all. Changing your branding, again and again, is not possible therefore it is important when you are taking an initial step you should know when and how to go about it. The color you choose for your brand says a lot about you as it has a strong subconscious impact that most people do not know about.
Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!
