Pick colours you can actually use. That means enough contrast for text to be readable, a version that works in one colour for print, and something that does not look identical to your main competitor. Colour psychology is real but weaker than the branding industry claims, and it varies by culture and context.
Key Takeaways
- Contrast comes first. A colour scheme that fails accessibility is a colour scheme you cannot use.
- Do not trust colour psychology charts. Blue does not universally mean trust, and the research is far softer than the infographics suggest.
- Check it in one colour. If it dies in greyscale, it will die on a fax, an invoice, and an engraved sign.
- Look at your competitors first. Being the fourth blue plumber in town is a positioning failure, not a palette.
- You need fewer colours than you think. One main, one accent, and a set of neutrals will carry almost any brand.
This blog post will cover the benefits of choosing the right brand colors, how color psychology impacts branding, tips for selecting the perfect colors for your company, and a step-by-step guide to picking the perfect colors. Plus, we’ll take a look at some examples of successful brand color combinations.
Why do brand colours matter?
Brand colors play an important role in how your customers perceive your business. The right colors can evoke an emotional response, create a sense of trust and credibility, and set your brand apart from the competition. But it’s not always easy to choose the perfect colors, which is why we’ve put together this guide to help you make the best decision for your business.
Let’s start by looking at the benefits of choosing the right brand colors.
What do the right colours get you?
When it comes to creating a strong and recognizable brand identity, brand colors are essential. Here are a few benefits of choosing the right colors for your business.
First, the right brand colors can help to differentiate your business from your competitors. When customers see your colors, they’ll be able to immediately recognize your brand and associate it with the products and services you offer. This will help to create a sense of loyalty and trust with your customers.
Second, the right brand colors can help to create an emotional response with your target audience. Different colors evoke different emotions, and you can use this to your advantage. For example, if you want to evoke feelings of trust and reliability, you might choose colors like blue and green.
Finally, brand colors can help to create a cohesive look and feel for your company. When your branding is used consistently across your website, marketing materials, and other visuals, it creates a sense of unity and helps to strengthen your brand identity.
Now that you know the benefits of choosing the right brand colors, let’s take a look at how color psychology impacts brand colors.
Does colour psychology actually work?
Color psychology is the study of how colors affect our emotions, behavior, and decision-making. Different colors can evoke different emotions, and this is something you should keep in mind when choosing the perfect colors for your business.
For example, blue is often associated with trust and reliability, while yellow is associated with optimism and energy. Choosing colors that evoke emotions can help create a strong and recognizable brand identity.
It’s also important to consider how colors are perceived by different cultures. For example, while red is often associated with love and passion in the Western world, it’s seen as a sign of danger and caution in Eastern cultures.
Now that you understand how color psychology impacts brand colors let’s look at how you can select the right brand colors for your company.
How do you select your colours?
When it comes to selecting the right brand colors for your business, there are a few things to consider. First, you need to think about the emotions you want to evoke with your brand colors. Do you want to create a feeling of trust and reliability? Optimism and energy? Take some time to think about the emotions you want to convey with your brand colors.
You also need to consider the colors of your competitors’ brands. You don’t want to choose colors that are too similar to theirs, as this can create confusion and make it harder for customers to recognize your brand.
Finally, you need to think about the colors that will work best for your target audience. Think about the colors that will resonate with them and create the right emotional response.
Now that you know how to select the right brand colors for your company, let’s take a look at the step-by-step guide to choosing the perfect colors.
What is the step by step process?
Choosing the perfect brand colors can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you pick the perfect brand colors for your business.
Step 1: Choose the Primary Color The first step is to choose your primary brand color. This is the color that will be used most often in your branding and should be the most recognizable color for your brand. Consider the emotions you want to evoke and the colors of your competitors’ brands when choosing your primary color.
Step 2: Choose the Secondary Colors Once you’ve chosen your primary color, it’s time to choose your secondary colors. These colors will be used to add depth and texture to your branding and should complement your primary color. Again, consider the emotions you want to evoke and the colors of your competitors’ brands when choosing your secondary colors.
Step 3: Create a Color Palette Now that you’ve chosen your primary and secondary colors, it’s time to create a color palette. This will ensure that your brand colors are used consistently across all of your visuals and create a cohesive look and feel for your brand.
Step 4: Test and Adjust Once you’ve created your color palette, it’s time to test it out. Try using your brand colors in different visuals and see how they look. If something doesn’t look quite right, adjust the colors until you get the perfect combination.
Now that you know how to pick the perfect brand colors, let’s take a look at some examples of successful brand color combinations.
What do good combinations look like?
Here are a few examples of successful brand color combinations to help inspire you.
Apple: Apple uses a simple yet effective color combination of white, black, and gray. This helps to create a sense of sophistication and luxury and sets them apart from their competitors.
Netflix: Netflix uses a vibrant combination of red and black to create a sense of energy and excitement. This helps to evoke an emotional response from their target audience and create a strong and recognizable brand identity.
Nike: Nike uses a bold combination of black, white, and red that creates a feeling of power and confidence. This helps to create an emotional connection with their customers and sets them apart from their competitors.
Now that you’ve seen some successful brand color combinations let’s wrap things up with a conclusion.
Will your colours actually pass accessibility?
This is the question that decides whether a palette survives contact with a real website, and it is the one most brand guides skip entirely. A colour scheme signed off in a design presentation and then found to be unreadable is an expensive thing to discover late.
The rule is straightforward. Normal body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 against its background. Large text and interface elements need at least 3 to 1. Plenty of fashionable palettes fail this outright, and light grey text on white is the most common offender by a wide margin.
- Test every text and background pairing you intend to use, not just the main one.
- Never use colour alone to carry meaning. Red text saying an error occurred is invisible to a colourblind visitor unless something else says so too.
- Check your palette in dark mode as well, because colours that pass on white frequently fail on a dark background.
- Around one in twelve men has some form of colour blindness. That is a meaningful share of your customers.
Doing this at the palette stage costs nothing. Discovering it after the site is built means rework, which is why we treat accessibility as a design input rather than a fix applied afterwards. A brand you cannot legibly print or publish is not a brand, it is a mood board.
Conclusion
Picking the perfect brand colors for your business is essential for creating a strong and recognizable brand identity. The right colors can help to differentiate your business from your competitors, create an emotional response with your target audience, and create a cohesive look and feel for your company.
By following the tips in this guide, you can choose the perfect colors for your business. Start by considering the emotions you want to evoke and the colors of your competitors’ brands. Then create a color palette and test it to ensure it’s the perfect combination.
If you need help creating the perfect brand color palette for your business, let Connect help you build your brand with the right colors. With our team of experts, we can help you create a unique and recognizable brand identity that resonates with your target audience.
We hope this guide has helped you understand how to pick the perfect colors for your brand.
