How to Choose the Right Brand Colors for Your Business
Hi, there! Today, we’re here to discuss how to choose the right brand colors for your business. Color has a lot more to say about your business than you might believe. The palette you choose evokes the feeling of your brand whether it calm, bold, fun or edgy. In this post, we will give you tips on how to build a lasting brand with your color palette. It is important to note that we touch on the ideas of Color Psychology, by Fiona Humberstone as a base to jump off of.
The Psychology of Color
No matter your type of business, color always plays a significant role in how others perceive your brand. Understanding the psychology of color will help you define a strong foundation to build a coherent brand. Color works quicker at a deeper, more intimate level than say, words or images do. To begin to understand color psychology, you must first learn about the four seasons and to which your business belongs.
The Seasons
Use seasonal personalities to better communicate your overall brand vision.
The first step to choosing your brand colors is to determine which season your business fits into. Each of the four seasons has a distinct personality that helps you select your business’ color palette. Before we dive in, it is important to note that each season has certain positive and negative qualities that characterize it. Once you find that you identify with a specific season, do your best to convey the positive characteristics rather than the negative.
Summer
Colors are cool, delicate, and muted. Feelings are elegant, graceful, muted, and romantic.
Likewise, the summer personality is dreamy, reserved, and efficient. As the temperature climbs, colors fade and the air gains a hazy quality. Examples of summer colors consist of lavender, blush, or a muted blue.
Autumn
Colors are bold, intense, passionate and warm. Feelings are authentic, organic, earthy, natural.
The autumn personality is authentic, energetic, and welcoming. Reminisce on the feeling and fragrance of leaves crunching beneath your feet. Active and independent, this personality includes muted, intense and warm colors.
Winter
Colors are cool, strong, and clear. Feelings are decisive, luxurious, dynamic, and strong.
The winter personality, like the season itself, is cool and uncompromising. Try to envision the cool, crisp air during the cold winter months. Decisive and practical, this personality is focused and clear in their approach.
Spring
Colors are light, bright, and clear. Feelings are energetic, positive, open, bubbly.
The spring personality, similarly to the season itself, is known to be full of life, colorful, and optimistic. Think about the colors you see when its springtime. Bright, vibrant, greens and yellows break through the cold and dark winter.
** Please make note. We barely skimmed the surface of all that Fiona has to say about Color Psychology and seasonal personalities. If you are interested in diving deeper, we highly recommend purchasing ‘How to Style your Brand‘.
The Colors
Next, it’s time to put together your brand colors. Below, we have given a small list of positive descriptors of colors. Keep in mind that, of course, each of these colors includes different hues you can branch out to. It is also important to know that there is no perfect formula or right or wrong answer for choosing your brand colors.
Purple
luxurious, visionary, purposeful, spiritual, truthful.
Blue
serene, intelligent, trustworthy, cool, forward thinking
Green
harmonious, peaceful, bountiful, restorative, restful
Yellow
friendly, optimistic, happy, confident, bright
Orange
passionate, energetic, creative, positive, secure
Red
strong, motivated, energetic, courageous, confident
Pink
romantic, compassionate, nurturing, tranquil, kind
Brown
warm, sincere, stable, grounded, wholesome
Black
sophisticated, bold, glamorous, dramatic, dynamic
White
pure, clear, illuminating, clean, fresh
Gold
opulent, successful, rich, wise, generous
Silver
reflecting, glamorous, illuminating, balanced, soothing
Gray
efficient, sleek, security, glamorous, sophisticated
Choosing your Brand Colors
Prioritize your business’ needs
As you reflect on different seasons and colors, you might find yourself confused or overwhelmed. Maybe you are torn between personal preference and your business’ needs. Ultimately, it is important to prioritize what is best for your brand. If you build a brand based on your own personal image, your brand’s message might not be communicated clearly. Furthermore, always prioritize your business’ needs over your own.
Narrow down your brand colors
Finally, it is time to narrow down your brand colors. It is important to have one to two primary, or neutral colors and two to three supporting, or secondary colors. Your primary colors will be used the most throughout your brand. It is important to include a dark and light neutral for your primary brand colors. For example, your dark primary would be used for the text on your website and the lighter primary would be used in background areas. While secondary brand colors offer a fun, unique addition to your business; they can become a distraction. Therefore, use them as text rollovers or buttons on your website or as accents on stationery pieces.
Resources to help you choose your brand colors
There are many resources available to help you choose the right brand colors. Pantone swatches are great to brainstorm your brand color palette. Our Pinterest board is a great place to help you create a color story. Coolors is a quick and easy color theme generator that can help you start creating your color palette. Fiona Humberstone, The Brand Stylist has many resources to help you improve your overall brand.
In Conclusion
Color is an extensive topic to cover in one blog post, alone. As a result, we have decided to curate a series of posts discussing color in more detail. Stay tuned!