May 11, 2022

How to choose the best colors for my brand identity?

Colors have the power to subconsciously evoke emotions depending on your brand’s personality. The more you understand who you are, the best choice of colors you will make to represent your brand.

Colors have the power to subconsciously evoke emotions depending on your brand’s personality. A basic rule is to pick the main color, base color & a light color to contrast. For example, Blue can be your base, White as the light color & yellow as your main color. The more you understand who you are, the best choice of colors you will make to represent your brand.

How do colors evoke emotion?

Colors are powerful. They create emotions, evoke specific feelings, and bring different associations to the minds of people. These associations are subjective but there are some colors that work more effectively than others.

When you think about colors and their effects on people, an image that comes to mind is probably the classic example of a company's logo or brand identity, with the company's name in bold letters, usually in one or two colors.

Blue appears to be the most popular color, with 33 percent of the top 100 brands using it. Red is the second most popular color, with 29 percent of brands using it, while black or greyscale is the third most popular with 28 percent. Last but not least, 13% utilize yellow or gold.

The color scheme for these logos is chosen with great care, as it will be used to identify their brand and products for years to come. This calls for a very important question: how do you choose the best colors for your brand identity?

The meaning of colors

Blue

Blue is a favorite among audiences. Companies that want to promote trustworthiness use lots of blue—it evokes images of the sky and the sea (which people associate with relaxation), as well as trust and security. Blue also conveys confidence and responsibility, making it an excellent choice for companies seeking to convey those qualities.

Examples: Facebook, Paypal, Ford

Red

Red says a lot: it's passionate and energetic, an attention-grabber that can also be provocative. It's not a hue that everyone can wear—it may not be right for your brand identity if you want to come across as more conservative or professional. But if you want to show yourself as a bold, exciting venture, red is an excellent choice.

Examples: Coca Cola, Red Bull, Netflix

Green

The color green has many positive attributes associated with it which may help you achieve your goals when creating a corporate identity for your company. The color green is associated with peace, security and freshness. Its different shades might help your organization establish a distinct corporate identity. Green is often connected with good health, as well as sentiments of calm and tranquility.

Examples: Whole Foods, Starbucks, Spotify

Yellow

Yellow stands out against other colors, which makes it an excellent choice for creating a business identity that's easy to remember. You might choose yellow because you want your brand to communicate a sense of optimism and happiness. Yellow also promotes creativity and encourages people to think outside the box. It can also help call attention to product labels at a store.

Examples: Snapchat, Post-it, National Geographic

Orange

Orange is associated with energy and playfulness, it could be just the thing for a younger generation looking for something young and vibrant. It is an excellent color choice for companies who wish to combine yellow's optimism and brightness with red's passion and vigor. If a company wants to portray an image of vitality or strength, then an orange logo would likely be an excellent choice for them.

Examples: Payless, Nickelodeon, Hooters

Purple

People associate purple with royalty, sophistication, nostalgia and mystery. The color purple is often associated with prestige, as it was once used to dye the robes of kings. A brand that has a sense of luxury and refinement may be best suited to this color. Purple also has connotations of deeper meaning and spirituality. This could be an interesting way to market your company if you want your brand to be thought of as deep or even slightly mysterious.

Examples: Cadbury, Yahoo, Hallmark

Pink

Pink is the combination of red and white – red is associated with passion, ambition, and power, while white represents purity, cleanliness, and peace. Put those two together and you have the color pink – a color that represents universal love of oneself and of others. Pink represents friendship, affection, harmony, inner peace, and approachability.

Examples: Hello Kitty,  Victoria’s Secret, Airbnb

Black / White

Black is often considered one of the most professional and traditional colors for a business. It's a powerful choice that can give a business an air of sophistication and an aura of timelessness, while also appearing to merge the classic and strong features nicely with luxury items. It may be used with other colors to create a more powerful mood while still maintaining its traditional charm.

White, on the other hand, has become popular in many industries because it is an easily accessible color that can be associated with products and services that fit into the major themes of purity and simplicity. One of the biggest benefits of using white in your brand identity is that it can evoke a sense of trust, which makes it an especially popular choice for companies in the healthcare industry. White also lends itself well to a variety of design styles and motifs, making it an excellent color for creating branding materials for both large organizations and small businesses alike.

Examples: Apple, The New York Times, Ralph Lauren

Brown

Brown is one of the most well-known colors used in logos. It comes in many different shades, ranging from light tan to dark chocolate brown. Brown is earthy, natural, and simplistic. It conveys strength and durability in its solidity and is often used by firms that want to remain traditional and reliable. Brown is soothing in its simplicity, especially when paired with lighter or brighter tones or metallic. However, it’s also the least favorite color among many countries with 20% of women and 27% of men disliking it. But with a bit of creativity, you can implement a brown that’s not so boring.

Examples: UPS, Hershey’s, M&M’s

The most important aspect of choosing color combinations is to project your message effectively. Combining different colors can bring a new meaning with new emotions to the palette. You should learn how different people respond to colors and try to use those combinations that will be interpreted the way you wish. If you can create a color scheme that your customer can identify with, it can help to attract customers and build stronger relationships in the long run. Here are some tools to help you find inspiration in building your brand palette: