Updated Jun 30,2024
Graphic Design

How do you choose the right brand colors?

When was the last time you went to the supermarket and chose a product that you had never used before? Why did you choose that? Maybe you have been recommended or maybe you were persuaded by the product package or whatever. Research shows that product visual factors such as the product package regulate 92.6% of product purchase decisions. This is why brands want to make product packaging design outstanding with colors and graphics. However, every brand has a distinct color palette that is used in all brand visual appearances from logos to advertising with brochure design. It’s called brand color. For instance, you can consider Facebook as an example. The logo and internal layout design of Facebook are associated with blue-white color composition. If you see this combination anywhere else, it would remind you about Facebook at first glance. Similarly, you can recognize popular brands by seeing their logo or just the brand color.

Having earmarked brand color palette is a burning issue for brands. It influences brand recognition, and brand awareness and sets your branding design apart from competitors. When deciding on brand colors, you need to consider a lot of things. To help you in this regard, here is a complete guide on how to choose a powerful and effective brand color for yourself. We will touch up all the necessary things you should do about this. So, let’s begin,

Why Should You Specify the Brand Color?

how do you choose brand colors

Brand color is just as important as the brand logo. Specifying a brand color palette and establishing it in all brand visual appearance comprehends in brand strategy. Whether it is a new brand or an existing one, having unique and striking brand color helps to construct your brand's visual identity. Besides,

  • It represents your brand uniquely

  • Call people’s attention

  • Spark off emotions towards the brand

  • Professional color gives you a professional look

  • You are more focused

  • Consistent branding

However, you have to count the unique appeal of each color. Color has an immediate effect on people's minds and their perceptions. Different colors evoke different emotions and affect human behavior differently. Therefore, before determining the right brand color you need to do thorough research on color theory and color psychology. If you choose an asymmetrical color palette for branding design, it will be enough to waste all your efforts. And you will get no better results at the end of the day.

What Color Should You Choose As Your Brand Color?

choose right brand colors

There are tons of colors around us. Among them, three colors are considered primary colors which are Red, Yellow, and Blue. Then comes secondary and tertiary colors which are combinations of primary and secondary colors. However, the color you should choose for your brand color depends on some important aspects. We will highlight them in the next part of the article. Psychologists and color scientists go through research to find the effect of color on the human mind and emotions. As a result, we can now identify colors to invoke exact emotions by associating happy color, sad color, cool color, warm color, etc.

If you are helping yourself to choose the color of the brand, it would be better if you fixed the brand logo at first. Because most of the time, logo color plays the role of branded color palette and it is important also to have the brand color on your logo. The best you can do is, go to a professional logo design service. They will take the job and build a unique and creative logo for you. For your convenience, here are some familiar colors and their meanings.

  • Red is a powerful, energetic, and bold color

  • Green refers to natural, clarity, and positivity

  • Pink means nurture, care, love, and feminine

  • Purple is a distinguished, deep, and creative color

  • Navy blue spreads trust, loyalty, peace, and confidence

How to Pick the Right Color for Your Brand?

right brand colors

It is now clear that choosing brand color is not kids’ stuff. It is a professional job and so it should be given to professional designers so that you can get the right color for your brand. Besides, if you do some research, you can pick the brand color on your own. So, how do you research it? To find the right color for your brand, here are some important things to look for.

Identify Your Brand Image

First of all, you have to take into account what type of brand you are. In the above, we have seen that each color has a separate emotional appeal. Therefore, you have to consider which color establishes your brand appearance perfectly. For instance, if you are a brand that serves organic food products, your brand color should be green. If you are a financial institution, you can choose blue to expose trust and professionalism. Similarly, you can see restaurants and other food manufacturing organizations use red, orange, or yellow to grab attention. So, what kind of business or service you offer will determine your brand color palette.

Competitor Research

Competitor research is an excellent way to get some clues and inspiration. If you are in a situation where you have no idea about what your brand should be, you can get a look at other similar brands which are supposed to be your competitor. However, competitor research is a vital part of present online and offline business marketing. Competitor research reveals interesting information about competitors. That’s why it is said that competitors understand your business the best. But you also should have in your mind what Jack Ma said “You should learn from your competitor but never copy. Copy and you die.” You can use the same color that your competitor uses in their logo, but you should build completely different logo research to make sense but don’t copy a little thing of you.

Know Target Audience

Besides competitor research, you have to get a closer look at your target audience’s behavior, and attraction and consider their likes and dislikes. It is important because when you have a good idea of your target audience, you can find the instigating color which can turn the audience into customers. The color should be encouraging and should come as touching to the audience. You also need to consider online appearances such as website user interface and application if you have any.

Not More Than Two Colors

Branding design should be simple and aesthetic. Using multiple colors on-brand assets isn’t so good. Because simple things are easy to remember, therefore, simple color combinations can make a good way for brand recognition. Brand color selection should be authentic and value-driven. For the logo, it is better to keep it with monochromatic color. But for other brand materials such as brochures, business cards, letterhead, etc. you have to choose secondary colors. In such cases, you can use different tones of the brand color or combine them with other colors. But keep in mind that using many colors can distract the audience's attention.

Combine It with Other Colors

When you have specified brand color, you can further combine it with various colors to find unique color forms to use in your purpose. Don’t have good knowledge about different colors, you can use design tools like Illustrator. Illustrator has a color picker through which you can find all the colors in available moods from softer to brighter tones. So, you can easily make ideas about each color and also combine primary, secondary, and tertiary to get a more authentic color form.

EndNote

If you are intended to select a brand color on your own, the above discussion will guide you so you can select a standing brand color. This knowledge will help you to choose successful colors for your marketing and advertising materials and all brand appearances.

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