What Are Brand Colors?
When building a bold brand that differentiates you from your competitors, color matters. Color sets the tone and speaks to your customers on an emotional level.
Brand Colors
A combinations of colors that contribute to the visual association of a brand with a company
When developing or refreshing a brand, color should be at the forefront of the process and researched thoroughly. For instance, recent studies have shown that color improves brand recognition by 80 percent and influences purchase decisions for nearly 85 percent.
General meaning of colors:
- Red
fun, bold, playful, induces hunger - Orange
happy, cheerful, playful - Yellow
optimism, creativity, warmth - Green
health, wellness, prestige - Blue
loyalty, security, trust - Purple
royal, wisdom, educational - Brown
earthy, familiar, natural - Black & White
timeless, simple, classic
The Psychology of Color
Color psychology is a deep dive into how color affects people’s perceptions. Understanding these effects is crucial in branding and marketing. Colors can elicit emotional responses and influence a person’s mood. Therefore, you certainly would not want your brand’s colors to make someone feel something counter to what your company or organization represents.
However, the problem with accepting broad-based emotional definitions of color is that you don’t truly get to the deeper personal feelings that colors evoke. Many factors determine how a color makes someone feel. Personal preferences, experiences, upbringings, and cultural differences all play a role.
So how does one choose the best color for a brand?
It’s context. Within the broad definitions of colors, there are many choices. The best approach is to hone in on certain aspects of colors and combine them with the contextual factors in which the brand will exist. Green can be associated with environmental and financial, for example. A branding professional will consider all factors when developing a brand palette.
Color Theory
Color Theory is the understanding of the practical mixing of colors to achieve certain hues and values. A color wheel is usually the basis for this understanding. A designer takes it further by referencing color scale charts that illustrate the outcome of combinations of hue, shade, tint, and tone. Mastering color theory is essential in developing the most appropriate color palette for a brand. Once the designer determines the best combination, they typically turn to the Pantone Matching System (PMS) to identify spot colors that closely match the palette generated by applying color theory. The numbered PMS colors become the foundation of the brand palette.
The Importance of Color
Our brains process visual content faster than text, so it is critical to have a brand that can communicate nonverbally. Color will make this process easier, helping people understand and recall information more easily. For example, think about how important a sports team’s colors are. From uniforms to merchandise to face paint, the team’s colors are so identifiable that they are used to express one’s allegiance to that organization. That makes color a very powerful tool.