How to choose your brand’s colour palette
Brand colours are an integral part of a brand identity contributing not only to the visual aspect of a brand but also to the emotional and psychological aspects. But with a wide spectrum of colours, tones and shades to choose from choosing your brand’s colour palette can become a bit more complicated than it needs to be.
Why colour is important for your brand
Colour is said to increase brand recognition by up to 80% [Source: University of Loyola, Maryland study]. This is because we humans tend to respond to and remember visuals, including colour more than our other senses. When it comes to purchasing habits a research study showed that 84.7% of the respondents thought that colour was an important factor for choosing products, while 92.6% said that visual factors were most important when purchasing products [source: colour consultant experts colorcom]. Colour matters.
To help you get started with choosing your brand’s colour palette we share some must-know tips.
1. Create a brand strategy
A brand strategy maps out the direction of your brand. That includes the colours you will use. As part of your brand strategy create a mood board to help inspire how you want your brand to look. Pinterest is a brilliant platform for sourcing and collecting images that inspire your brand colours.
2. Isolate key colours
Looking at your mood board identify common colours by taking note of the colours in the images you are selecting and why you feel they suit your brand. Use a colour-picking tool to isolate the top colours in your mood board and write down the generated numbers.
3. Understand what colours mean
Choosing colours that stand out to you is just one part of the process. Colours have various meanings based on peoples’ and societies’ perceptions i.e. red is a colour universally associated with danger and excitement. To ensure that you are creating a colour palette that effectively communicates what your brand is about do some research into the psychology of colours. This will help you to understand what the colours you favour are saying about your brand.
4. Cross-reference brand values
Once you understand what your chosen colours mean cross-reference the meanings with your brand’s core values. Then select the colours that align with how you want your brand to be seen.
5. Finalise palette
Play around with your selected colours until you get a group that works harmoniously together. For additional help, you can use online colour palette generators to find complementary and contrasting colours to consolidate and fill in any gaps in your palette.
We hope you’ve found the tips useful. Choosing your brand’s colour palette is just one of the handy topics we cover in our signature on-demand course: Refine and Elevate Your Craft and Design Brand.
– Tapiwa Matsinde
Reference: Why Color Matters by Jill Morton, Colorcom
The image shown belongs to Kaboompics.com via Pexels. If downloaded and used elsewhere please credit accordingly.]
