How to Select The Right Color Palette for Your Brand
Your brand’s color scheme is much more than an aesthetic consideration– it’s a way of tapping into the emotion that lies beneath the unconscious to evoke certain feelings. When choosing a color to represent your brand, you should consider a few things:
Personality
You’ll first need to define your brand messaging to understand what the appropriate personality is for your brand and the unique point of view you’d like to share. What are your company values? What tone of voice do you want to speak in? You can determine which colors best represent these attributes through the process of association. For example, if you wish to speak to your audience in a calming tone, you might use a soothing palette of light blue hues but if you’re a bit bold and direct, perhaps a palette of chic reds would suit you best.
Perception
The colors of your brand play a large role in how you want your brand's personality to be noticed. Think about the perceived value you want to achieve: when a potential client discovers your brand, what impression do you think they walk away with? Research shows that consumers make judgments about products within 90 seconds, and somewhere between 60% and 90% of these judgments are based on colors alone.
Emotion
Think beyond your personal preferences and put your audience's emotional needs and desires first. Colors set an intentional mood and frame of mind for those engaging with your brand by appealing to how you want them to feel. By strategically selecting colors that are aligned with your targeting, you’re able to quickly convey meaning through your color scheme.
Harmony
Different combinations of color can dramatically change your tone and appearance, so consider how they all flow together. Do they flow harmoniously, or have conflict with too many contrasting colors? A palette of balanced colors helps express a sense of order, whereas a palette of too many color variants can be overstimulating and appear messy.
Build your brand with a little bit of inspiration
Create a vision board of color palettes, photography, textures and patterns to help envision the overall vibe you want your brand to reflect.
This process will help narrow down on your desired palette and visual identity as it’s easier to compare and contrast what’s working and what’s not with tangible materials. Once your color scheme is finalized it is important that your palette is applied consistently across any digital or offline brand assets to help achieve greater brand recognition.
Need help deciding which color palette is right for your brand? Book a consultation with us today.
