Why Colour Matters When Choosing Your Branding
When starting a company and trying to get your name out there, strong branding is extremely important. From your name to your slogan, logo and website, you need to think about every aspect of your branding.
And a big part of this is choosing the right colour scheme. These will be used for your logo, website, advertising, social media and any other graphic design elements you might be sharing. So it needs careful consideration.
Colours can evoke emotions and convey ideas and values in a split second. So, if you hope to attract customers and grow your brand, you need to choose wisely.
In the guide below, we’re going to share some of the key reasons why colour matters when choosing your branding, along with some tips on how to make the right choice.
Colour evokes feeling
Different colours can be used to evoke different feelings. For example, we often associate the colour red with love, which is why it has become the staple colour for things like love hearts and anything related to Valentine’s Day.
Similarly, we associate the colour blue with water and tranquillity, yellow with happiness and sunshine and green with prosperity, nature and health movements.
So you need to think carefully about what colours you choose for your branding and the feelings you want to evoke in consumers. It’s important to think not just about the colours that you like, but the connotations and what these say about your brand.
As you begin your branding journey, it’s a good idea to brainstorm some ideas of what you want your customers to think, and how you want them to feel when engaging with your goods or services.
Your branding should reflect your values
Following on from this first point, you need to make sure that the colours you choose reflect not just what you’re selling, but also your wider company visions and values.
Most brands will choose two or three colours to represent them. This is the sweet spot and it is not usually a good idea to go over three colours, as this can be overwhelming and distracting.
You need to think about which colour is going to be your base and it’s this colour that should be the dominant trait you want to appeal to your target audience. For example, if your company is focussing on eco-friendly products or trying to remain carbon neutral, you might choose green as your base colour.
Similarly, if you’re starting a luxury jewellery brand you might choose more opulent colours like black, gold or silver.
Once you’ve chosen your base colour, you can then choose one or two other colours that complement this and continue to reflect your company and your values.
This can increase brand recognition
Did you know that colour can increase brand recognition by as much as 80%? And it makes sense when you think about it.
If someone shows you those famous golden arches or a red and yellow colour pallet and asks you which brand it makes you think of, your mind immediately understands that it is meant to represent McDonald’s.
This is so important as one of the key roles of your branding is to increase visibility and awareness. So, by choosing the right colours, you can help to make your brand instantly more recognisable to your customers.
Colour can help you to stand out
Another key role of your branding is to make your brand attractive and to help your company stand out. Therefore, the colours you choose will play a big part in this.
To maximise your impact and stand out, it’s a good idea to choose a unique or engaging colour scheme wherever possible. This can be particularly important in a saturated market where you want to stand out from your key competitors.
In any case, it’s important to ensure that you aren’t simply using the same colours as every other business in your industry. Even if you want to use a similar base, always mix up the shades and do what you can to be different.
It’s something as simple as your colour scheme that can help to set you apart and attract new customers.
Certain colours have social and cultural implications
Something that is critical when choosing your brand’s colour pallet is the social or cultural implications of the different shades.
For one thing, colours can mean different things in different countries or cultures, so you really need to think about who your target audience is. For example, in China, red is considered to be a lucky colour, whereas in many other places in the world, particularly Ireland, it is green that brings you luck.
Not only this, but certain colours can be associated with different social or political movements. You’re probably familiar with the rainbow flag (also known as the pride flag) that uses a wide range of colours to reflect those in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Similarly, the Black Lives Matter movement which has gained huge traction over the last couple of years is represented by a white, black and yellow colour pallet.
This is why you need to be so careful when choosing your colours. For one thing, you want to stand out, but for another, you don’t want to distract from these existing brands or accidentally align your business with certain movements if you’re not really doing anything to support them.
Colours can make or break the sale
So there you have it, there are lots of reasons why colours matter in branding aside from just looking good or being a colour that you particularly like.
If you get your colour scheme right, you can evoke the right emotions in your target audience, attract new customers and increase sales. You can also boost your brand visibility and recognition.
Whereas, if you get your colour wrong, you could get lost in a sea of other brands or possibly even send out the wrong message to consumers about your goods or services. So always take your time and make sure you get it right.
