One of the most important aspect of your brand is your Logo. It is the face of your business, and representation of what your business stands for, and color plays key role. Sometimes the color of the logo transcends the logo itself (think of Barbie, or McDonald’s golden arches).
So how do you choose the perfect colors out of almost limitless color combinations?
Here are a few aspects to consider:
Mood
There is no question that colors evoke a certain mood. Choosing the right colors can tell your customers a lot about how you want your business perceived. Understanding the psychology behind colors can help you choose the right colors to tell your story.
- Red: Passion, energy, anger, love, aggressiveness, intensity
- Yellow: Joy, sunshine, happiness, energy, fresh, sunshine
- Blue: Conservative, trust, peace, confident, calm
- Green: Nature, growth, fresh, hopeful, calm, money, safety
It is important to have an understanding of the symbolism behind certain colors in different cultures, especially if you are planning on doing business with them. For example in India the color red represents purity, love, and fertility. It is often a prominent color worn by Indian brides. Contrast that with western culture, where white is the color choice of most brides and represents purity, and innocence. If you do business with other cultures, you should understand what your logo colors symbolize.
Review
- What mood do you want you logo to evoke?
- Are you planning on doing significant business with other countries/cultures?
Resources:
- Color Meaning
- What Does the Color of Your Logo Say About Your Business? (Infographic)
- Cultural Meanings of Color and Color Symbolism
Color Scheme
Consider the story you are telling with your color scheme. Colors can each evoke a different mood, but when combined can tell a unique story. For example a logo that is yellow and green can represent joy, happiness, energy, nature, environment, freshness, and growth.
Choosing a limited number of colors can help simplify your message. On the other hand a colourful logo can also tell a story. Consider the message you want to send.
It is also important that your color combinations work well together. Certain colors and shades can clash, have not enough contrast (making your logo hard make out), or cause color vibration.
Review
- Does your color scheme tell the right story?
- Does each color work together to tell the story?
- Do your colors work well together (is your logo easy to read, do the colors look good together)?
Resources
Relevance
Take a look at the colors in your industry and you will start to see a pattern. You don’t often see a purple bank logo, or a brown toy logo. That’s because people often associate colors with certain industries making it easier for businesses in those industries to indicate to their customers what to expect.
That’s not to say that you can’t do something completely different, but it’s important to understand the industry standard, and whether your business would benefit from being different, before we break the rules.
If your business is doing something completely different, it might be beneficial to differentiate your business from the industry, telling your customers that your business is unique and different.
There can also be a lot of value in having your business associated with an already established industry. Having similar colors as other, similar, businesses can build trust, and make your message clear to your customers.
Review
- Can your business benefit from associating itself with other companies from the industry?
- Do your customers expect a certain color? Would they be confused if you chose something different? (Think pink and purple for a bank)
- Is your business doing something completely different in your industry?
this is great, Joelle! I’m definitely going to send this to people who need help with branding their biz/logo.