Think of an iconic brand, say Coca-Cola. What springs to mind? The colour red. McDonald’s? The golden arches. FedEx? Orange and purple. You should now have reached the conclusion that ‘ The colour you select will become an intrinsic part of your brand identity and it’s not easy to change after the fact. Pick it carefully, however, and it can act to magnify your core message.
Colour Your Message
The thoughts and emotions that people associate with different colours are surprisingly consistent and you can use this to your advantage when choosing the colour of your logo. Decide the most important qualities that you would like your business to be associated with and then see which colours would be most suitable.
- Red – evokes strong emotions: passion, aggression and excitement. It is associated with strength, power and adventure. Choose red if you want to be seen as dynamic and forward thinking.
- Orange – is warm and approachable, associated with summer and sunshine. For some reason it is also linked in people’s mind with affordability and playfulness. It’s a great colour for young companies where enthusiasm and fun are important.
- Yellow – is even sunnier than orange; it’s bright and attention grabbing but it’s less positive associations include hazard warning and cowardice.
- Green – equates with nature and all things natural, and is great for environmentally friendly businesses, organic producers, fair trade companies – in fact, anything that resonates with earth and nature. It also has a strong association with Ireland.
- Blue – speaks of corporate responsibility and serious minded business. For this reason it is one of the most popular logo colours and is often used by international conglomerates and governments. It evokes feelings of trust, security, success, loyalty and calm.
- Purple – has long been a colour associated with royalty, dignity, mystery and spirituality. It is also seen by some as sensual and romantic, though by others as vain and decadent. Purple is also the international colour of feminism.
- Pink – is one for the girls – flirty, fun and flippant.
- Brown is solid and trustworthy, associated with nature and construction. It’s a warm, neutral and slightly masculine colour.
- Grey – is your colour if you’re cool and sophisticated and serious about business. It speaks of security and stability, trustworthiness but can be seen by a younger audience as a little dull.
- Black and white – work well together and can make an impact – indeed most colour logos will also have a monotone version. However, there is a danger in that they won’t show up properly on either black or white background.
- Multi-coloured – logos seem to be popular with Internet and tech companies, for example, Google, Microsoft and eBay. This is indicative of a wide choice of products or services.
But be careful – if one colour stands out from the list as being particularly suitable, your competitors may also have found it a suitable colour. Check out your rivals’ logos and avoid choosing a similar colour. If your heart is set on, say, red but your nearest competitor has a red logo, consider using it in combination with another colour. If you’re a global company, you might also want to take into consideration the cultural implications of colours in the markets where you do business. For example, red is lucky in China, while in parts of Asia white signifies death.
Before you make your final decision, look at versions of your new logo in a variety of colours – one might leap off the page and you’ll know it’s the one for you.
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