The importance of colour in branding
Colour has been proven to have a have a significant physical and psychological effect on humans, for example it’s been found that puddings taste sweeter on white plates compared to black ones.
Specific colours can therefore be used strategically in branding to convey the right impression of your business, and subconsciously influence consumers to think of you in a certain light.
Why is considering your target market vital?
Whilst specific colours can generally be said to make us feel certain emotions and associations, variables such as life experiences, culture, age and gender can all influence how colours affect us. For example, warmer colours such as yellow and red are favoured more by children, and cooler colours by adults.
It’s therefore important to consider your target market carefully when making decisions about which colours to choose for your branding.
The effects of certain colours
Within branding, orange is used to mean fun and inexpensive, while blue suggests professionalism and dependability, as shown in the below examples.
This is of course dependant on the chosen shade. Most colours have a combination of positive and negative meanings, so you’ve got to consider both sides when making your choice.
Here are a couple more examples of colours and their uses in logo design:
Red
Positive: passion, energy, intensity
Negative: Danger, war
Red has been proven to physically stimulate the body, which explains it’s connotations of intense emotions. It also creates a sense of urgency, making it effective when used to advertise sales or short term offers. It’s also a bold colour, making it synonymous with danger and adventure. Red logos are therefore common in the entertainment industry.
Blue
Positive: calmness, stability, professionalism, dependability
Negative: sadness, predictability
On the other end of the spectrum, blue has been shown to be relaxing and to lower blood pressure and so is used in a branding to suggest tranquillity and reliability.
It’s therefore important to consider the emotional effects your branding colour will have on your customers and strive to create the feelings and associations you desire.
Warm vs cool colours
Considering the different effects that warm and cool colours have is important, as warm colours such as orange yellow and red represent happiness and energy whilst cool colours are perceived as calmer and more serious.
Contrasting colours
Choosing contrasting colours is often recommended in branding, as colours at opposite ends of the colour wheel are considered complementary, due to the fact that they look vibrant and don’t cause eye strain.
How we can help
Careful consideration of many factors is therefore required when choosing a colour palette for your branding materials. Our expert team of graphic designers can produce a bold and representative logo for your company, as well as branding for a range of other marketing materials such as banners, flyers and brochures.