Colours for Your Brand

Which colour do you think of when you hear the word ‘Facebook’? The colour blue. Branding colours are one of the very important tools to represent a brand. To construct a brand that speaks to your audience, it is important to pick the right colours for your brand that evokes a strong emotion in them. Here let us show you what colour psychology is all about and how to associate your brand with a colour that reflects the brand personality.

 

What’s colour psychology?

Colour psychology is the study of colours in relation to human emotions and behaviour. Colour influences our choices, emotions and moods. A Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung once suggested that “humans have universal, bodily response to colour stimulus” and “colours are the mother tongue of the subconscious”. The perception of colour varies from person to person, but there are universal meanings to certain colours. For example, warm colours, such as red, orange and yellow, evokes feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger, while cool colours give off calmness and also feeling of sadness. Through combining colour psychology with the best practices for branding, your brand can make a big impact.

 
Colours in branding

The concept of colour has long been an emotional element not only in design, but also in marketing and branding. Colour works wonder in cultivating emotional connection with your audience at the first second. A 2006 Cardiff Business School Study demonstrated how an appropriate chosen colour for a brand can bring inherent and immediate value to a brand, proved the fact that people tend to react more positively to products branded with appropriate colours. Another study also shows that 91% of interviewees could identify a brand by simply looking at its colour. It is therefore important to be consistent in using the same colour for your brand logo, website, advertisement and so on to strengthen brand awareness as a whole.

 
Meaning of different branding colours

Before you pick your colours, ask yourself these questions: What do you want your audience to feel when they see your brand? What is your brand like as a person? Knowing your brand personality as well as the meaning of colours is the key to determine the colours for your brand. Below is a general summery of the meanings of some common branding colours and how they can help reflect your brand identity.


– Red is associated with energy, passion, determination. It draws attention and symbolises importance.

Hysteric Brochure Design//Hysteric 小冊子設計
– Orange signifies vitality, happiness, optimism and friendliness. It calls to mind feelings of excitement, enthusiasm and warmth.


– Navy blue represents royalty, professionalism and security. It is trustworthy and sincere.

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– Green is the colour of life, health and freshness. It leaves a refreshing and youthful impression on people.

– Yellow evokes happiness and warmth. It is attention-grabbing and energetic.

 
– Pink symoblises femininity, tenderness and romance. It is joyful and vibrant.

 
– White stands for purity, serenity and perfection.

 
Basic colour schemes

As you pick your branding colours, it is important to keep a harmonious colour palette that is comfortable to the eyes. Avoid choosing an overwhelming number of colours. A brand colour scheme usually contains 1 to 4 colours, with one colour as the dominant colour, others as the accent colour and neutral colour. Still in a maze? Not to worry. Here are some basic colour schemes which you can make reference to when you decide on the colours for your brand.

▼Monochromatic:
Consist of colours of a single hue. The colour palette is expanded by adding variations in lightness and saturation to create a harmonious feeling.

▼Complementary:
Ultilises colours from opposite sides of the colour wheel to bring the best in each colour and to give a dynamic visual effect.

▼Analogous:
Use colours next to one another on the colour wheel to create a colour set that is pleasing to the eye.

▼Triadic:
Consist of colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel. Generally, one colour in the triadic colour scheme is used as the dominant one while the other two as a complement.

 
Your brand colour scheme is going to be applied to all aspects of your brand, so it is important to pick the colours carefully. That said, there is no absolute rule when it comes to weaving the perfect brand colour scheme. This article simply gives you an insight into branding colours. After all, it’s all about your instincts and creativity. There’s always a chance that you will get better results by getting colours outside of the boxes.

 
 

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A brand colour scheme is a crucial element in your brand identity. If you want to borrow our creative juices to weave your brand identity or are stuck in picking the most memorable and relevant colour for your brand, simply give us a call or drop us a line!

Tel: (852) 3460 5052
Email: info@ccplusmedia.com

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