In establishing a brand code and persona, it is critical to note the importance on color. As most companies know, their brand is more than just their logo, typeface, and slogan, but rather a brand is much larger picture. A brand can be as expansive or concise as you choose to have it. It is about evoking a feeling and visual conversation that correlates to your company’s services, goals, and experience. Color is a way to translate those abstract and intangible ideas to an outsider, and more importantly keeping your brand memorable.
Color plays a pivotal role in most everyone’s lives. It alerts us to certain objects and allows us to react appropriately. The color(s) of your brand can do the same thing, but first let’s go back to the basic and discuss what each color has been proven to evoke.
Colors
Red: passion, hot, classic, Americana, radical, bold, and establishment.
Orange: warm, mellow, new, inviting, fresh, retro, and friendly.
Yellow: solar, happy, fun, energetic, young, informational, and electricity
Green: natural, money, earthly, growth, trust, environmental
Blue: liberal, cold, conservative, freedom, trust, smart, large, and masculine
Purple: royal, vanity, romantic, elegant, eclectic, artsy, feminine, and risky
Brown: rustic, warm, established, old, earthy, hands on, service
Multi: well-rounded, global, youthful, expansive, and neutral
As you can see each color can symbolize a certain feeling or trait. Color can also be controlled by hue, tint, and the amount it is used. For example, if your company is a new bank, one idea is to use both the color orange and blue. Orange can represent the fresh new brand and the blue can represent trust and the conservative nature of a bank. Changing the lightness and saturation of those colors can also evoke different interpretations. The orange can be darkened showing a more rustic side and the blue can be lightened giving a friendlier and uplifted feeling. At the end of the day, it is all about choosing the right color and its variation that correlates best with your brand. Doing this can create a long lasting memory and visibility of your company: two attributes that all brands strive to achieve.
