How to Choose The Right Color For Your Brand

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Just as a country’s flag represents the specific identity of a people, so, too, the color of a logotype defines the character of a corporation. It is instantly recognized by everyone and conveys a certain message. Choosing the right color for your brand is very important because this specific color represents your business’ attributes.

Color is a Powerful Branding Tool

What is the color of your brand? Color plays an important role and says a lot about you and your brand. Take as an example the Google logo. We can instantly recognize it from its characteristic colors.

What would the Google logo be without its current colors? What if it was colored gray?

While Google’s logo gallery features 1002 logos that include all these humorous cartoon modifications that we see on holidays, and major events, we all know that the combination of the blue, yellow, red and green letters is the distinctive symbol of this major search engine.

Color Bolsters Your Branding Attributes

Think of IBM, a company that is synonymous with Big Blue. Blue shows a sense of security and reliability. IBM’s blue logo, designed in 1972, makes a distinctive statement about the company’s expertise, innovation, service and trust, thereby reinforcing its strength in the industry. It is a great example of a simple, yet attractive and powerful emblem.

Color Enables Brand Recognition

How do you recognize your favorite brands? The color establishes the identity of business in the eyes of the client more than the actual letters within the logo. Think for a moment a few well-known brands, like Hertz, Avis, National Car Rental and Alamo. You instantly recognize their logo from a long distance because of their unique color.

Color Evokes Emotion

How true is that, indeed! A woman’s heart rate is said to increase when she is holding a Tiffany light blue box. Tiffany’s color is so important to the brand, they trademarked it.

Tiffany’s Blue Book catalogue was first published in 1878. It’s unique color is now known worldwide as Tiffany Blue, and has become an international symbol of style and sophistication.

Color Helps You Stand Out of Competitors

UPS is instantly recognized by its brown trucks. “What can brown do for you?”, was UPS’ former advertising slogan. The question is synonymous to “what can UPS do for you?”.

Companies use colors to express their brand attributes. You can do the same for your personal brand. However, be careful, the question you need to ask when choosing your brand’s color is not: “What is my favorite color?” Instead, the right question is: “What color best expresses my personal brand attributes?”

When I started my diet blog which have diet coupons and discounts I thought I would use a blue colored theme because that is my favorite color. I later realized that using a green color would better convey my message of health, relaxation, healing, weight loss, and youth.

So, What Color Is Your Brand?

Use BLUE, if your brand expresses authority, reliability, truth, intelligence, confidence, loyalty, integrity, wisdom, peace and/or trust.

What famous candy brand used the color blue to revitalize an aging product? M&M’s has been producing their colorful button-shaped candies in brown, yellow, green, orange and red colors since 1941. In 1995, they first introduced the blue color in their candies as an expression of their brand’s continuity, loyalty and authority in the market.

Use GREEN, if your brand expresses optimism, growth, relaxation, fertility, spring, nature, rebirth, luck, healing, youth and/or environment.

What brand boasts weekly sales of millions of bright green bottles filled with fresh-smelling hair care products? Garnier Fructis hair care products are designed to protect and strengthen the hair to reveal its life, beauty, and shininess. They are widely known for their green color that communicates growth, fertility and rebirth.

Use YELLOW if your brand expresses happiness, energy, caution, sunshine, warmth, joy, intellect, light, warning, and/or vision.

What city is often associated with yellow, thanks to the high number of its taxis? New York City of course! Over 12,000 yellow cabs have linked NYC to the color yellow.

Use ORANGE if your brand expresses competition, energy, force, success, encouragement, determination, productivity, potency, and/or vitality.

When my brother Alex, a certified residential energy performance inspector, launched his online venture of energy performance certificates in N. Ireland, he deliberately chose orange as the brand color of his business. He never regretted it!

Use RED if your brand expresses action, desire, passion, determination, power, potency and/or love.

What brand’s red color can be seen on vending machines, billboards and ads all over the world? Coca-Cola’s red color is instantly recognized everywhere.

Use PURPLE if your brand expresses royalty, ambition, spirituality, mysticism, dignity, mystery, inspiration, wealth, magic, and luxury.

What popular rock star uses purple to brand his name? Prince, of course. In fact, his 6th album is named “Purple Reign” and is ranked among the best albums in the rock music history.

What is your color brand? Have you associated your business with a color?