Choosing the right colours for your business can be daunting- there are so many to choose from! But a colour palette that works in harmony together and attracts your dream client is worth the effort. No one wants to spend all their time and energy building an amazing business to then have all the wrong people popping up in your emails.
Having a set of colours that represent your business is the best starting point when creating your visual identity. (It’s where I begin with all of my clients and I always advise anyone looking to DIY their branding to start)
Follow this simple method and you will have the best colours for your brand that you can then use in your logo, website, social media posts, and other design elements.
Know your brand identity
To begin with I want you to think of your business as a real person, When you think of a business as a living breathing person it’s so much easier to describe it. Ask yourself what makes them different from everyone else.
Write down 4 adjectives that describe them.
Here’s a cheat sheet to give you a helping hand
These are part of your brand’s identity and will help you to find the perfect brand colours.
What are your brand values?
Still thinking of your business as a person, what values does she/ he have. What matters to them as they go through life.
Choose 4 values that matter the most
For example, the values for my business are:
Caring and compassion
Creativity
Originality
Optimism
Write them down in a list.
You should now have 8 words that capture the essence of your brand, we are now going to turn these words into your brand’s personal colour palette.
Brainstorm a list of colours that you believe represent your brand
I love to brainstorm with a big piece of paper, dumping all those ideas in my head in one place. (Braindump). You’ll have had loads of ideas about the colours you think would fit your business this is the time to get them down on paper.
Write the name of your business in the centre and then get those colour ideas down. At this point, you can put down colours you like and dislike, yes get them down even if you dislike them, just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it might not fit your brand and this is all part of the creative process. You don’t want to rule something out that could be the perfect fit. This is your starting point for finding those perfect brand colours.
Experiment with Colour Psychology.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when choosing colours for your brand. In fact, there are more than 7 billion different combinations of colours out there. You only have to do a search in Google to see. So, before you start down the rabbit hole and end up on Pinterest wondering how the hell your ever going to decide between blues, oranges or yellows with a hint of red, experiment with colour psychology. This will help you understand what makes certain colours work better than others.
But wait before you run off and become an expert in the psychology of colour, which may take a bit longer than you have, you only need to know about the colours that fit the brand you are looking to be.
Remember those 8 words and represent your brand’s identity? This is where they come into play.
Every colour has its own meaning, evokes a different emotion and can have an effect on the person looking at it, this is colour psychology.
You want to research each of the words and find the colours that represent them
Now you have a selection of colours that all relate to your business!
See that wasn’t too painful, was it?
Narrowing down your colour choices
You now have 2 lots of colours, one of which you believed represented your business and the other that speaks for the values of your business.
Woohoo, congratulations on getting this far. But you’re now wondering how the hell am I going to choose from all these?
Don’t worry we are getting there.
Look at both of your lists and pull out the colours that appear on both. Even if you don’t personally like the colour, it fits into the brand you are trying to build as they evoke a part of brand’s identity.
Say hello to your big contenders.
Howdy, you lovely lot!
How many colours for a brand?
This is a big question I always get asked, the answer is always the same 1-3 main colours or primary colours as I call them. These can then be paired with your secondary colours, these colours complement your main selection, I’d stick with 1-6 colours in this section.
Choosing your primary brand colour
Now you need to find the perfect colour combination that will make your brand shine. Different colour combinations give different meanings and this is where your research into colour theory comes in handy.
Let’s begin with just choosing the one main colour for your brand, you can add more later. Choose the colour from what’s left on your list that fits perfectly with your brand identity/values.
From this colour, you can then experiment with different shades or tints to find the one that fits your brand.
If you need a little inspiration go and look at some of your competitor’s colours, the business you are in will usually have a specific trend of colour choice. Do the colours you have on your list match these trends? Or do you want to go against the trend as your brand is unique?
Wellness businesses use shades of blue, oranges or even greens to express vitality, relaxation energy or optimism.
Health and nutritional businesses usually incorporate greens, browns, and oranges to signify health, taking action and growth.
Corporate businesses tend to keep to blues that give a sense of trust, and capability. You see it is used as the brand colour for many banks.
To do this you will want to see the colour and the different options available to you, you can do this right here https://coolors.co/color-picker all you need to type in your colour choice and you can find all the different shades and tints underneath.
Play around with your colour until you find the one that sings to you and your business.
Take a note of the Hex codes for the final colours you decide on.
Choosing your secondary
brand colours
For your secondary colours, you want colours that complement your primary colour. You can go in a few directions to choose these colours.
Analogous colours
These a 3 colours that sit next to each other on the colour wheel.
Complimentary colours
This is the colour that sits opposite your primary colour on the colour wheel.
Monochromatic Colours
These are tints or shades of your primary colour, that then strengthen the colour.
You can use the Coolors website again to help with this, add your final colour to the colour picker and down the page, you will find the different options for each of the different types of colours you could use.
For each of your primary colours, you should pick 1 or 2 complimentary colours. If you are struggling with this part you can use an online generator to give you some inspiration.
Make a note of the colour codes of your choice of colours.
The time has come to put your brand colours to the test.
Now you have your colour scheme it’s time to test it out and make sure they are working in harmony, and all importantly fit with the brand you envisioned.
Using Coolers again use the palette generator and add in all the colour codes you have chosen for your brand colours.
How do they look?
Do they scream that’s my brand?
Will your dream client be attracted to them?
If you answered yes to all the above questions, then you know have you your brand colours… congratulations.
