Color plays a crucial role in how we perceive the world around us. As a result, it can affect how we connect with a brand. But, how do you choose a brand color scheme that’s relatable, meaningful, and attention-grabbing?
As each brand is different, there is no right way to choose a color scheme for your brand. However, there are some factors to keep in mind. After all, it’s more than just putting a few colors that compliment each other together. Check our top 5 recommendations below.
How to Choose Your Brand Color Scheme
1. Define Your Brand Identity and Emotions
Your brand color scheme should represent the spirit of your business. Before choosing your brand colors, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- What do I want my brand identity to be?
- What message do I want to convey?
- Which emotion do I wish to evoke from customers?
Each color represents a different emotion and meaning. So, we recommend you list down the emotions you would like to evoke. Then, use this list as your guide in choosing and narrowing down colors. For example, if your brand has high energy, you may want to consider using bright and vibrant colors, whereas if it’s serious and mature, you may opt for more muted tones.
2. Consider Target Audience
This factor is undoubtedly the most important one to consider. After all, what’s the point of deciding on a brand color scheme that won’t attract the right audience?
Color perception is not a one-size-fits-all experience, and results vary depending on the age group, gender, and cultural upbringing. Once you have a customer persona reference developed, consider the general guidelines below for each category.
- Age: It’s believed that as we get older, our retinas deteriorate. This deterioration makes it challenging to process brighter and warmer colors such as red, yellow, and orange. So if your audience is over the age of 65, stick to cooler tones such as greens and blues. If, however, your target audience includes teenagers or children, bright colors such as yellow and orange are ideal. Adults, however, usually prefer neutral colors such as black, grey, and white.
- Gender: Don’t box gender preferences with old stereotypes. Forget about girls liking pink and boys liking blue. Studies have shown that men generally tend to gravitate towards bright, vibrant colors, while women prefer softer tones. Orange, brown, green, and blue shades are seen as safe choices as they are accepted by both genders. So if your target audience includes both sexes, consider combining both warm and cool colors.
- Culture: If your brand wants to attract an international audience, you should research symbolism and the cultural meaning of the colors you may be considering. For example, in western countries, black represents luxury, elegance, and boldness, while in the Indian culture, black is evil. In the west, red is the color of passion, love, or danger, whereas, in the Far Eastern cultures, the color is associated with prosperity and good fortune.
Different colors symbolize different things. So, putting yourself in the shoes of your target audience can help you understand their needs and perception. And don’t hesitate to test different color combinations.
3. Research Your Competition
Go ahead and research your top competitors to see what their brand strategy is. Look into their strengths and weaknesses as well as use your color psychology to your advantage to stand out from the crowd.
For instance, if your competitors are using warm colors dominantly, maybe look at contrasting choices. You don’t always have to follow the rules and trends. Potential customers can be attracted to your brand simply for being different.
4. Use Whitespace
Don’t underestimate the power of white and neutral colors. While having a strong color scheme is recommended, you don’t want to overwhelm your audience.
So, contrasting and combining bright colors with a neutral palette will give your design and user’s eye a little space to breathe. Additionally, it will make your images stand out and make your text much easier to read.
5. Don’t Forget About Color Blind Users
The color scheme you choose should of course be eye-catching, but it’s equally vital for it to be accessible.
Although people with visual problems like color blindness belong to a small population, you should make your designs attractive to as many people as possible.
Make sure that even those who are color blind can read the text and understand the message and emotion you wish to convey.
Wrap Up
There’s no magic formula to find a color scheme that fits everyone. The colors you decide on can aid in your company’s success, so you conduct some research and experiment to discover what works best for your business.
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