Brainstorm Your Brand: How to Choose Brand Colors

When decid­ing how to choose your brand col­ors there are sev­er­al things you should con­sid­er. Design and col­or are pow­er­ful tools for cre­at­ing a strong brand iden­ti­ty. When used as an essen­tial part of your brand strat­e­gy they can set you apart from your com­pe­ti­tion and help you make a last­ing impression.

Always begin with the end in mind. Before you begin to con­sid­er your brand col­ors and design it’s imper­a­tive to know exact­ly what impres­sion you’re try­ing to make. You want to choose designs and col­ors that best embody your brand and con­vey the mes­sage you’re try­ing to communicate.

It’s also good to have an idea of who your tribe/core audi­ence is. This will allow you to cre­ate designs and a col­or palette that res­onates with them and keeps them visu­al­ly engaged.

Think about your brand. Exact­ly how do you want to rep­re­sent your brand?
Ask your­self these 10 questions.

1. Is your brand serious? 
2. Is your brand fun/funny?
3. Is your brand energetic/vibrant/athletic?
4. Is your brand welcoming?
5. How do your col­ors and designs fit with your brand’s vision and mission?
6. How does your tribe/core audi­ence see your brand?
7. How would your tribe/core audi­ence describe your brand?
8. What emo­tions do you want to evoke with your brand?
9. How do you want your brand to be remembered?
10. How do you want to rep­re­sent your brand’s character?

When Choosing Brand Colors Consistency is Key

Once you have the answers to the above ques­tions it’s time to estab­lish your col­or palette and design style. Keep in mind con­sis­ten­cy is key. Hav­ing a con­sis­tent look through­out all of your brand­ing will help you cre­ate a strong visu­al iden­ti­ty that your tribe/core audi­ence will res­onate with.

When select­ing col­ors, con­sid­er the mes­sage you want to con­vey. Dif­fer­ent col­ors evoke dif­fer­ent emo­tions and con­vey dif­fer­ent mes­sages. Choose col­ors that best embody your brand’s per­son­al­i­ty and val­ues. For exam­ple, con­trast­ing col­ors can cre­ate a vibrant look, while com­ple­men­tary col­ors can cre­ate a more sub­tle effect.

But also don’t be afraid to be rad­i­cal­ly dif­fer­ent in a good way. Be cre­ative with your col­or choic­es. there are times when it’s appro­pri­ate to use unex­pect­ed or uncon­ven­tion­al col­ors. This can help make your brand stand out from the com­pe­ti­tion. Just be sure those col­ors are con­sis­tent with your brand.

Typography Too

When design­ing your brand­ing mate­ri­als, typog­ra­phy is anoth­er thing you need to con­sid­er. Along with your col­or palette, the fonts you choose should show­case your brand’s vision and mes­sage. Think about how you can use typog­ra­phy to help your mes­sage stand out.

Select 2–3 com­pli­men­ta­ry fonts that embody your brand’s per­son­al­i­ty and val­ues. Look for fonts that are easy to read and con­sid­er using a bold font to empha­size key­words or phrases.

Final­ly, con­sid­er how your col­or palette and typog­ra­phy work togeth­er. Do they look cohe­sive? Do they rep­re­sent your brand in a way that draws atten­tion and res­onates with your tribe/core audi­ence? Do they fit with your brand’s vision, mis­sion, and message?

There’s a whole lot more to brand design than choos­ing a few col­ors and a cou­ple of fonts. By using design and col­or effec­tive­ly, you can cre­ate a strong visu­al iden­ti­ty for your brand that will help it stand out from your com­pe­ti­tion and res­onate with your tribe/core audience.

10 Additional Tips to Keep in Mind When Choosing Brand Colors

• Use a lim­it­ed col­or palette – Choose col­ors that com­ple­ment each oth­er, and lim­it the num­ber of col­ors you use. This will help cre­ate a more uni­fied look.
•  Con­sid­er your tribe/core audi­ence – Col­ors that may be appeal­ing to one audi­ence may be off-putting to anoth­er. Think about who you’re design­ing for and choose col­ors that will res­onate with them.
• Know the basics of col­or the­o­ry – There are a hand­ful of col­or com­bi­na­tions that work well togeth­er, such as com­ple­men­tary col­ors, anal­o­gous col­ors, tri­adic col­ors, and split com­ple­men­tary col­ors. Famil­iar­ize your­self with these to cre­ate well-bal­anced designs.
• Con­sid­er the back­ground – The col­or of the back­ground can affect the over­all look of the design. Make sure the col­ors you choose will look good against the back­ground you’re using.
• Use col­or to draw atten­tion – Col­ors can be used to draw atten­tion to impor­tant ele­ments in the design. Use bold, bright, or con­trast­ing col­ors to draw atten­tion to the most impor­tant elements.
• But, use bold col­ors spar­ing­ly– Bold col­ors can be used to draw atten­tion to impor­tant ele­ments, but too much bold col­or can be over­whelm­ing and distracting.
• Use col­or to cre­ate a hier­ar­chy– Col­or can be used to group relat­ed ele­ments and cre­ate a hierarchy.
• Use a dif­fer­ent col­or for each lev­el of the hier­ar­chy to make it eas­i­er for users to iden­ti­fy what is important.
• Use shades and tints – Mix­ing shades and tints of the same col­or can add depth and inter­est to a design.
• Test for acces­si­bil­i­ty– Make sure the col­ors you choose are acces­si­ble and leg­i­ble for peo­ple with col­or vision defi­cien­cies. Use tools such as Col­or Ora­cle or Vis­check to test your design.

Bonus Tip

• Con­sid­er the mes­sage you want to con­vey – Dif­fer­ent col­ors evoke dif­fer­ent emo­tions and con­vey dif­fer­ent mes­sages. Choose col­ors that are appro­pri­ate and that best reflect your brand and its message.

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