16,777,216

That’s how many possible colors there are in the (digital) world. That’s a lot of f&#%’n colors! When it comes to building a visual brand identity, you might be asking, “how do I select my brand colors from this vast sea of seventeen million choices?”

Design with Intention

Of the roughly seventeen million colors that are considered web safe*, your brand should focus on just a handful. With rare exceptions, a brand should have three to seven brand colors. One to three primary colors, one to three secondary colors, and one to two base colors. All three sets of colors should play well together in at least some combination. How these colors are determined is where the practice of Design with Intention comes into play.

If you’re reading this, there’s a chance you’ve heard the concept of color theory and how it relates to brands and their target audience. This blog post is not about color theory, but if this term is new to you, it basically states that certain colors have certain sub conscious emotions or feelings associated with each one: like red and anger, blue and trust, green and health. When designing a brand’s visual identity, you want to consider color theory, but not rely on it alone.

If you look around, you’ll start to notice that lots of banks use the color blue in their logo or color palette somewhere. They want to instill trust right away without needing to know anything else about them. This is great, except now, every bank kind of looks like every other bank. Now, I’m not suggesting you abandon decades of research and scientific facts on a whim. I’m just suggesting to dig a little deeper. Dig deeper into what makes the brand special and draw inspiration from there too. It’s in those unique details that you can start to separate your brand from the pack.

Finding Inspiration for Unique Brand Colors

Brands following color theory aren’t necessarily bad, so if you’re stuck, that’s a good starting point. The next place to find brand color inspiration is in your field or niche, for example: coffee company = brown. I would say this is only slightly deeper than the color theory or maybe even vice versa. The last surface level of color picking comes from the name itself like if your team name were the Globo-Gym Purple Cobras it would make sense to use purple. Any of these ways, could creates some common or generic color palettes if you’re not careful. I think we can do better so let’s keep digging.

Think about where you brand is located or where it originated. This works especially well for small or local businesses or entrepreneurs. For example, if the brand is from Philadelphia, red, white, and blue could work since the city has deep roots in the founding of the United States, or green for love of the Philadelphia Eagles. Or if the brand operates in the beach town of Wildwood, maybe you draw inspiration from the neon colors from the Doowop history that is still present around town or the colors of the sand and sea themselves. These sources of color inspiration are great and could even help resonate with your target audience if they are geographically dependent.

In some special situations, you can look even further by looking at the personal history of the brand (or especially entrepreneur). When branding a local company, small business, or entrepreneur, you get the unique opportunity to get very personal in the visual identity. For example, if you own a food truck and you miss the honu turtles you used to swim with at home in Hawaii, you can incorporate the green from a turtle shell into your branding. That color doesn’t need to have anything in common with the food you make or the location you’re serving but makes your brand stand apart. If you operate a morning radio show and you can’t think of a better breakfast than the sandwich from your local diner, you can add the color of melted cheese to your brand and it still makes sense while setting you apart.

But Still Do Your Homework

You can combine any and all of these sources of inspiration to build your brand’s color palette, but they come with a catch. You still need to do your research. Research your competition locally and nationally to not blend in; research your area and the best businesses in it for how they use color; research the color theory for your niche and try not to use the polar opposite of the emotion you want to convey.

Your visual brand identity is in good shape as long as the brand colors:

make sense for your specific brand/ business/ company
don’t conflict with your brand goals, target audience, or tone
work well when used together and across different mediums

As you’ve read, there are lots of factors to consider when it comes to picking brand colors. Some factors are strategic and others are personal, but both can be equally important. Take your time, think deeply, do your homework, and design with intention! If you need help with your visual identity, feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to help.

I Need Help with my Visual Identity

Continue below for a few more examples of brands and their colors. Until next time…

Cheers,
Shawn