Blog: Selecting the right color for your brand

The psychology of color is an interesting and controversial topic in branding and design. Many of the facts about the psychology of colors and its persuasive capabilities consist of personal opinions. In this article we will discuss the elements a new brand identity needs to consider when selecting the right color for an identity.

Brands and color are very strongly linked because they offer an instant method to convey meaning without using words. Color is the visual component people remember about the brand followed by the shapes and symbols. There have been many attempts to classify consumers’ responses to color; the example above is one way of categorizing color and emotional response.

There are many misconceptions about the psychology of color as it is such a subjective topic that is backed up with so little factual information. The truth of the matter is that color is too dependent on personal experiences to be universally translated to specific feelings. Elements such as preferences, experiences, context and cultural differences have a major effect on how we perceive color.

Recent studies show that the relationship between brand and color hinges on the perceived appropriateness of the color that is being used for the particular brand. So the question is if the color fits with the brand?

In addition, our brains prefer recognizable brands, which is why color is so important when creating a new brand identity. Studies show that in order to stand out more, it is highly important to specifically use logo colors that are far different from your competitors.

And finally when it comes to selecting the right color, the appropriateness in relation to the product is far more important than the individual color itself. It is essential that you support your personality instead of trying to align it with stereotypical associations.

There is no clear set of guidelines for choosing the right brand colors however context is essential to consider. Without context selecting one color over the other doesn’t make sense. Businesses need to recognize that colors only come to play when they can be used to empower the brands desired personality.

This blog is written by Maha Basaddiq.

Skyne is responsible for a variety of successful and remarkable brand identities, including Mleiha Archeological Center in Sharjah, Clover in New York, JustEssentials in the Middle East and Kulturexperten in Germany.