Colour and branding: What colour represents

Using colour for branding

Colour is fundamental for your brand identity. Colours need to be kept clear and consistent across all your branding and promotional material. Colour can be used to influence first-time customers and make your brand recognisable to returning customers. When it comes to colour and branding, you want to be clear and not too extravagant.

Choosing a colour scheme isn’t so straightforward as choosing colours you might like. While personal design choices are important, you should also consider what the target audience likes. Whether your business is an online site like bitcoin up, John Lewis or ASDA, branding and colour effects them all the same.

Colours and their representation

The creation of your brand needs to be developed to appeal to your target audience. A brand should be effective and appealing for them, and part of this is understanding colour. A branding campaign has many different factors, from the words to the font, and the name of the company. Everything needs to be carefully planned out to be consistent in a tone so that you can create a recognisable image. It is all integral to the identity of your brand, representing your ethics and ideals. It is the first thing your customer sees when finding your company. In many ways, these are some of the most important aspects of your business, at least from a marketing perspective.

There is no simple solution to finding the perfect colour for your company’s branding. Different tones can represent many different things, so make sure you research what colours represent before choosing one. Here are some things that colours could represent.

Red – intense, aggression, danger, and passion

Orange – vibrant, warmth, energy, balance

Yellow – idealism, hazard, joy, and optimism

Green – Environment, health, spring, and youth

Blue – Peace, calm, water, and harmony

Purple – Royalty, mysterious, ceremony, and spirituality

Brown – Outdoors, comfort, reliability, and simplicity

Colour branding in industries

Colour schemes tend to be shared amongst industries and professionals. Showing a demonstration that these colours have qualities that are representative of certain brands and industries. As blue represents technology, a sizable number of computing companies use blue tones. Facebook, Microsoft Teams and Intel all use blue. All these companies have recognised the significance of colour and its place in their brand. Users will also recognise it as a progressive and trustworthy colour from its tone.

Involve yourself with the process

Hiring a designer for your colour scheme may seem tempting, and it can be a good choice if you aren’t good at designing yourself. However, as it is your brand, you will understand what it means better than any designer. Your management team should have direct involvement with its design to make sure it stays true to your company’s image and brand.

Don’t overdo it

Some businesses may want to have an overly elaborate design, with intricate details. When it comes to designing, less is more. Simplicity is the best way to go to make a recognisable brand. Take companies like Apple or Samsung, both are simple and either uses a unique font or symbol. This is also all true with colour. If your branded colour is a bright red, it should be restrained when being used in your marketing, otherwise, it may come off as too strong. Similarly, avoid using your branded colour too much in your store (if you have one) if the colour is too bright. You can also use similar tones which compliment your brand’s identity.