How to choose your brand color palette

From brand color psychology to tints, tone and logo color schemes, we demystify the color jargon so you can get on with the fun part – branding your business.

Why is your brand color palette so important?

When building a brand, your color palette is one of your most crucial considerations. Along with your tone of voice, fonts and brand values, it helps people understand who you are and why you’re here – which, in turn, attracts the right customers to your brand.

“Choosing the right colors for your brand is like putting the right clothes on in the morning,” says MOO’s Head of Design, Anna Ebubedike. “It all says something about what you stand for and represent.”

Nailing your brand color palette will help determine the look and feel of your company website, business cards, flyers and any other marketing material – keeping your brand consistent and in time, recognizable.

Start with some color inspiration

Just as your brand values shape your tone of voice, they should also be the foundation for your brand color palette. Start by creating a mood board of any colors and images you feel align closely with your brand identity. You can find inspiration anywhere – from packaging and fashion to nature and interiors.

You can follow artists you admire on Instagram, or use Pinterest to create dedicated boards by color. Pinterest is a great resource for pooling content, and by sharing boards with colleagues, you can widen your color inspiration net even further.

Consider brand color psychology

As you do your research, you’ll notice whether you’re drawn to warm or cool colors. The connotations and moods evoked by the hues you’ve chosen should also reflect your brand values and personality.

Color theory is the idea that any hue can be linked to a mood or value. When applied to branding, it’s also known as ‘brand color psychology’. Some of these links are instinctive, whereas others are a little more subtle. Whichever you choose, they can all have a big impact on how your brand is perceived.

Here’s a rundown of some common color schemes and their associations:

Yellow color palette

This sunny hue is on the warm side of the color wheel and is associated with positivity. Think of the golden arches on the side of a Happy Meal – a simple red and yellow color palette has worked wonders for McDonald’s.

Green color palette

Green is evocative of growth and nature – a link Tropicana has used to its advantage in its logo. From vibrant lime green to rich forest colors and khaki, a green color palette can be nice and varied.

Blue color palette

Blue has the benefit of projecting calmness, making it a sign of stability. If you’re a tech or finance business similar to PayPal, Visa or Samsung, a blue color palette is the way forward to convey reliability.

Black color palette

While black is a risky color, thanks to its associations with all things morbid, it also denotes sophistication. This link has been harnessed by numerous high-end brands, including Prada, Chanel and Gucci.

Red color palette

Fiery hues denote excitement, passion and energy. Red Bull, and their association with high-adrenaline sports, are a great example of a brand that has aligned color connotations seamlessly with their values.

Orange color palette

A mixture of red and yellow, orange is an invigorating, warm color that inspires creativity (think of the classic covers of your favorite Penguin books). Strangely, it can also create feelings of hunger or thirst, as it’s a common color in fruits and other food.

Purple color palette

Deeper, vibrant shades of purple generate associations with luxury, richness and quality. This indulgent hue has been used most famously by Cadbury’s chocolate, but also by premium card makers, Hallmark.

Once you’ve identified a dominant color that projects the right image for your brand, you can decide which accent colors will best complement it to make up your complete brand color palette. This is where the color wheel, along with color theory, really come into play.

Color terminology explained

If you’re not a designer, color terminology can be like reading another language. Here are the definitions of some common color terms you might come across when building your palette:

• Color wheel

A visual that demonstrates the relationship between the 12 primary (red, blue, yellow), secondary (purple, green and orange) and tertiary colors. This is a great tool for finding contrasting and complementary colors.

• Hue

One of the 12 single colors found on the color wheel.

• Tint, shade or tone

The different ways of transforming hues into a variety of colors. A tint is a hue mixed with white, while a shade is a hue mixed with black. A tone mixes a hue with black and white.

Creating a mixed brand color scheme

Once you’ve got to grips with the terminology around color and with the color wheel, you can start using your knowledge to build out schemes. A color scheme is simply the way colors are combined or arranged. Want more inspiration? Check out these eye-catching color combinations.

Monochromatic

A palette comprising just one hue, with different tones or shades. Think Oreo’s different shades of blue.

Analogous

A palette made from colors that appear next to each other on the color wheel. These combinations tend to be particularly harmonious, as seen in agricultural firm John Deere’s palette of greens and yellow.

Complementary

A color scheme comprising colors that are opposite each other on the wheel. If used on top of each other – for example, by applying red text to a green background – they will clash. But when used side-by-side they can help you create stand-out. Think 7-Up’s logo.

Compound

Also known as ‘split-complementary,’ this palette takes two adjacent colors on the wheel, and matches them with a color on the opposite side.

Triad

A palette built from three colors taken from evenly-spaced parts of the wheel. Burger King’s red, blue and yellow is a classic example.

Choosing and testing your brand color palette

Once you’ve got to grips with the color wheel and scheme options, it’s time for the fun part – playing around with different palettes based on your dominant colors.

If you’re finding it hard to choose a definitive final brand color palette, test out a few of your favorite combinations. You might find you haven’t picked colors with enough impact (for example, if you’ve chosen a monochromatic palette), or ones which don’t look the same when they appear in print and online.

It’s also worth researching how your colors compare to those of your competitors – too similar to competing brands, and you risk getting lost in the crowd – and what your colors mean in a global context. For example, in France and Germany yellow denotes envy, whereas in the UK green is a traditionally envious color.

The colors you choose can have a huge impact on the visibility of your business. Red Bull’s palette, intact since its launch in 1987, is so integral to the brand that seeing silver, red, yellow and blue together instantly brings the energy drink to mind.

If you choose your brand color palette carefully using these guidelines, you can use your colors with complete confidence. Next stop: getting creative with your logo color schemes, business card and website.

Ready to go further? Head to our beginners’ guide to branding for more tips.