Crafting a unique identity for your business involves more than just picking colors and designing a logo. Selecting the right shades to represent you is often one of the first steps in creating an unforgettable brand image, but choosing appropriate hues can be intimidating. I hope this article and our business mentor programs will help you discover which colors best reflect your brand story.
Deciding on the ideal shade for your brand’s identity can be daunting, as color is one of the most influential factors in branding. Different colors carry different meanings and implications across numerous industries- so wisely selecting is crucial.
How to Identify the Right Color Choices For Your Business?
An additional complication when selecting colors suitable for your target audience is the potential ambiguity of who your intended viewers are. While it’s important to consider the psychological effects of your color choices, it is equally essential to be aware of their symbolic relevance. It can range from the historical background of a hue to how another brand has used it in its branding.
To get started, look at the color wheel and identify which feelings or messages you want your company to evoke with its color palette. There are three main categories: warm, calm, and neutral tones. Warm colors can produce happiness, while cool shades make us think of tranquillity or peace. Neutral hues like beige and grey have a much more subtle impact, but they still convey professionalism and stability.
According to women business coaches, colors are a fundamental element of branding, and different industries use specific hues to create their logos and other brand-related materials. For example, in the tech world, blues or greys usually dominate, while financial companies typically prefer reds and greens. But what is it about those colors that make them so attractive?
It turns out there’s a psychology behind color choice in branding. Blue conveys trust, security, and reliability, making it an excellent choice for tech companies. Red is often used to evoke energy, passion, and ambition – which makes sense for financial services whose job it is to make money! Meanwhile, green implies growth, health, and the environment – another appropriate option for the finance sector.
By understanding these industry-wide associations, businesses can use color to differentiate themselves from competitors and convey the messages they want to get across.
That said, it helps to have a basic understanding of the color wheel before you start.
Sometimes referred to as the ‘theory of colors,’ color psychology studies how different shades can evoke emotion and influence decision-making. For branding purposes, this means accurately matching your organization’s message with the right hue. Now that you know the science behind color choices, let’s explore each wheel section.
Primary colors – Red, yellow, and blue – are at the core of every other shade on the roller. You can use these to create bold statements for companies that want to stand out from their competitors. Remember: red symbolizes passion and strength, while yellow gives a sense of cheerfulness and optimism. On the other hand, we often associate blue with security and trustworthiness.
Next up are secondary colors – orange, green, and purple. These can help craft vibrant images for businesses that want to make a statement without taking too much risk. Orange generally implies enthusiasm, creativity, and determination; green speaks to health, wealth, and growth, while purple captures sophistication, luxury, and royalty.
And finally, there are tertiary colors – combinations of the primary and secondary hues. These offer a unique way for companies to combine two or more emotions into one message. For instance, olive green is famous for its combination of peace (green) and wealth (yellow), while we use brown to indicate reliability and dependability.
Explaining The Color Wheel and It’s Importance for Your Business
Choosing a color scheme for your company’s branding doesn’t have to be a daunting task, especially if you have the support of a small business mentor with you. With this knowledge of the color wheel, you can easily match the right shades to your goals – making difficult decisions much more manageable. But if all else fails, you can always hire an expert to help you get it right.
Let’s explain the color wheel and how it can help narrow down your color choices.
A color wheel consists of colors with the following distinctions: primary, secondary, tertiary, complementary, and analogous.
. We cannot make primary colors by mixing other colors. Red, blue, and yellow are the primary colors. They make people feel strong emotions like energy, trustworthiness, and happiness.
· Secondary colors are made by mixing two primary colors. Orange, green, and purple are secondary colors. They make people feel emotions such as creativity, balance, and calmness.
· Tertiary colors are made by mixing two primary colors. They are usually more subtle than other colors. Some tertiary colors are different shades of grey, brown, and pink. Tertiary colors can make people feel sophisticated, wise, or peaceful.
· Complementary colors are colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel. They look good together because they are a contrast to each other. For example, yellow goes well with purple, or blue goes well with orange. It can make your logo design more exciting.
· Analogous colors are colors next to each other on the color wheel. They usually only differ by one or two primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. Using analogous colors together creates a look where the colors go well together and evoke similar emotions. For example, using different shades of blue, green, and purple in your branding will give off feelings of trustworthiness and serenity.
Many international business mentors believe it is essential to think about how you want people to feel when they see your brand. It includes colors, logos, ads, and pages on your website. Some colors make people feel specific ways. Only choose colors that will make people think the way you want them to. With this approach, you can ensure that your branding connects with your audience.
Your base color is the most crucial and iconic to your brand identity, encapsulating the core characteristics that will draw in customers. After selecting a primary hue, you can choose accent colors that enhance and bring out the prominent shade. At the same time, neutrals serve both purposes of emphasizing the base color as well as providing contrast for more subtlety.
How to Use a Color Wheel in Branding
When using color in brand identity, a color wheel is one of the most valuable tools you can use. A color wheel is a circular chart that shows the different hues and shades available. It helps you quickly identify which colors work well together and which clash and create tension.
Using a color wheel in branding can help you establish a set of colors that reflect your brand values. Not only will it provide an aesthetic guide, but it can also inform your design decisions and create visual consistency throughout all aspects of your branding.
To use a color wheel effectively, you need to get business mentoring to help you find one that meets your needs. Many free color wheels are available online, or you can purchase one that caters to your desired color palette. Once you’ve identified the right wheel, take time to familiarise yourself with it and understand the relationships between the colors.
Once you understand all the different hues and shades about each other, experiment with a few to see which ones work best together. You can create your color palette, or if you’re feeling adventurous, you can use the wheel to create something entirely new.
When using a color wheel for branding, it pays to take some risks and be creative. While staying within your color palette is essential, you should also be open to trying new combinations. After all, there are no right or wrong answers – just what looks best for your brand. The key is to remember that the colors you choose will be associated with your brand identity, so you want to make sure they reflect its values.
Using a color wheel in branding is an effective way to create a cohesive and visually appealing design. With the correct understanding of how colors work together, you can create something that looks great and captures the essence of your brand. So what are you waiting for? Get creative with those colors!
You probably have an idea already of at least one color to use in your branding efforts, so find that color/hue on the wheel. Now, look at the four colors next to it. Those are analogous colors that will look appealing when used together. Or find your first color and look at the color directly opposite. Those are complementary colors that will also be appealing together.
Once you decide on colors with the help of online business mentors, the online color wheels will show you the HEX and RGB codes for each color. Write those down in a safe place, so you use those colors consistently with your website, social media pages, and products without having to look them up numerous times.
As the famous artist Marc Chagall once said, “All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites,” It is certainly apparent when looking at the color wheel itself. Choosing complimentary or analogous colors in a family that represents you and the image you want to portray is the first step toward branding your company.
Find The Perfect Colors For Your Brand With Coolers
If you don’t feel confident in choosing color combinations, I recommend you try Coolors.
Finding the perfect colors to bring your brand to life is never easy. Coolors offers an innovative and effortless way to explore thousands of color combinations and create the ideal palette for your branding needs. It’s an excellent tool for looking for unique, eye-catching colors to make your branding stand out from the rest. With Coolors, you can experiment with different color combinations and find the exact hues that match your brand identity. It’s also great to ensure brand consistency across your branding materials. So if you’re itching to get creative with your branding colors, check out Coolors.
The other way to get started with choosing brand colors is to create a vision board with the assistance of the best business mentors. Color themes will begin to show themselves through your vision board image choices. An unconscious color choice vision board can be a great tool to kick-start the thought process.
As you build your visual story and consider how each image represents how you want to express your brand, think about what colors you repeat in the visuals and which ones stand out most. What is it that attracts you to these particular colors? Is there a common theme?
Once your vision board is complete, take a closer look at the colors that stand out. You can even use color picker tools to narrow down each shade’s exact RGB and hex codes. It will give you a great starting point for deciding your brand’s color palette.
Go ahead and get creative with color! With some exploration and intuition, you can find the perfect combination of colors to make your brand stand out.
Here is my tip for finding out the hex code of the colors in an image on your vision board. If you have created a physical vision board, take a photo of it and upload the image to Canva. Even better if you make your vision board in Canva. Then, click on the page the image is on, select the color dropper, and scroll down the color menu until you find the photo colors option.
The right brand color is essential for any successful business – so take the time to consider all your options with our top business mentors and make the best decision for your brand. With our help, you can develop the perfect brand color strategy to elevate your business above the competition.
It’s essential to remember that you must consider colors within the scope of your overall design. Working with a blank canvas, you wouldn’t just add splashes of color; you’d need images, forms, text and other features that make colors stand out appealingly. It is what we mean when discussing the composition as one whole unit.
