- Color is one of the most remembered elements of a visual brand.
- A keen awareness of color impact is essential when defining the value of your brand.
- Color choices can make or break your brand.
Color allows us to recognize a brand instantly, and to connect emotionally with it. Hence, as part of an effective brand study and strategy, the color must be carefully considered and evaluated.
Color should not be based on personal preference, but instead on the thorough assessment of a brand. Did you know that color is one of the most remembered elements of your visual brand?
Consider the idea or message you are trying to convey, then choose a color that supports it. If you are a real estate agent who sells homes on the water, your color palette should be closely related to the life you are selling. The colors should represent the promise your brand delivers while simultaneously representing the target audience.
Target audience
What mood and emotions must your brand convey to achieve the desired connection? Consider how your audience will respond to various colors and their cultural associations.
Category
Next, establish your brand category. Are you selling luxury homes? The suburban dream? If you are selling luxury, stick to colors that are appropriate for the luxury inclined; they could symbolize exclusivity, refined taste or even power. No, that doesn’t mean gold.
Geography
Where are you located? Are you looking to establish a national brand? If so, the selection dictates a more extensive study of the many variables as your audience is much larger. If you are staying locally, the color can be more reflective of the local community or area.
Brand promise
A keen awareness of the impact of colors is essential when defining the value of your brand. The appropriate colors serve to strengthen and support your brand position — enabling greater awareness and customer engagement. It will help homebuyers and sellers remember you against the competition.
Don’t make this decision lightly; choosing an engaging color palette is one of the least expensive ways to create a big brand effect when used in a consistent manner.
Once you’ve decided on the colors you want to use, you’ll then have to select your hues and decide how many variations should make up your brand.
Some rules to follow:
1. Less is more
You can begin by selecting two main colors to represent your brand. The optimal total number is three: two base colors and an accent color.
The maximum number of primary colors should not exceed three, but two is best. Keeping colors simple helps to maintain a memorable, consistent and impactful brand.
2. Extended color palette
Now that you have your base palette, you can select your extended color palette. An extended palette is primarily made up of tints (adding white), shades (adding black) and tones (grays or a mix of both tints and shades).
It is what gives your brand a range in the digital world. It also provides depth to your printed materials.
3. Proper color combinations
You can’t just throw a bunch of colors together. The primary colors chosen to represent your brand should have the same hue to be cohesive. If you don’t have an eye for design and color, don’t worry! There are numerous resources available online. We recommend:
4. Stick to your colors
Establish brand guidelines. Write down your color combinations and the PMS, CMYK, HEX and RGB color codes. That way you can keep your colors consistent. It is more complicated than just choosing purple. There are numerical values that identify the colors both for digital use and print.
Color codes are necessary because one number can make a difference and cause your brand to lose effectiveness.
There are guides online that can help you translate your colors.
But before you make it official, you need to test the color in print on coated and uncoated stock to ensure they are correct. A printer can help you check the colors and mix inks if you want to get it perfect.
I hope this guide was helpful in understanding the importance of color. Just remember that color choices can make or break your brand.
Laura Ure is the CEO of Keenability, a marketing agency specializing in lifestyle marketing that targets the affluent buyer. Follow her on Facebook orTwitter.
