Brand Colours: The Meaning Behind Colours

December 18, 2020

Recently updated on February 6th, 2024 at 06:28 pm

You have a great business plan, have decided on the perfect business name, now it is time to think about your brand’s visual identity. This all starts with the colours you want to represent your business, which are probably more important than you think. The colours you choose will be the first impression of your brand. They can evoke emotions, shape the way the person feels and set your brand’s personality.

How to Choose a Branding Colour

There are some simple steps you can take to have your brand instantly recognised by its colour.

What is your target audience?

What is the tone of your brand?

What do you want people to feel when they interact with your brand?

Colour psychology has been around since the time of the Egyptians, make sure you know what different colours mean and how they trigger human reactions.

You want to stand out amongst them not blend in with them!

Choose 2-3 colours that will complement your featured colour.

Try creating something simple like a business card to see how the colours work together. It is a good idea to see them printed as well as on screen.

Choosing Colour Combinations

Once you decide on your ‘hero’ brand colour it is a good practice to choose complementary colours to support the whole look & feel. This can be done either with different colours that work together or shades/variations of the same colour.

Common brand colour themes include:

What Colours Mean in Branding

There have been a number of studies on the meaning of common colours, and how we respond to them. By now, every branding agency in Sydney has a strategic approach to colour. But for your benefit, here is an overview of the meaning of the basic colours:br

While these colour meanings are a great place to start when thinking about your brand, you also need to think about how you are going to use them. Too much of one colour can change its meaning.

Examples on Brand Colours

There are many brands that we see in our everyday life that have executed their brand colours so well that we may not even need their logo to recognise them. Some of these brands have even trademarked their specific colour.

Here are some recognisable brands and the meaning of their colours

Coca-Cola

Red is a bold choice for any brand to use as while it can convey warmth and passion, it is also the colour of danger and anger. Coca-Cola has been using its now trademarked red since the company started over 130 years ago. Originally sold in barrels the company painted them red to distinguish from alcohol barrels to help customs and tax officials distinguish so they could charge the right tax. The colour stuck and now when you see that red colour (not found on a pantone colour chart) it is instantly recognisable.

Tiffany & Co.

When Tiffany & Co first started their main colour was blue which came from its iconic Blue Book, it took over 100 years until the shade was closer to the robin’s egg shade that we know today. The ‘blue box’ has always had an air of exclusivity and luxury with its owners knowing the value it could have on the brand. The colour and packaging was trademarked in 1998 and now consumers can see this colour and without any other brand identity know that it is Tiffany & Co.

In Conclusion

As you can see choosing the right brand colour can help set your brands personality while also evoking feelings from your potential customers. Taking some time to think about what you want your brand to say can help you choose the right colour palette for your business, that will help make sure you stand out from the crowd.

The Effect of Red and Blue Colours on Consumer Behaviour >