Colour plays a pretty significant role in our lives. It’s a powerful force that can affect our moods and how we perceive our surroundings. Colour evokes emotions. It excites us into action or soothes bad moods. While some colour meanings are subjective and cultural, specific to a region or people, other colour associations are more universal.

What does this mean for your brand?

Your brand colours will speak to your customers before you do, so make sure they’re saying the right thing. Understanding your audience and your message is key to choosing a colour that’s on message. Colour choice can make your clients feel certain ways about your brand before even hiring you, and that’s a powerful tool to have at your disposal.

What do colours say?

Different cultures and religions often assign different meanings to certain colours. However, in Western society, there are some widely and instinctively understood associations between moods, attributes, and colours. These meanings are constantly relied on in marketing and media.

Fun facts about colour.

• Up to 90% of an initial impression comes from colour
• In a 2020 survey, 51% of respondents associated black with sadness
• In the same survey, 58% of respondents associated red with love
• Ancient Egyptian and Chinese cultures used colour in the practice of chromotherapy to heal
• In the 1918 trade publication Earnshaw’s Infants Department, it was declared that the “generally accepted rule is pink is for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy.”
• In 2017, a survey of 30,000 people across 100 countries determined that deep teal was the most popular colour

Choosing colours that say the right things.

Very often, it’s the combination of colour and product that’s so vital. For example, people will instinctively distrust a toy store with all black branding because children are associated with primary colours and brightness, and black is gloomy. Whereas car companies often advertise using black versions of their vehicles because black cars are seen as sleek, strong, and elegant. It’s the same colour, but the context matters.

Become iconic.

If you choose colour well, your brand and your colour will become synonymous with each other and be identifiable instantly.

We don’t need brand names to know what these symbols and colour combinations mean:

The bright idea.

A brand assessment will put your brand through a critical professional critique to ensure that every part of your visual and written identity is cohesive and on brand. That includes colour. If you worry that your brand colours are off-putting to potential clients, book a free brand assessment today to find the right look and tone for your business.