How to choose your brand colours using colour psychology

An introduction to using colour psychology to create your brand visual identity – what it is and how it will help you. 

Create the right impression for your business, with a brand that reflects you and stands out, by designing your brand visual identity using colour psychology (as well as seasonal colour theory – see my previous blog: How to style your brand with seasonal colour theory).

Your visual brand

Your visual branding gives you the whole look and feel of your brand, your brand visual identity.  Your colours, fonts, patterns and textures, graphics, plus also your brand photo style, logo, website design and more.  You need to create a cohesive and consistent brand so that it all goes together to help make your brand recognisable, and memorable. 

If you read my previous blog, you’ll see that using seasonal colour theory to do this will mean that your whole brand looks amazing, and professional, reflects you, and appeals to your ideal clients/customers.  Even when you’ve designed it all yourself. 

Choosing your brand colours using colour psychology too, will ensure that the colours you use really do mean something and help give the right impression that you want for your brand.  So read on whether you’re starting your brand colour choice from the beginning, or if you already have your brand colours you can still check that they are working effectively for you and giving the right impression of your brand, and give them a little update if not.

Colour Psychology

Every colour has a meaning: it gives us a particular feeling or thought – often totally subconciously. 

For instance, red means danger, yellow is cheerful, green is for health and nature, blue is calm and trustworthy. There are a lot more to it than those though, and I list some more below for you. 

(Interestingly our response to some colours is cultural too.  For instance black means mourning in the West, but white, purple or gold are used in other cultures).

Colour has an effect on us too.  Being in a room that is a warmer colour, makes us feel warmer than if the room were a cooler colour.  We all know black or very dark colours have a slimming effect when we wear them!  Orange, yellow and red flowers stand out and look nearer to us than cooler and paler flowers the same distance away.  All these effects are used by artists and fashion, interiors, and garden designers.

And we can use effects like these, and the meanings of colours, in our brand colours too. 

How to choosing your brand colours using colour psychology 

So don’t just pick a couple of your favourite colours when you're choosing your brand colours.  Look at the meanings behind them, and think about what you want your brand colours to represent, and the effect they'll have on the whole look of your branding.  Consider your brand values and how you can reflect those in your brand colours. 

And mostly, think about what you want your brand to feel and look like, and which colours will help you to do that.  Your brand and branding will end up being so much more personal and authentic to you.

Examples of the meanings of colours

Red – bold, powerful, strong, determined.  Use it sparingly to stand out. 

Blue – trust, reliability, calmness, efficiency.  But also cold and unfriendliness if used in large amounts. 

Yellow – cheerfulness, happiness, positivity, joy. 

Green – growth, balance, harmony, nature, restful.

Purple – luxury, loyalty, authenticity, creativity, courage, spiritual.  It mixes the energy of red with the stability of blue. 

Pink – compassion, nurturing, love, hope, empathy, understanding.  Too much though can be too feminine, or show a lack of power. 

Orange – motivation, comfort, fun, positivity, energetic.  Be aware that it is often used for budget brands though.

Brown – safe, supportive, structure, reliable, practical.  Don’t use too much, it can look boring! 

Black – sophistication, independence, dramatic, safe.  Beware of the sadness aspect if you use too much. 

White – clean, pure, simplicity, efficiency.  Too much though could be too clinical and give a feeling of loneliness. 

Grey – security, reliability, intelligence, sophisticated, efficiency.

More tips for choosing the right colours for your brand

- Think about your audience when choosing your colours.  What colours and colour schemes will they be drawn to?  Research shows blue is our favourite colour overall, with men being more drawn to it.  Women see more variety of colours, and prefer tints (paler colours with white in them) whilst men prefer pure colours or shades (darker colours with black in them).

- People generally like simplicity though, so just use 2 or 3 main colours to keep your brand from being confusing. Your colours need to fit the product or service you are selling.  So if you’re selling a luxury product don’t use a colour that is seen as cheap. 

- Check what your competitors are doing, and don’t just pick the same colours as them, or colours just because they are trendy at that time – you want to be using your brand colours to help you stand out from the crowd.

- Consider the practicalities of the colours you choose, and make sure you have a dark enough option to show up as text, as well as one to stand out for titles or calls to action.  Pale yellow in particular just doesn’t show up against white. 

- Use the colour psychology words I’ve listed above to match to your brand values and the look and feel you want your brand to have.

There is more in the next blog, with some help for choosing colours that go together...

Next Steps:

- Have you taken my free quiz yet?  Find it here:  Discover Your Brand Style Quiz.  Once you've done that, take my self study course, From Brand Confusion To Brand Clarity - how to find your brand vibe, to work out your brand keywords that will keep your whole brand and branding cohesive and consistent, thus becoming more recognisable and memorable, improving trust and encouraging buyers.

- Next up is my whole course taking you through step by step how to design your beautiful branding yourself (even if you're not feeling creative!).  From Drab To Fab will be ready soon!

- Ready for more personal mentoring, brand, visibility and marketing strategies that work for you, a community of fellow ambitious introverts, training, and accountability to put it all into action?  Come and join my Brand Plan membership, and get support to show up, stand out, and sell more🤩

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Blog topics / categories: 

#All things brand

[This blog was first written in August 2020, then transferred to this website, split into two blogs and updated, January 2024]