When most people describe clothes, products or a sign they saw, they usually include the color of the item. Color boosts recognition and memory. According to research, color can boost brand recognition as well. Color also evokes emotion. If color does so many things, it’s better to use more of it, right? Not when you’re branding.
For example, your logo is part of your brand and you don’t want to turn people off by using colors that don’t appeal to most people. Also, if you overuse colors in your logo, people won’t remember it. Colors send messages. If you use 5 colors in your logo, even if they’re complementary, you’re sending 5 different messages that may get garbled when people process them.
Another example is your business card. A multi-colored business card using more than two colors is just too busy. If you use a lot of color and you aren’t in a colorful business, such as a color printing company, people are going to wonder why you picked those colors. Or they just might get confused.
Choosing one predominant color for all your marketing materials works well for many companies. Tiffany’s blue for example. You only have to see the jewelry box to know where it came from. UPS is brown. Target and Coke are both red. Some companies use two colors, such as FedEx (orange and purple), but it’s hard to find an established brand that uses more than two predominant colors.
Before you create your marketing materials, pick a palette that consists of predominant colors for your logo and complementary colors and lighter shades of the predominant colors for your Web site and other materials. You can mix up your complementary, background colors, but be sure to keep your predominant colors the same in all your materials.
Ask yourself the following questions when deciding on a palette:
1. Do the colors appeal to my target audience? Account for gender, age, culture and other demographic variables.
2. Does my primary color stand out? Compare it to competing brands. You don’t want to be too similar to your competitors or people might confuse you with them.
3. What meaning or message does my palette convey? Does this represent your brand and your company accurately?
4. Does my primary color have staying power? Trendy colors work for younger audiences, but can be a hard sell to more mature audiences. It also depends on what kind of image you are trying to convey: will your product keep evolving or is it something that’s here to stay, unchanged?
5. What are its online color equivalents? You’ll want to make sure that what looks good in print will translate well to your Web site. Neon pink might look bright on paper, but on screen it could hurt someone’s eyes!
After you choose your color palette, you’ll want to ensure that the colors can be reproduced accurately across a mix of media. Commit to quality reproduction of your colors and keep in mind that consistency is vital to gaining and keeping customers.
