Are you considering adding another new startup to your portfolio or branching out from a company to start your own business? Understanding the impact color has on consumer behavior will go a long way to determine the success of your brand.

A strong visual brand identity is a powerful force. And color is a significant part of that visual identity. It can help communicate who you to people and help you better connect with them. That is to say, your brand color can help your brand and business stand out in a crowded marketplace.

However, choosing the right colors for your brand is not something you should do without enough basic understanding. At the same time, you don’t have to start looking for any professional to do the job for you. Remember, no one understands your business better than you do.

So, in this article, we will break down all you need to know about color and branding and also give you tips on how to choose the best color for your brand.

Things You Should Know Before Choosing Your Brand Identity Colors
The ultimate truth is that when it comes to choosing the right colors for a brand, it goes beyond just picking palettes. You need to understand and think about the overall goals of the brand. Think about what you are trying to communicate and how your colors can help facilitate that. Therefore, here are some things to consider before you choose your brand colors.

Consider your personality
Colors have a strong power to elicit emotions. It helps tell people about who you are. So what do you want to tell people about yourself? If you are the playful and fun type, you should be going for bright, bold colors. Serious and sophisticated? Muted tones will help communicate that better.

Moreover, to better explain this, certain meanings have been traditionally ascribed to different colors. So think about your personality first and choose the color that best describes it.

Consider your target audience
Just knowing who you are and what you are trying to achieve with your brand may not be enough. You also need to know how you will be communicating it to your target audience. What color do you think will drive home your point with them better? For instance, the colors that resonate well with children may not with adults. A company producing female stuff has unique colors that help them connect well with that gender.

Also, you will need to consider your competitors. Any color you will be choosing for your brand must be one that will help you compete well in the marketplace and help you stand out from the crowd.

Consider how your product appeals to the emotions of your customers
This is also another important factor to consider when choosing colors for your brand and business. Consider the type of product you sell. What type of feeling does it provide? Does your product make your customers happy and light? Or does it goes strictly with seriousness and professionalism? All these should come to play when choosing your color. You can actually use your colors to cultivate certain feelings in your customers.

Consider where and how the colors will be used
Not all colors go well on screens and not all appear attractive on printed cards. So when choosing colors for your brand, make sure you consider where and how you will be using them. Common places where your color is likely going to appear are on your logo, website, business cards, printed materials, your social media pages, etc. the most important of them is on your logo.

Choose colors that will help you produce a good logo that will connect with your customers in the best way possible. If you are stuck on that, you can check out some professional templates on Free Logo Maker to see which color combination best works with your type of brand. The Logo Maker website is an online tool you can use to create your own logos instantly. The platform has several professional templates you can use to make the job easier for you, even if you have zero knowledge about graphic designs.

How to Choose Colors for Your Brand

#1: Start with color inspiration
This is a good place to start when trying to choose colors for your brand identity. Firstly, get color inspiration before you start. A good place to look is in your competitors’ palettes. When you get that, try to figure out why they have chosen that color and if it’s working for them.

Think about what you can learn from the inspiration you found, and see a way you can come up with unique colors. Apart from looking into your competitors for inspiration, you can also check online color palette generators. There you are more likely to find ideas for interesting color pairings and amazing shades too.

#2: Plan on choosing 3 colors
You majorly need 3 colors to make your brand the best aesthetically. You need your base, accent, and a neutral color. However, your brand can still have about 4 color schemes depending on the type of brand it is. Even if you are choosing monochrome schemes, it will still require some variations in hues for different purposes.

#3: Choose your base color
Your base color should be a perfect reflection of the most dominant trait of your business. But it also has to be one that also appeals to your target audience. After choosing your base color, the other colors will be chosen based on how well they are able to match with your base color.

#4: Choose your accent color
After your base color, your accent color is the color you use the most. Choosing your accent color may not be as easy as choosing the base color. It can sometimes be trickier because there are more restrictions. Your accent color must match your brand personality, pair visually with your base color, and also appeal to your audience.

#5: Choose your neutral color
This is the color that will most times be in your background. It usually doesn’t attract any attention. Some neutral colors are beige gray, whites, off-whites, and black. However, if you are choosing black, you need to be extra careful. Black tends to dominate any color scheme it’s a part of. For example, the French artist Pierre Soulages uses black as his main color.

Final Note
Remember your branding color combination will appear in different aspects of your business. Your brand color scheme will determine how your website will appear. It will come up on your logo, advertisements, store design, and even on your social media profiles. So do your best to make sure you choose the color that is best for your business.