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One of the key elements of building a strong brand is color selection. Every color has a different feel and various associations. By choosing a color or a combination of colors for your brand identity, you will take on those associations. Colors will evoke certain emotions and feelings towards your brand so it is vital to choose a color that will represent your identity effectively.
If you own a color in your industry, this color will symbolize your product. This can act as a great identifier. For example, if you sell physical goods, your packaging will stand out from the competition. The color will also be recognizable on any promotional media and your logos.
Where to start?
There is a great new tool which can help out with color selection called Cymbolism. It’s an interactive survey of color and word associations. Every page loads a new word, for which you have to select a color you feel best represents it. The results are then aggregated and you can see most popular associations either by color or by word.
To help you select the right color for your brand I’ve aggregated the results from Cymbolism, and also provided examples of logos that use each color:
These aren’t the top ten words that represent each color, these are just the words that happened to have been entered and processed by Cymbolism and came out on top. Having said this, the sample size is quite large and the selection should give you a decent indication of what a color stands for.
I’ve also included some multi-colored examples at the end. Some brands choose not to associate themselves with one color. Instead of two or three colors, they choose four or more. This represents variety. This makes sense for brands that are platforms or marketplaces as they host vast amount of different applications or goods.
There are also two more colors that haven’t made it on the list: black and white. These are arguably not even colors, and they will go well with pretty much everything you choose. White you probably shouldn’t use because you won’t be able to print the logo on white paper unless the white is used on a darker background. Black is a good complementary color to use and a lot of brands choose to have the text set in black because it is neutral and serious.
How to select your color
Look through the table above for a quick overview of what each color stands for. Some questions to ask yourself:
- What color do you like?
- What color represents your brand’s personality?
- What color suits the characteristics of your product/service?
Color’s aren’t tied to any particular industry — though some may be better suited for some services/products than others. You should aim to pick a color that will represent your brand’s personality best. One that will give your customers the right impression the first time they see it.
You aren’t limited to one color. Some brands like eBay choose to go with many colors to represent variety — but you can also choose a couple of colors that work well together.
Consider differences in cultural interpretations of your color. For example in the Western world, white is considered the color of purity and peace, however, in some parts of Asia white is the color of death. Make sure the color you select will give the right impressions in the markets you’re present in.
At the end of the day, the color you choose should be something you like, not just something you worked out through a formula. The brand colors tell others something about your company, but it is also something you should get behind and enjoy. If you don’t like the colors in your logo, then you won’t very happy seeing it every day on your stationery, your website and your product packaging. Select something that represents your company, but at the same time something that you like as well.
Here are some tools and resources you may find useful:
Articles and Resources:
- Color in Motion
- Veerle Pieters: Choosing Color Combinations
- Xerox Exchange: Choosing a Color for Your Business
- Why Color Matters
- Brand Identity: The Importance of Color
- Pallasart Web Design: How to Make Effective Use of color in Websites
- Elf Design: Choosing the Right Color Palette
Tools:
- Cymbolism
- Adobe Kuler
- COLOURlovers
- I Like Your Colors
- ColorJack
- DeGraeve Color Palette Generator
- Color Combinations
[...] Mi capita di leggere un articolo sulla scelta dei colori e di veder citata una “vecchia” web–app, Cymbolism, che permette di taggare le parole [...]
[...] empezar por algún sitio nos vendrán bien estos tips en forma de artículo salidos desde usability [...]
Thanks for this post Dmitry. I really like the explaining words besides the colors.
A post to have in mind when doing new projects.
Thank you
Dimitry, I’ve bookmarked this for future reference, nice job!
I’m glad you pointed the cultural interpretation for colors. Red for example, is the color of happiness, or wedding in China. However, red should never be used for text, because it signifies death. (in China). Red ink is what the warden used to write down prisoner names who are to be executed in the ancient times.
[...] el blog de usabilitypost.com escriben acerca de cómo elegir esos colores, pensando primero en qué color te gusta, qué color [...]
[...] A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand [...]
[...] Enlace [...]
[...] muy interesante artículo escribieron en usability post, sobre los colores y su utilización por distintas marcas, además de recomendar leer toda la [...]
If there’s Windows in Multicolor, why there isn’t Ubuntu Linux in Orange? I’m not a Linux “taliban” ut Ubuntu user… don’t take it too seriously…
That’s very interesting Jin, I’ve never heard about this. So red is generally not used in Chinese media for text?
Hey Kevin, I have the Ubuntu logo (and link) in the footer of this site :)
[...] A quick guide to selecting the right color or colors for your brand identity. Includes examples, tools and related resources. [...]
The only time red is acceptable for text is for stamping one’s signature in calligraphy, or furtune/happiness related characters for holidays.
here are some more good reads on color usage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_psychology#Cultural_contexts_of_colors
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/color2.htm
[...] ver: A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand. [...]
[...] This is a good article to read from [ usabilitypost.com ] [...]
Well-illustrated article. I imagine it took a fair amount of time to compile the chart at the beginning, but it’s a great reference.
My fave colors are green and pink! Neon watermelon!
[...] for 2008-10-01 Kako odabrati boje za brand? Korporativne kolorne scheme (tags: usability logos logo design color identity [...]
[...] de los elementos clave para construir una buena marca es la selección del color. Cada color tiene un significado diferente y varias asociaciones. Recordemos que los colores nos [...]
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Hi Dmitry,
Do you have any resources for colour-blind web designers? I am red-green colour blind. I can distinguish pure colours fairly easily but I have problems when it comes to shades. For me it is not too much of a problem when I need to pick one colour, but needing to choose a colour template is a dreadful task for me.
Thankfully there are websites like:
colourlovers.com
http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html
With the first link I tend to have a hard time finding palletes as I tend to like some colours in them but dislike others. The second one I find a bit overwhelming. Do you know of any resources for colour-blind designers when it comes to choosing colours? Is it ok to be a colour-blind designer or is it too big of a hurdle? I’d love to hear your thoughts as I have recently completed university and am hoping to start a career in Web or interface design.
Looking at different cultural connotations a colour has is fascinating - it’s such an abstract notion since it also relies on individual experience independent from popular culture. Like with Damir up there.
I’m currently doing a series on colour if anyone’s interested in reading more on the subject, and I’ll gladly list this as a resource at the end of it ;)
[...] A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand [...]
Thanks for the tips!
Interesting post, thanks!
Nice article.
This just reminded me how here in Croatia T-Mobile “owns” pink color :)
Ivan: same here in UK as well. It’s not a conventional color like blue and red, so I guess they don’t have much competition for it :)
Lilian: sure, that would be great :) Is this going to be up on your blog?
Damir: I’ll be honest with you, I don’t really know of any resources to help out here. I’m not sure if such tools exist actually — if not, it’s an interesting idea and perhaps someone should develop this.
The way I select colors is actually just with my eye, I don’t like using mechanical tools for this, and instead prefer tweaking the design until I find something I like — which usually involves a lot of changes :)
[...] través de un contacto twitter me enteré de un artículo que da algunas señales para elegir el o los colores apropiados a la hora de diseñar una marca. Y [...]
[...] A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand - It seems original content is being over shadowed by list-fest these days within the design blogsphere. If you don’t want to be over inspired by 100,000,000 omfgbbq lists, please head over to Dmitry’s blog for some nice articles. I’m still convinced he has access to my brain before I do. He always writes topics I wanted to do. [...]
[...] Related: A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand [...]
[...] A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand [...]
[...] A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand [...]
Really cool list. Thanks. Is it same all over the world?
[...] Via [...]
Referáty: a lot of the colors will have similar meanings across the world because we associate them with real things — e.g. yellow is warm, like the sun, so it symbolizes things like that: fun, energetic, cheerful, summer etc.
I would just double check with your target market before making the choice that the color does indeed mean what you want it to mean in that culture — e.g. like Jin pointed out above about red colored text in China.
[...] A guide to chose colors for your brand Comprehensive guide to understand the meaning of colors. Share this: [...]
[...] via: usability post [...]
[...] A guide to choosing colors for your brand [...]
[...] en que se usara, esta representa un porcentaje alto de la ejecucion correcta de una marca, en Usability Post nos comparten un excelente articulo que puede servir de guia acerca de esto (en [...]
As Jin notes, color symbolism is highly cultural. When I moved to China I was surprised, for example, at the negative associations engendered by designs that were predominately blue and green which are “safe” colors in my usual milieu (North America).
Polling my designers, the consensus I received (roughly) was: blue was perceived as static or archaic; green had overtones with decay, garbage, and hospitals. Red was the go-to color in a way many Americans go to blue or gray. OTOH young people and urbanites self-consciously adopt contrarian attitudes to visual symbolism.
http://axoplasm.blogspot.com/2007/02/chinese-color-symbolism-for-foreign.html
[...] Me encontré esto en un sitio y me pareció super interesante para compartir… De hecho, creo que ya había posteado algo de esto anteriormente… mmmmmm si. Hey! pero no es lo mismo!… Estos son los colores y lo que transmiten a una marca, además a lado encuentras una referencia de que marcas lo han utilizado, eso sirve como para que uno mismo compruebe si es así… Está cool y útil. Puedes encontrar más información en este sitio: http://www.usabilitypost.com/2008/09/29/a-guide-to-choosing-colors-for-your-brand/ [...]
[...] Cymbolism with a few brands to demonstrate the association of color with meaning. URL usabilitypost.com/2008/09/29/a… [...]
[...] Check out their site for the full story. Share and Enjoy: [...]
this is a very interesting article, and one which will help many designer when trying to incorporate colour within their ID branding.
Many thanks!
E-Scaping Creation
[...] Graphic Design Students: GO! » These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
[...] & Color & Brand Over at Usability Post they have put together a powerful article on [...]
[...] Source: usabilitypost.com [...]
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[...] one of the first and longest lasting brand or design decisions involves color selection. Every color has a different feel, look, or emotional resonance. Colors will evoke strong feelings [...]
[...] Um dos elementos-chaves da construção de uma marca forte é a cor. Cada cor tem um sentido diferente e várias associações! vai um link aqui muito bacana, pra você que pretende criar uma marca http://www.usabilitypost.com/2008/09/29/a-guide-to-choosing-colors-for-your-brand/ [...]
bad article. Very ordinary.
[...] sea de ayuda =). Link: Escoge el color indicado para el diseño de tu marca Tags: Branding, Colores, Diseño, Marcas Puedes seguir los comentarios de esta entrada en [...]
[...] usability post, via swissmiss} [...]
[...] A Guide to Choosing Colors for your Brand [...]
[...] : Usability Post » A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand. [...]
[...] everybody knows what colours can be associated with some words. For those who don’t, A Guide to Choosing Colours for Your Brand is a good place to start. And I’m not talking about what colour your logo should look like, [...]
[...] I show an image from the article A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand written by Dmitry. It can help you with your designs. Don’t forget to read this article [...]
[...] Usability Post » A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand One of the key elements of building a strong brand is color selection. Every color has a different feel and various associations. By choosing a color or a combination of colors for your brand identity, you will take on those associations. Colors will evoke certain emotions and feelings towards your brand so it is vital to choose a color that will represent your identity effectively. (tags: webdesign inspiration design color colorscheme) [...]
A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand…
One of the key elements of building a strong brand is color selection. Every color has a different feel and various associations. By choosing a color or a combination of colors for your brand identity, you will take on those associations. Colors will e…
[...] fuente: http://www.usabilitypost.com/2008/09/29/a-guide-to-choosing-colors-for-your-brand/ [...]
[...] stumbled upon this today… “A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand“. I have to be honest… We chose the unique visual style of Shizzle Dizzle Magic simply [...]
[...] Usability Post
[...] Saiba como escolher as cores para sua marca [...]
[...] Via: usabilitypost [...]
[...] gracias a Joandó en usability a través de [...]
[...] A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand [...]
Very interesting, thanks