Have you thought long and hard about your company’s logo? How about marketing material, official photos, or your website? Did you know customers will often subconsciously make decisions about your business just from the colors you’ve chosen to represent you? If not, it may be time for a rebranding.
Brand Recognition
The truth is, people often recognize brands just from the color scheme used. Think of the deeply rich browns of Hershey’s, the fun (and recognizable) red and white of Coca-Cola, or even the corporate yet All-American red, white and blue scheme of Bank of America. All major corporations are very careful when picking out what colors represent them.
Ever see those generic items at the store? The ones that come in the plain, white boxes? Generally, that’s to save ink and save you money at the register, but it also gets the idea across – simple, plain, cheap. White attracts the eye. Exactly how much white space is on those boxes was surely discussed with product and graphic designers, probably for days.
Think about all the bad product boxes you’ve seen. Most if not all of them probably looked terrible because of the colors. This happens a lot with beer labels and boxes; if they’re not overly busy, they have color schemes that don’t exactly make your tummy growl with anticipation.
How Does Your Company “Feel?”
When choosing a color scheme for your business, think about the “feel” you’re projecting. If you’ve never taken any basic advertising or graphic design classes, you might not know anything about color degrees or any of that. That’s ok; it’s easily found on the Internet. If it still confounds you, consult a graphic designer or hire one.
Colors invoke feeling in people whether they like it or not. Warm colors, such as yellow and red, can make people feel more comfortable or even cozy. Colder colors like blue or black can make your customers feel like the company they’re dealing with is in charge and very professional.
Individual colors also hold their own meanings. Want to convey sophistication or royalty? Try a deep purple or perhaps some shining silver. Own a fresh food store? Lots of greens and browns will make your customers think of earth and healthy plants.
Want to show off how fun you are? Use lots of fun colors like reds and yellows (you know, McDonald’s). Try doing the opposite and fill your brand with blacks and dark blues and everyone will wonder why your toy company is so serious and dramatic.
Again remember your brand goes across all of your media – promotional materials and website included. Try and dream up a logo and color scheme so that when people see those colors, they instantly think of your business and go buy some of your product.
This branding could be with you a long time, possibly forever, so it’s not to be taken lightly. By all means give several ideas a shot but when something sticks be sure you’re ready to run with it.
What colors do you think would work best for your logo?
