Color Theory: Creating an Effective Brand

You may be asking, “does color affect my branding?” Yes, and yes again.

What makes color so valuable?

There are companies that are so completely synonymous with color. 

Think Tiffany and Robins Egg Blue. Which has literally trademarked this color, “Tiffany Blue”

Think Post-it’s and Yellow.

Think Target and Red.

The list goes on…

Needless to say, choosing the right color for your branding is crucial to the messaging of your brand and creating brand awareness.

Personas: Creating a foundation

In today’s Digital Marketing Landscape it is crucial to know your brand and your ideal clients. Building out a brand persona is a step in that process. Personas evoke feelings, emotions and personality traits. In the world of branding, this is why we create “Brand Personas”. It is the secret sauce to a great brand.

There are typically 5 traits a brand can adopt. 

❶: Excitement: Youth, spirited, carefree

❷: Sincerity: Kindness, Thoughtfulness, Family values. 

❸: Ruggedness: Rough, Tough, Outdoorsy, Athletic 

❹: Competence: Successful, accomplished and influential. 

❺: Sophistication: elegant prestigious and sometimes pretentious. 

Similar to people, brands have a mixture of these five different dimensions, however we tend to categorize them by the most dominant traits. Once you can identify a brand’s persona you can start to align colors and messaging to best represent this trait. 

Color can aid in brand recognition by up to %80.

Colors: What is right for your brand

Now that we have talked about Personas, let’s dive into color psychology. Color is everywhere, and regardless of whether we recognize or not, each color we encounter evokes in us an emotion. Colors speak to a consumer. Green elicits peace and well-being. Pink is feminine and luxurious. Brown is earthy and is associated with stability.

Consider these emotions and how they align with your brand persona.

What next?: let’s tie it all up

Think about your persona think about the psychology.  If your brand is luxurious and sophistication, you will likely want to shy away from earthy brown tones. If your brand is youthful and playful, you might want to look at more primary colors, bold and bright. 

Taking the time to think through colors and personas is ultimately going to set you up for more success and creating a brand awareness right out of the gate. 

Looking to elevate your brand. Let’s chat.

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