Love. Trust. Joy. Excitement. It’s no secret that emotions strongly influence our daily decision making. What may not be as obvious is that the colors we see in logos and marketing media can create an emotional response, connecting us with brands and effecting our purchasing decisions. In other words, the quickest way to your customers’ hearts may be through your brand’s colors.
The thoughtful use of color when designing your brand can help tell a powerful story to consumers that goes deeper than a simple logo or symbol. Color theorist Faber Birren wrote that biological, social, and psychological conditioning influences humans’ emotional association with color. For example, humans have been psychologically conditioned to see red as a sign of importance; a color to pay attention to, and also culturally conditioned to associate the color green with money.
Although consumers may already have developed thoughts about your brand and understand your products, services and mission, it’s when they’ve associated feeling with those thoughts that loyalty develops.
So, now that you have an idea why color in branding matters, the question becomes, “What colors best fit my brand’s identity?”
The chart below matches popular colors to their commonly associated emotional responses. Considering either a combination or a variation of these colors could be a great way to enhance the emotional response your brand creates.
Of course, there are no concrete rules for determining your brand’s colors. Trends change over time, and there are many schools of thought detailing how to best apply your selected colors to your brand materials.
One concept that is common across most color-branding theories is consistency. Once you’ve designed a color combination that best fits your identity, it’s important to present a united front of branded collateral that will encourage emotional association over time. This would include your web presence, logo, signage, print material, digital advertisements, and staff uniforms.
