Lumem - What do colours suggest about a brand?

What do colours suggest about a brand?

Published on 25 May 2019

What do colours suggest about a brand?

In this article the importance of using the right colours for your brand will be discussed.

What do colours suggest about a brand?

Brands tend use the colour spectrum to their advantage, picking and choosing colours which best represent their brand. In some cases, colours can be used for a deeper, psychological reason - almost as a tool or device to engage the consumer.

So which colours mean what?

Red

The colour red is usually associated with passion, danger, excitement. It is considered to be the most ‘intense’ colour psychologically and it is commonly used to draw attention to certain elements, for example a notice on a website.

Orange

Orange represents creativity, enthusiasm, success and balance. Although it's not as strong as the colour red, orange tends to make a brand fun and/or playful and it is still used for drawing attention to elements of a brand, if not in the main colour identity.

Yellow

The colour yellow asserts imagery of sunshine, therefore linking it to connotations of optimism, happiness and summer. Businesses tend to use yellow so that their audience associates them with something positive and radiant.

Pink

Pink stereotypically serves a female audience, it’s associations revolve around femininity, immaturity and love. Brands which hope to target a female audience (such as Barbie or Victoria’s Secret) typically utilise this colour.

Green

Green has strong connections to nature and the outdoors, as well as money and wealth. Brands that wish to assert connotations of health and well being often use this colour, as well as some anomalies such as Spotify, perhaps representing the planet and it’s music.

Blue

Blue has links to the sea and the sky, reflecting meanings of harmony, peace and balance. Blue can also suggest ‘uniform’ and therefore professionalism. Brands often use this colour as part of instructions for a product, or when presenting other forms of information.

Purple

Purple is known as a royal colour, with connotations of wealth, success, vanity. Purple is commonly used on navigation bars or websites as it provides a good contrast, without being as dark as navy and/or black.

White

White showcases meanings such as purity, cleanliness, innocence and humility. White tends to be the most used colour in terms of providing negative space on assets such as websites or packaging, making it clear and light.

Black

Black is mostly used to assert meanings of sophistication, power, elegance. Black is widely used for text as it is arguably the easiest colour to read. It is also frequently used as a background colour to make content stand out, for example in a mobile app.