Choosing a Colour Palette for Your Brand
Colour helps people recognise a brand and distinguish parts of its visual system. The useful palette depends on the audience, context and applications, rather than a fixed meaning assigned to each hue.
Source: Elliot and Maier: Colour Psychology.
How Colour Shapes Perception
Colour can influence perception, but the response depends on context and the person viewing it. Treat associations such as red with urgency or blue with trust as hypotheses to check with the intended audience. A colour alone does not establish trust or prompt a purchase.
Brightness, saturation, adjacent colours and contrast also affect the result. Compare palettes in real layouts, with the brand images and text. Check legibility and accessibility before treating a visual preference as a business conclusion.
Industry Conventions and Differentiation
Review the colours used by competitors in the relevant market. Familiar combinations may help people recognise a category, but widespread use does not prove that a palette is the best choice for your business.
A different palette can make the brand easier to distinguish. Test whether it still communicates the intended position and works in the required channels. Keep the decision tied to the brief and the audience.
Building a Deliberate Palette
Define the role of each colour: primary identity, supporting colours, text and background, and emphasis. The number of colours follows the applications. Clear usage rules matter more than an arbitrary limit.
Define each colour precisely: Pantone for print, CMYK for print production, RGB for screen, and HEX for digital/web. A colour that looks right on screen but prints wrong undermines your brand consistency at every physical touchpoint.
Common Colour Mistakes in Branding
Too many competing accents can make a layout harder to follow. Use a hierarchy and check it on actual pages, packaging and presentations. A larger palette can work when each colour has a defined function.
Personal taste is one input, not the whole brief. Consider audience feedback, contrast, production constraints and consistent colour values. Document the decisions so future materials use the same system.
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