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Color inspiration for Branding

color inspiration for branding

Every brand, a color palette for logo!

Color evokes emotions. Based on culture, traditions and even our own evolution, each color has deep-rooted psychological associations.

Colors are hard workers! They tell stories, convey moods, communicate price points and connect ideas. Aesthetically, color can play lots of different roles in logo design. You can use color to enhance design elements or to set a tone, you can make color the focal point or keep it in the background. That’s why it’s important to explore all of your color options and choose the right combination for your logo.

There’s no set rule on how few colors you should use in your logo. You might only need one or two. How many colors you need depends on what your logo has to say for your brand. Most logos use two or three distinct colors. Typically, it’s one primary color and one or two accent colors to give the logo more dimension and put the brand’s whole personality on display.

Also You’ve seen great logos that only use one color. Sometimes all you need is literally just one color or a few different shades of the same color. Other times, it makes sense to use a wider color palette to tell your brand’s story visually.

So Brands use logo color combinations to express who they are. Color works at the primal level, signaling specific emotions in the viewer’s brain. Before anybody even takes a closer look at the logo or hears the name of your business, they’ll deduce who you are and what you do all based on your logo’s color palette.

Every color elicits a different response from humans!

Colors can be divided into two main categories: warm and cool. Warm colors tend to be associated with energy, while cool colors are linked with calmness and security. But how do each of the colors affect us and what does that mean for branding? Here’s an overview of what differentiates each color and how brands can pick the right mix of them?

Red

aggressive, energetic, provocative, attention-grabbing, passionate

Purple

royalty, sophistication, nostalgia, mystery, spirituality

Blue

trustworthy, dependable, secure, responsible, confident

Green

Wealth, health, prestige, serenity, generosity, safety

Yellow

positivity, light, warmth, motivation, creativity, happiness

Orange

vitality, fun, playful, exuberant, outgoing

Pink

femininity, youth and innocence

Gray

subdued, classic, serious, mysterious or mature

Brown

earth-like, natural, simplistic, durable, comforting

Black

Prestige, value, timelessness, sophistication, power

White

pure, noble, clean, soft

decide your ideal brand personality!

Red is used in the logos of large commercial companies such as Coca-Cola and Red Bull. In general, red color increases blood pressure and increases the body’s metabolic behaviors, and with the increase of these cases in physical conditions, people’s movements also increase and the excitement increases with seeing this color. And most of the time, this color is suitable for designing company logos with drinks, food, games, sports and physical activities. Of course, red is one of the most popular colors for using CTA words in branding and digital marketing.

Purple is another popular color and has been used for large companies and institutions such as Yahoo. Purple is between blue and red and has stability of blue and energy of red. Purple is mostly used for packaging and brands related to women and children.

Blue color is most used in logos and business symbols of various organizations and industries. And unlike red, it reduces human body movements and physical states and instills a sense of calm in the person and is used for symbols of companies. And it has been seen a lot in various subjects such as cleaning products, airlines and mineral water companies. This color is also used in technology issues, and in contrast, it is not a suitable color at all for food and cooking products.

Green color is more common in the logos of health pharmaceutical companies. This color is known as the color of nature and is in contrast to red and  green creates a feeling of calm and comfort for humans. The dark green palette symbolizes money, wealth, stock market, and concepts such as ambition, greed, and jealousy. The color combination between green and yellow indicates a state of illness and the color between green and blue indicates the concepts of protection, healing and tranquility and also olive green is a symbol of peace.

Yellow is a happy, friendly and lively color and a symbol of good taste and joy in life, and it induces warm and bright feelings to the viewer and plays an important role in attracting customers’ attention. In logo design, yellow is mostly used in combination with black, and it is also used to design branding themes, logos for food, drink, and health issues.

Orange is used in the logo of companies such as McDonald’s. Orange is a color between red and yellow that has the energy of red and the joy of yellow. Orange is not as irritating as red, but it creates a feeling of warmth for the human eye and increases mental activity. Since this color increases appetite, like other warm colors, it is widely used in the design of logos with food, beverage and toy themes, and  conversely , the dark orange color is a symbol of distrust and fraud, which should be careful when using this color in logo design. In an orange color combination With yellow, a golden color is created, which also shows the symbol and feeling of quality, prestige and high quality.

Black color is widely used in designing logos and branding in a modern style.

White  color is more common in charities, hospitals, medical centers, pharmaceuticals and dairy products.

Brands and colors of their logos

Brands that use red:

McDonald’s, Audi, Coca-Cola, CNN, Lego, Canon, KFC, TLC, ESPN, Target, Levi’s, Virgin, and Netflix.

Brands that use blue:

 Airlines United Airlines, Chase Bank, Dell, Ford, General Electric, Twitter, Oreo, Lowe’s, AT&T and Samsung

Brands that use yellow:

 Subway, Shell, Post-it, Lay’s, Denny’s, Herz and Snapchat

Brands that use gray:

 Wikipedia, Swarovski, Lexus.

Brands that use green:

Holiday Inn, Starbucks, Animal Planet, Spotify, Land Rover, John Deere, Tropicana, Tic Tac and Hulu.

Brands that use purple:

 Yahoo, Marketo, FedEx, Syfy, Taco Bell, Purplebricks, Purple, Hallmark and Wonka

Brands that use orange:

 The Home Depot, Nickelodeon, Firefox, Izze, Amazon, Fanta, Payless and Harley Davidson.

Brands that use white:

The North Face, Tesla and Vans.

Brands that use black:

Chanel, Nike, Adidas, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Puma and Lamborghini.

Brands that use pink:

 Barbie, Baskin Robbins, T-Mobile, Lyft, LG and PINK

Brands that use brown:

 UPS, Hershey’s, M & Ms, Gloria Jean’s Cafe and Cracker Barrel

Color is a powerful tool to engage people’s emotions and pique their interest. It’s especially important when developing a brand identity, and brand assets like a logo. Picking the right color combinations can be tricky business. In logo design, you can select one color to dominate and the other one as accents.I have chosen some of the best color combinations to inspire your logo design.

14 attractive and practical color combinations Let’s see!

Blue and hot pink

The vibrant pink radiates against the blue and works well for industries like beauty and blogging.

Black and orange

This logo color combination would work well for the film and music industries.

Yellow and green

Yellow and green are often seen in industries such as agriculture, cleaning, and environmental services. It may work in food industry logos too!

Blue and white

Creating a logo with this combination ensures flexibility across industries, from non-profit to tech to health.

Orange and blue

This combination is popular in the technology and banking sectors.

Black and red

The intense red draws the eye to the company name, while the black provides a grounding background color.

Purple and yellow

This classic complementary logo color combination is popular in the restaurant and education industries.

Delicate Pink and navy blue

Consider this pairing for a logo if you’re in the beauty, blogging, or wedding industries.

Yellow and red

The vibrant red against the happy shade of yellow, creating a sense of energy and playfulness.

Black and yellow

The almost-black shade of grey, popular within the entertainment industry (especially nightclubs), has an air of mystery and intrigue.

Pink and red

This combination is very modern and maintains high enough contrast to remain perfectly legible.

Blue and green

A bright color combination works particularly well in the fashion, media, and entertainment industries.

Orange and purple

Consider this combination for a fashion, beauty, or home furnishings brand.

Conclusion

It’s useful to understand the psychology of each color when creating your brand’s identity. Your color choice can build your brand’s aesthetic while also bringing you closer to your target audience. Use the colors that will highlight your brand’s strengths, evoking the right feelings for the right audience. Do the color choices you’ve selected for your brand align with the feeling you’re trying to give to your customers and prospects?

If you are ecxited to know why we chose this colors in Dopely Colors logo, Read it here:

I hope you found this article useful.

Your life is colorful!

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