Though it may seem secondary to tasks like selecting a web domain or setting up your social media accounts, choosing a logo that proudly displays your company’s colors is fundamental to consumers being able to recognize, associate with and relate to your brand. According to Entrepreneur.com, 93 of purchasing judgements are made based on visual perceptions. In addition, 84.7 percent of consumers cite color as their main reason for buying a particular product and 80 percent of consumers believe that color increases brand recognition.
While design concepts like font, spacing and shapes also come into play when creating a relatable logo, color can play a significantly influential role in appealing to consumers’ emotions. Different colors evoke different emotions, and therefore choosing your company’s colors means also choosing how you want your audience to feel about your brand. Based on these generally-accepted color-emotion associations, this is what your company’s colors could be saying about your business.
RED
- Means: Excitement, passion, loud, modern, bold
- Examples: Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Netflix
ORANGE
- Means: Playful, energetic, happy, sociable, affordable
- Examples: Nickelodeon, The Home Depot, Fanta
YELLOW
- Means: Friendly, cheerful, youthful, optimistic, confident
- Examples: McDonald’s, Cheerios, Snapchat
GREEN
- Means: Growth, natural, organic, fresh, financial
- Examples: Starbucks, Whole Foods, H&R Block
BLUE
- Means: Trust, security, strength, maturity
- Examples: USA Today, Geico, Dell
PURPLE
- Means: Creative, imaginative, innovative, feminine (sometimes)
- Examples: Yahoo!, Hallmark, Lifetime
PINK
- Means: Girly, modern, luxurious, youthful
- Examples: Barbie, Victoria’s Secret, Cosmopolitan
BROWN
- Means: Nurturing, nostalgic, reliable, serious
- Examples: M&M’s, UPS, Cracker Barrel
BLACK
- Means: Sleek, modern, luxurious, seductive
- Examples: Sony, Chanel, Gucci
MULTI-COLOR
- Means: Multi-faceted, playful, positive, bold
- Examples: NBC, eBay, Google
Your logo gives you, as a business, the opportunity to make an impression on potential customers and clients before they learn anything else about your product or service. Color is one powerful tool within that graphic representation of your company that plays to certain emotions deemed common to humans across the board. Think about what your company’s colors are saying about your business, and if they are sending a message that you want to be included in your first impression.
Once you choose a logo and its supporting colors, make sure you maintain brand consistency by using those colors or closely-related variations of those colors on all of your marketing materials. This will help consumers remember your brand and poise them to make positive associations with it time and time again.
If you need help designing a logo and choosing colors that will effectively market your company, the McNutt & Partners graphic design team can help. Visit our contact page to get in touch with us!
