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It takes one-tenth of a second to begin forming the first impression. In seven seconds, your brain will have formed a comprehensive picture of someone else. After a negative impression has been formed, it takes eight positive interactions to change that impression!
If you’re building a brand, the first impression you give can make or break your business. If you make a bad first impression, your customers probably won’t give you a chance to change it. Instead, they’ll move on to another business!
This is why learning how to choose brand colors is so important. Your brand colors are some of the first things potential customers will see, and they can impact the conscious and subconscious first impressions they form about you.
To help you out, we put together these branding tips so you can pick the right colors for your business! Read on to learn more!
1. Be Bold
Without thinking, you can probably picture the rainbow of the Instagram logo, the red of the Netflix logo, and the blue of the Facebook logo. What do these popular brands all have in common? Bright and bold color usage!
While many new brands try to pick subtle colors to avoid being too bold, this can backfire by making their logos forgettable. Using bright and saturated colors is one of the best ways how to have your brand stand out.
2. Use Color Psychology
Color psychology is one way you can improve your first impression, as it can subconsciously influence your customers. Try picking a few of the following colors based on their associations:
- Yellow – friendship, kindness, happiness
- Orange – high-energy, family-focused
- Green – financial success, stability
- Red – passion, adventurous, high-energy, alertness
- Purple – creativity, luxury
- Pink – youthful, romantic, girlish
- Blue – calm, productive, cerebral
- Brown – sophisticated, steady
- Black – authoritative, mysterious, strong
The subconscious moods evoked by these colors have been backed by science. For instance, some studies have found that gyms that are painted red can induce greater strength and sprinting speed in athletes!
As a branding example, if you want to pick brand colors for accounting services, consider green and brown. They will foster a feeling of a trustworthy, financially successful, and dependable business.
3. Follow the Market
Before starting your graphic logo design, it’s worth checking established businesses to see if there are any trends you can use.
Take a look at a few popular brands in the same market. Are there common colors you see? It’s likely that these companies have run marketing research, and found the most successful colors for their products.
While you shouldn’t copy their logos (remember, you want to stand out!), you can take advantage of common themes in your industry.
Now You Know How to Choose Brand Colors Like a Pro
Learning how to choose brand colors is one of the first steps to building a successful business. Your brand colors can foster the subconscious impressions of your customers, making them instantly trust you! Now that you know how to do it, play around with a few logo ideas and see what appeals to you!
If you enjoyed reading about how to start a brand, we have lots of tips on our blog. Check it out for more!
