Last Updated on September 17, 2023 by Libby Romano
Choosing colors for your brand will either seem like a really easy task, or a really incredibly hard task. Either way, it requires some solid effort to make sure you a) pick a color palette you’ll be happy with now, and ten years from now; and b) pick a color palette that resonates well with your target audience and truly conveys your company’s brand values. Take these steps to ensure you pick a winning color palette for your brand.
1. Decide your brand’s values and voice.
Is your company the funny one in the industry? Is it the educator? Or is it the wise older sister? Before you can create your brand’s color palette, you have to first decide who your brand actually is.
Every personality is different, and can evoke different emotions. Colors help bring out these emotions and convey certain feelings to your audience.
A brand with humor or zest might fancy a brilliant yellow as its focus. A brand who is eco-conscious may want to find its signature shade of green. And a brand that is wise and classic may stick to a black, white, and grey palette.
Often, a brand may reflect the personality of its founder, so think about who you are as a person, and think about what colors might reflect your personality. After all, if this is your brand, you’re going to have to live with the colors you choose for a good long while. Make sure you choose colors for your brand that you’ll love for a long time.
2. Create A Private Pinterest Inspiration Board
This is a super fun step, because you get to kind of go crazy, here. It’s kind of like a visual brainstorming session, and it can last for as long or as short of a time as you need until you feel you’re honing in on a color palette you like.
Create a Pinterest board, and make sure to check the button to “Keep It Secret”. You don’t want others poking around in your business’ inspiration board, and it certainly won’t help your brand’s performance.
This board is for your eyes only.
Now start searching color palettes. Save all the ones you love.
Search for anything that you find beautiful and which may provide a color palette that suits the look and feel you’re going for for your brand. This might include flower bouquets or wedding color palettes, or anything else where you might find a great color scheme (baby showers, formal invitations, landscape designs, etc). Anything goes.
Start Pinning away, and don’t worry about if you really love or don’t love something. If you think you like it upon first glance, save it. You can come back to this later and revisit in more detail.
3. Look at Your Favorite Brands That Are Over 20 Years Old. They’ve withstood the test of time.
You probably have some iconic brands that you’ve always loved. I want you to think about some of the brands you feel are iconic and whose branding you love and respect.
Visit their websites and their social media. See what color palettes speak to you, and try to understand if their colors are part of what resonated with you in the first place.
Branding plays such a big part in overall awareness and remembrance of a brand. Iconic branding passes the test of time.
For me, I’ve always loved the branding of Christian Dior. The company never strayed from its iconic, feminine branding, and I respect that immensely. Everything they do is dripping in class.
Pay special attention to the color schemes they’ve used with their brands over time, and note which color palettes have stood the test of time for them. See if this drives an ah-ha! moment home for you.
4. Look At Your Favorite Brands That Are Less Than 5 Years Old.
There has obviously been a lot of branding innovation in the last few years, and you probably have some newer brands that also speak to your soul.
One of the great things about modern times is that brands have really embraced the promotion of a lifestyle. What lifestyle do you want your brand to represent?
Delve into your favorite of-the-moment brands on Instagram and Pinterest, and see what they’re serving up for color palettes. Maybe they’re breaking through the noise with edgy colors. Take a queue from them and try something new!
Newer competition presents opportunities.
5. See Where You Have Overlap In The Above Categories.
Go back through the last three steps, and see if you find any common color themes.
Do you keep coming back to shades of jade?
Is it an ocean blue that inspires you?
At the end of the day, color palettes are a completely personal preference. But you have to be sure you’re going to love them now and in the future.
Take some time to go through the exercise above and see if it helps you jog any beautiful color palettes for yourself.
And if you’re in need of further inspiration, check out our Pinterest account.
Also see our article, How to Create a Memorable Brand Experience.