Understanding The Power & Psychology Of Color In Branding
Like graphic design as a whole, color as an individual element is a powerful component of your company’s marketing and branding. Color evokes emotion, elicits a reaction, and tells a story. Again, like graphic design, color gives its viewers silent communication cues. Color in branding can prompt potential clients to feel a sense of urgency, a sense of warmth, or a sense of trust. Color can also draw clients to your brand – which gives it a power your marketing team needs to pay attention to.
Tiffany owns its shade of blue. Barbie owns its shade of pink. T-Mobile owns its shade of magenta. UPS owns its shade of brown. As you can see from these examples, color in branding is so important that these companies and corporations trademarked – and ardently defend and protect – their brand’s colors. That’s powerful. In fact, that’s the kind of power, cache, and recognizability you want behind your brand.
Adding color to your online and offline marketing can help your brand grab attention and compel action. As a consumer, would you feel more drawn to a wellness spa who uses tranquil blues and soothing lavender shades or one who uses vivid reds and intense oranges? Similarly, would you feel more compelled to trust your money to a bank who marketed with the primary colors typical of an elementary school or the solid trustworthiness of blue or sophistication of black? Before you answer that, remember that Chase, Citibank, and Bank of America all use blue in their marketing and branding.
Color in branding easily denotes reliability versus urgency, luxury versus affordability, and children versus adult versions of the same products. The psychology behind the power of color can sway buyers in the directions you want them to go. That means you must also take your target market’s personal views and opinions into consideration. For example, think of how green can represent tranquility or sustainability or recycling. Think of how orange can represent fall as a season or Halloween or Thanksgiving. Think also of how the exact same razor or sweater or ink pen might be marketed separately for men and women using nothing more than color to denote which is which.
Finally, consider the lure of different shades of the same color. Just as one shade of a particular color can be energizing, a lighter shade of the same color can be soothing – navy blue versus powder blue, bright orange versus burnt orange, red versus pink, white versus ivory, and primary versus pastel colors – for example. Every iteration of color has an impact on how your brand is perceived, how its personality is depicted, and how your consumer will respond to it. The psychology of color in branding can be meaningful, influential, and, eventually, iconic. Consider the golden arches, the environmental movement, the wedding industry, and the holiday season. Each of these descriptions draws a picture in your mind that, in large part, is made up of color.
What colors represent your brand? What do those color choices say to your target market? When you’re ready to put the power, persuasion, and psychology of color to work building your brand, call the professional graphic design team at DPRINT. Our experience and innovation can help you choose color stories that move, motivate, and maintain.
