If you ever needed to decide on a color and went to the internet for help, you likely found many articles telling you precisely which colors evoke which emotions.

But if you dig a little deeper, you will find surprisingly little scientific evidence to support the claim that color can influence mood and behavior. The little effects that have been found are short-lived. A blue room would make you feel more relaxed, yes, but this effect wears off in a few minutes.

When you consider a logo or website design or other real-life applications, what emotional response can we really expect from a few pixels on the screen? I would say... none! We are so used to certain associations that we tend to see them as universal laws of nature.

The Meaning of Color

Let’s take a pretty common experience and its corresponding emotion: death and mourning. Depending on where you are in the world, the dress code is radically different: black in the west and white in the east.

Or the iconic duo: pink and baby blue. Every gender reveals party tells us pink is for girls, blue for boys. But the opposite used to be the norm just 100 years ago. A 1918 article proclaimed:

“The generally accepted rule is pink for boys and blue for girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”

Another example that challenges even our most basic understanding is the idea that red and yellow are warm colors while blue is cold. However, according to Kassia St Clair in The Secret Lives of Color, this division can only be traced back to the 18th century.

In the middle ages, blue was considered the hottest of colors.

It’s safe to say that the effect of color is generally oversimplified and exaggerated. Colors don’t carry an inherent meaning. They should be understood as subjective cultural creations, that vary across time and space.

Bottom line: Not everyone thinks yellow is joyful. Some people think it’s depressing.

So if the effect of color is oversimplified and exaggerated, does it even matter what colors you choose for your brand?

How to Choose Your Brand Colors

Colors don’t make you FEEL any differently, but associations between colors and emotions do exist. It might seem like semantics, but they’re two completely different ways to process the world — feeling vs thinking.

In choosing a color, we mostly rely on thinking: we know that green signals freshness, nature, growth. We have been exposed to these associations, so we have a good general understanding of what colors mean, in our own time and culture. This gives us some guidelines on how to choose our brand colors and make sure they communicate the right message.

Let’s break it down! Colors can be defined by these 3 dimensions, each with a specific role to play: hue, saturation, and brightness. The first and most challenging step is determining the hue, and this is where the 3 steps come in handy. Saturation and Brightness are then used to fine-tune the specific color of your brand.

3 Steps to Narrow Down the Right Hue

Without getting too caught up in terms, think of the different colors of the rainbow. Red or blue, for example, are hues.

STEP 1: RESEARCH THE INDUSTRY

What are the colors of your industry and competitors? You will need to start with a bit of research, to understand what businesses like yours generally look like. Some trends will emerge pretty quickly.

For example, the IT industry tends to be a shade of blue, brought on by well-established giants like Microsoft or Intel. We have come to associate blue with all things technology and artificial intelligence. Blue is a very rare color in live organisms, so it is the prime contender to represent non-living, impersonal elements.

STEP 2: POSITION YOUR BRAND

Do you want to align with the colors of your industry, or go the opposite way? One classic example is Virgin Airlines which went for a bright color scheme, to signal a break from the traditional airline business, and to a certain extent, to reflect the bombastic personality of its CEO Richard Branson.

Since differentiation is one of the objectives here, we might be tempted to go for the color that helps us to stand out the most. But standing out is only part of the goal.

The other is to communicate our brand values. Companies with more traditional values, centered around tradition, security, and trust are more aligned with what people expect to see and benefit from conforming with the general color trends of their respective industries.

At the other end of the spectrum, companies that are more of a rebel, and challenge the old ways of doing things or who are pioneering technology and breaking new ground can show that youthful, “breaking with tradition” mindset by carving a new space on the color spectrum.

3. TEST AGAINST COMMON COLOR ASSOCIATIONS

And finally, once you managed to narrow down your choices, look into the common color associations for that particular hue. This is where those charts on the internet can offer a starting point, but it is important to explore whether these hold true for your target audience.

The easiest way to test that is to ask. Start with asking five people in your target audience what they think of when they see your brand color. A word-association exercise is a simple way to tease out those hidden connections. Again, some trends should emerge rather quickly.

By doing this, you will have a more clear understanding of the unspoken message you’re sending, either negative or positive, and whether these are aligned with your brand strategy.

SATURATION

Saturation is the intensity of color and goes on a spectrum from grey to pure color. If you decided on blue, do you go for dark blue, or baby blue? The options still seem endless.

As a rule of thumb, intense, saturated colors tend to be more youthful and playful, while desaturated colors look more serious and elegant.

BRIGHTNESS

Brightness is the relative lightness or darkness of a particular color. Light colors are inviting and friendly, while dark colors tend to be exclusive and professional.

Decoding the Meaning of Color

There is much more to say on color theory and how to develop a complete color scheme. Fortunately, this is a topic of interest not only in branding, but it’s rather central for artists, interior designers, architects, graphic designers. So there are many good resources out there that look at color harmony, and how you can mix and match like a pro. That is if you want to do this yourself.

My advice is to work with a graphic designer and make use of their expertise and eye for esthetic combinations. Your role as a business owner is to give a comprehensive brief and know what you're trying to achieve in the design process. Hint: it's not just to have a pretty face.

It all starts here: knowing what your brand values are and who the client is. Without this understanding of what you're trying to communicate, you will be left guessing. A color scheme that you find appealing will make you happy but will fail to truly represent your business.

First impressions take a split second to form, and most of what gets through in that short time is overwhelmingly color-related. It's not an exact science, but hopefully, you are now equipped with the basic principles that will help you and your graphic designer find your brand colors.

How to Choose Your Brand Colors in 3 Steps