When you’re starting up a business or website you need to think carefully about your branding. The colours you choose will affect the image portrayed to an audience. Knowing how to decide on a colour scheme that is right for you and the purpose of your business is essential. We understand colour at Steve Wood Services; look through our ideas on how to market and brand your business successfully.
Know your tone
Think carefully about what you are marketing. Certain colours represent certain tones so choosing a colour scheme that is relevant will work in your favour. Colours that are less appropriate may cause confusion about your brand or objection to your professionalism.
Examples of colours in existing branding
Consider your competitors and your line of market. Red might work for a food or toy company but would be less appropriate for a company promoting sustainability or environmental causes; choose green instead. Orange is usually a more playful colour and blue a more dependable colour. Thus, medical and corporate businesses are more likely to opt for blues and greys.
Purples and pinks work well for creative or exotic businesses such as technology, health & beauty, and candy companies. Pink is also the colour of choice for maternal fields as opposed to dark greys which would be best suited to a more sombre funeral directors or industrial business.
Be careful with bright colours
Using overly bright colours can make your brand sore on the eyes. People’s attention is naturally drawn in by pops of bright colour but if your brand is too bright, your audience will lose interest quickly.
Although yellow may work for certain companies as a logo (where would McDonald’s be without the ‘golden arch’?), using yellow as a colour scheme on websites will be hard to read. Yellow is known to be the trickiest colour for the eye to focus on so your audience won’t be likely to hang around if it’s your website’s colour of choice.
Contrast colours wisely
Stick with colour combinations that you know will work well. It can be the first thought of new businesses to create something entirely new but going too far away from the norm is most likely to work against you. At all times your colours must be able to work with black and/or white. Choosing a whole colour palette that is too light or too dark will again cause issues with legibility.
Limit the rainbow effect
If you really can’t decide on a colour scheme, just avoid the rainbow effect at all costs. Using too many colours can seriously damage a brand and the image you are trying to promote or convey. Return to each of our previous points if you are having trouble, and research existing logos and brands for further ideas.
It’s time to create your promotional material now! Have a look at our variety of ink and screen printing products at Steve Wood Services. Whether you plan on creating posters, t-shirts, leaflets, etc. we can provide you with all the right colours to help you on your way. Don’t hesitate to get in touch to find out more or for a quote today.