Company branding is so much more than your colors and your logo but choosing colors to represent you and your company’s image is usually where more people start in the branding process. There’s no shame in choosing your own brand colors instead of hiring a designer but it’s not exactly simple. Let’s dive into an explanation of the color wheel and how it can help narrow down your color choices.
A color wheel consists of colors with the following distinctions: primary, secondary, tertiary, complementary, and analogous.
- Primary colors are those which cannot be achieved by mixing other colors together. Red, blue, and yellow are primary colors.
- Secondary colors are those which can be made by mixing two primary colors. Orange, green, and purple are secondary colors.
- Tertiary colors are created by mixing primary and secondary hues together
- Complementary colors are located at direct opposite ends of the color wheel and
- Analogous colors appear close together on a color wheel
How does this help you? Find a color wheel online and take a look. You probably have an idea already of at least one color to use in your branding efforts, so find that color/hue on the wheel. Now look at the four colors next to it. Those are analogous colors that will look appealing when used together. Or find your first color and look at the color directly opposite. Those are complementary colors which will also be appealing together.
Once you make a decision on colors, the online color wheels will show you the HEX and RGB codes for each color. Write those down in a safe place so you use those colors consistently with your website, social media pages, and products without having to look them up numerous times.
As the famous artist Marc Chagall once said, “All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites,” and this is certainly obvious when looking at the color wheel itself. Choosing complementary or analogous colors in a family that represents you and the image you want to portray is the first step toward branding your company.
Back when our firm started, my partner (a MOST talented industrial designer) stressed the same idea.
Great minds think (know?) alike! Thanks, Roy!
How interesting!
Why yes! Yes it is!
The explanation of how to understand color relationships is interesting. I’ll have to look at my colors and see what options might be available for expanding use of color on my site and business cards. Thank you!
You got it, Kathleen!
My choice will always swing towards purple and red and flamingo pink – I don’t dare look at a colour wheel! It will groan!
LOL – these are not bad colors! Purple is royalty, Red is energy, power, and strength. Flamingo Pink… well, you are on your own for that one!