How to create the perfect colour palette for your brand

Nothing bugs me more than when someone says, “urgh, that is such a horrible colour”. I really truly believe that there are no ugly colours. I do, however, believe that there is such thing as an ugly colour palette. Who’s with me?

There is a process and science to creating your perfect colour palette for your brand and it can be a little overwhelming if you’re not entirely sure what you are looking for/doing. So, I wanted to start this blog off with a question that I would usually ask my clients when we are deciding on their brand colours.

You have to describe your brand in three words. What would they be? 

Think of adjectives that describe your brand's personality. Is it sophisticated, playful, calming, energetic, serious, bold, powerful?

By choosing these adjectives, it enables you to choose colours that represent these feelings. For example, a baby clothing brand may use delicate pastel colours, a romantic brand may use deep reds, or an energetic brand could use oranges.

Having a basic but good understanding of colour theory can be really beneficial to choosing your colour palette. Colour theory, what? Check out this link for more help.

Things to think about when picking your perfect colour palette…

Timeless vs Trendy

If you are planning in being in business for a while it is only inevitable that you are going to need to update your brand over the years. However, when deciding on these colours at the start, it is important that you choose ones that will remain timeless instead of those that are simply just trendy at that time.

By choosing timeless colours, you are setting your brand up to need fewer updates over time to stay current. Which in turn, allows you to have much stronger brand recognition. Having strong brand recognition helps your ideal audience to easily identify your product or service, builds trust and leaves a memorable impact on them.

Be relevant

It’s so so important to choose colours that are relevant to your brands mission, values and the industry that you are in. Your colours should be a complete reflection of your businesses personality. If you have a fitness business and your service is to provide workout classes and motivational support, your brand colours should probably be bright and eye catching, not muted, earthy colours.

Stay true to you

While it is important that your brand should appeal to your target audience, it should also reflect you, the owner. You are the one that is selling the brand so you need to love it and be proud to show it off.

So now we’ve spoken about the importance of choosing the right colours for your brand, let’s discuss how to create the palette.

Your colour palette should be roughly 5 colours (which is plenty!). This number allows you to have a few different (but complimentary) colours whilst still staying consistent and ensuring brand recognition. The formula should look something like this:

2 main colours:

I like to choose one main bold colour and then a second that compliments it. These two should then be your 2 main colours that will help create your brand recognition.

For your main bold colour, (using those three adjectives that decided on at the start) choose something that really represents your brands mission. This colour will be used to highlight information, grab attention or used for your call to actions. This colour should be the most memorable to your audience.

For your complimentary colour, choose something that compliments your bold colour but also contrast with it. Check out Adobe Colour to see the colour wheel – this will help you find a complimentary colour.

Your other 2-3 neutral colours:

Accent neutral – choose a neutral colour that sits nicely with your 2 main colours. This lighter tone will act as your accent colour.

One dark neutral – now you have your light colour, I would advise choosing something a bit darker that aligns with the rest of your colour scheme. This colour will be used mainly for your paragraph text.

One light neutral – this lighter colour will be used for your supporting elements or as a background colour. This colour is here to add depth to your palette and should not take the limelight!

And that is that…!

Working out a perfect colour palette that represents your brands personality, mission and values can be a very daunting task, but honestly it’s so important to get it right. Your colour palette should speak your brand and the emotions of your ideal client and it plays a vital role in your brand’s recognition.

Unsure whether or not you need to refresh your brands colour palette. Check out my other blog post on Signs you could be ready for a rebrand.