Business Colors: Here’s How To Choose The Best for YOU

Trying to pick your best business colors?

Curious about the psychology of color in branding?

Wondering how color influences marketing and sales?

We’ll cover all that here, including which colors top brands use, and tips on color theory and combining colors.

So you can pick brand colors that send the right message about your business.

And I’ve included 10 colorful infographics you’ll want to pin to Pinterest! Enjoy.

Choose the Best Business Colors

Whether you’re choosing colors for your brand, your product launch, or your email marketing campaign, consider the impact of color.

Powerful psychological cues are triggered when we view different colors. Colors evoke emotions, moods, and feelings.

Whether you’re a marketer or a consumer, knowing the power of color psychology can help you make better decisions. Color plays a much bigger role in influencing what we purchase than you might think!

Amazingly, 84.7% of people said that color was the primary reason they bought a particular product.

People make a subconscious judgment about an environment or product within 90 seconds – and between 62 and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone!

As a small business owner wearing many different hats, color may not be front of mind when developing your brand and marketing materials. But for better or worse, color affects the way people react when they first encounter your company.

Selecting your colors is no easy feat.

Which one will send the right message?

Which sets the appropriate tone?

Vistaprint wanted to help small business owners develop a better understanding of common color associations, so they could apply this to their own businesses.

They started by looking at what colors customers are choosing when designing their marketing materials on their online design studio.

They learned that the top color was overwhelmingly blue, followed by black and red.

With a plethora of research out there about color psychology, they decided to consult an expert. Dr. Sally Augustin, a leading authority on the psychology of color, provided insight for an infographic on how small business owners can leverage color to evoke specific feelings and associations to benefit their business.

The Vistaprint infographic includes insights on the colors that are most appropriate for different types of small businesses.

They also encourage you to consider these tips:

1 | Choose colors through the lens of your customer, and those that reflect your company’s brand, industry, and product or service.

2 | Leverage color combinations to enhance their impact. A color like grey which doesn’t make a significant statement could be paired with a more energizing or relaxing color.

3 | Be cognizant of how colors are interpreted in different cultures, particularly if you have an international customer base or sell your products/services abroad.

4 | Don’t choose colors based on your own preferences. Your favorite color may not be sending the right message.

5 | To maximize your opportunity to stand out, avoid choosing colors that are too similar to your competitors.

And on to the next infographic…

Color Psychology: What Do Your Brand Colors Say About You?

What is color psychology?

Can colors affect mood, perception, and even purchasing decisions?

Color psychology is the study of color as a determinant of human behavior. [wikipedia]

Artists and designers understand and utilize the power of color to evoke a mood, and even change behaviors. With this infographic, you too can harness the power of color!

Color meanings in brief:

White: Cleanliness, Purity, Simplicity
Dive deep into the many meanings of white.

Yellow: Happiness, Warmth, Caution
Learn all about the meaning of yellow and choose the right one from 33 yellow color codes.

Orange: Affordable, Creative, Fun
Orange comes in many shades and tints! Learn the orange color meanings, then opt for the optimal one with 20+ orange hex codes.

Red: Action, Passion, Danger
Find out more about the meaning of red to use it wisely. Then pick the right red hex codes!

Pink: Gentle, Romantic, Grateful
Pick the perfect pink hex codes from our selection of 33, from pastel to powerful. And make sure it sends the right message by learning the color meanings of pink.

Purple: Expensive, Mysterious, Spiritual
Use purple well by learning purple color meanings. Then find your favorite from 40 fabulous purple color codes.

Blue: Authoritative, Serene, Dignified
There are so many tints, tones and shades of blue! Make the blue-chip choice by learning blue color meanings and selecting from 20+ blue hex codes.

Green: Renewal, Healing, Money
Take a deep dive into the meanings of green and choose from 40 fantastic green hex codes.

Brown: Calm, Natural, Serious
Embrace the best brown from this selection of 22 brown color codes.

Grey: Corporate, Practical, Somber
Grey gets in on the action too, with 22 great grey hex codes.

Black: Classic, Formal, Bold
Learn the black color meanings to send the right message with black. Find important insights on using black combined with other colors too!

You might also enjoy learning more color names – 20 color swatches and names for each color mentioned above, plus tan. 240 in all!

Check out the color psychology infographic below, provided by Muse Design, to see what your brand colors are revealing about you.

Article continues below the graphic.

The Psychology of Color for Your Brand: Infographic

The psychology of color means that different colors have different effects on you – and your business audience!

This makes color a vital factor in your branding. Color plays a huge role in your audience’s perception of your company, as well as their remembering you.

In the U.S., studies suggest some universal color meanings. These can vary in different cultures, though.

According to Entrepreneur Magazine, warm colors, like red and yellow, send an outgoing, energetic message, while cool colors, like blue, are calmer and more reserved. You can brighten a cool color to increase its vitality and reduce its reserve.

Pick the perfect shade and intensity with the color code charts linked in the previous section.

 

The clever folks at Fiverr took Entrepreneur‘s info and made a beautiful infographic, which you can view and pin below. (article continues after graphic).

The Secret Psychology of Color in Marketing: Infographic

Here’s another terrific infographic about the psychology of color, with yet more to follow below!

Would you like to positively impact potential customers with color psychology?

Then you need to know how to use color well!

Each color has a unique impact on human moods, behavior, and performance.

For example, the color red creates a sense of urgency and increases appetite, making it a great choice for consumer sales and food chains.

On the other hand, the color blue is soothing and calming. It suggests security and reliability and is ideal for conservative products.

Check out the infographic below from WebPageFX for specifics by color.

Don’t forget to pin this psychology of color in marketing infographic.

Just for fun, you might enjoy this color personality test.

Picking Brand Colors? What Color Says About Your Business

Picking brand colors?

You’re in the right place. In the branding world, color is one of the most important aspects.

Color helps in brand recognition and has the power to influence a customer’s purchase decision. Marketers have to determine which color suits the brand best, and how it can deliver a message to their target market.

Studies say that 90% of people’s perception and assessment of a brand depends on color.

The infographic below has taken six colors and analyzed them. Learn the characteristics of different colors and which brands use them, so you can choose the right color for your brand.

Different colors have different qualities. For example, neutral colors like black, gray, and white display qualities like premium or luxury. Brands such as Apple, Audi, and Chanel use neutral colors.

Color psychology in branding is of interest to all marketers because they wield the power to attract and influence customers to purchase a particular brand with their use of color.

Take a look at this infographic and let us know, which brand colors work for your business?

Which Fonts and Colors Drive Top Brands?

Pondering your visual brand strategy?

Never hurts to check out what the world’s top brands do.

Fonts and colors are your first consideration, and they need to set the right tone for your company’s brand.

Tasty Placement analyzed the colors used in the top brand logos. Then they determined font styles. Finally, whether the top brand logos used an icon only, text only, or a combination of both.

As you can see on their infographic, only iconic brands like Apple and Shell can get away with an icon only!

And the font Helvetica is just crushing it, being used in better than 1 in 5 of top brand logos.

Does this mean you should choose Helvetica?

No more than Mattel’s Barbie shouldn’t use pink as her brand color, or me purple. Just choose wisely.

Pin the infographic to share which fonts and colors drive the world’s top brands.

To choose fonts wisely, check out 10 more infographics on font personality!

This is How to Create a Brilliant Brand Identity

Want to create a brand identity for your small business?

It’s no secret that companies owning a powerful brand achieve a better position in the marketplace.

Presenting a memorable brand makes a company and its products more recognizable to customers. People love to buy  from familiar companies!

Brand identity is the foundation of a good brand. That’s why there is no successful business without well-established branding.

Why is creating brand identity important for small businesses?

Brand identity makes your business visible in the crowded marketplace, helps you attract new customers, and keep the existing ones.

Businesses with a distinct brand personality are easier to remember and identify. That’s why your brand needs to be carefully designed.

Colors, fonts, and shapes used for designing the elements of your branding carry a message about your business to the marketplace.

These visual elements communicate the core values of your business to your audience, so they can relate to them. If consumers share the same values as your business, they will more likely choose your company and products or services over your competitors’.

But, before you start designing your brand identity elements, you need to know who is your target audience and decide how do you want to be perceived by them.

Since creating your brand properly can seem complex, it’s good to know where to start and what to pay attention to during the process. The infographic below gives you designing tips and an overview of the important steps in the process of building an unforgettable brand personality.

Take a look at this infographic from Custom Labels, and prepare yourself to create a brilliant brand identity for your small business.

How to Win at Color Theory: Infographics

Baffled by color theory?

Struggling to decide how to combine colors in your graphics?

You’re not alone. While some of us are born with a sixth sense about color, most people are intimidated.

Learn to use color like a pro in these infographics from SilkCards.

There are 3 parts:

• Color Theory Basics.
• Contrasting and Complementary Colors.
• Color Combinations: Background and Text.

Check them out and pin your favorites! Read on after each image.

Color Theory Definition

In the visual arts, color theory or colour theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination. There are also definitions (or categories) of colors based on the color wheel: primary color, secondary color and tertiary color. source

Color theory is a set of basic rules in mixing color perception to achieve the desired effect by combining colors of light (RGB) or combining colors reflected in pigments.

The perception of color depends on preferences and tastes in terms of colors, to a greater or lesser extent, physical reactions to certain colors, such as feeling cold in a room painted in light blue, or warm in another room painted in orange, yellow, and red.

Contrasting and Complementary Colors Infographic

When we talk about complementing a color with another, the greater the contrast of clarity and darkness between the letters and the background, the better the readability of the text. This is so important to understand when designing graphics!

Also note that strong, primary colors will give your brand the most visibility.

Color Combinations for Background and Text Infographic

Any color can be evaluated outside its environment. Be aware that the same tone may look different when it is placed on different backgrounds, and different colors may appear almost the same when they are associated with different backgrounds.

There are two basic compositional forms of color. One is harmony, and the other is the contrast. Good background / text combinations occur when the colors have a lot of contrast. Bad combinations may be similar in tone or hue, and hard to read.

Another way to improve your design is with the rule of thirds.

Business Color Psychology for Branding

You reviewed business colors, the psychology of color for branding, and which brands use which colors.

We covered color theory, complementary and contrasting colors, and how to combine colors for standout designs.

You discovered 10 different informative infographics about color!

I’m sure these infographics will help you learn more about colors for business. Pin them for future reference!