According to Google, color is a characteristic of human visual perception. But before anything else, color is an emotion! Once humans identify a color, it instantly triggers a chemical reaction in the brain that generates an emotional response. Right from waking up in the morning to going to bed again, our eyes visualize so many hues of colors. Interesting and shocking at the time is the fact that even though there are thousands of shades that we witness every day, there are millions more that we haven’t yet!
Having already mentioned the enormity of colors, it won’t be objectionable to state that colors play a vitally important role in the way we project ourselves. Colors can sway thoughts, affect actions, and the list can be inexhaustible. The science of how colors influence us is at least 200 years old.
Now since we have discussed the importance of colors, it wouldn’t be dubious to say that they reflect our personality too. Colors are a powerful form of communication. Red conveys danger, eagerness, enthusiasm, and passion. Blue represents peace, trust, and so on. If you use yellow, you’re personifying cheerfulness, optimism, playfulness, whereas black represents luxury, despair, formal and sophistication. Pink is feminine, romantic, emotional. Every color has a story to tell, and which story you want to depict depends on how efficiently you choose your tints.
Presently, the importance of colors and color physiology is being hugely accepted in businesses for the purpose of branding and packaging. In this world of the immense amount of options, what can help you stand out is the use of colors. The way people identify your brand is with colors. It is not only convenient but also effective. The color of your brand is an essential character for your brand story. Imagine a red can of cola, a black apple, white bold text on red stripe, weren’t you able to identify the brands? Colors allow us to instantly identify and draw emotional associations to a brand.
Choosing Right Colours for Your Brand
Knowing the Target Audience
Before delving into the process of the actual job, research is a crucial element. It’s necessary to understand the psychology of your target audience. Their age, status, gender, qualification, needs, etc helps to evaluate the probable mindset of your potential customers. All these factors play a noticeable role in deciding the color your brand and packaging should have.
Brand’s Message
Knowing what your brand caters and the idea behind it could be a vital inspiration in handpicking the color. The tone and voice of the brand; bold, blunt, soft, mild, cheerful, luxury, etc are the factors that should be considered.
Culture
Different regions follow different cultures. Hence, the meaning and the symbolization of colors also vary with geography. For example, in the US, white represents purity while in some Asian regions; it is the color of lament. Hence, being aware of the culture you’re serving provides access to infiltrate the region as well as the psychology of the consumers appropriately.
Experiment
Considering all the factors mentioned, it is, however, important to experiment in order to stand out. Different colors can have very different impacts on different consumers. It is advisable to experiment with at least three options to ensure that you find an appropriate and powerful palette.
Mood Board
Experimenting with different color palettes to determine the mood it evokes could also be useful in choosing the right color for your brand. The same can be done with the help of a color pick tool as well as gradient cards. Placing multiple colors together will provide you with ideas regarding the different moods and emotions that your brand evokes.
Conclusion
The bottom line is you should remember that playing with colors isn’t something that should be practiced merely because it might seem cool, contemporary or because everyone is following that. It is very crucial to comprehend that choosing the right colors to fit and replicate the authenticity of your brand is not an easy job, especially with massive and diverse options available. Properly chosen colors define your brand value, positioning, recall value, and personality of the brand. This is something that shouldn’t be underestimated.
