Brand colours. How do you choose them? And how many do you need?!

When it comes to design there are really no set rules. This can be truly a beautiful thing or it can make your choices feel overwhelming and overcomplicated. With that being said, here are a few tips to guide you through choosing your brand colours.

Step 1. Always start with your audience in mind. Begin by getting clear on who you looking to attract to your biz or brand? Think about what colours they drawn to and do you research. Look at what others in the market are doing well and not so well. Think about what makes you different and how you want your audience to feel when they see your branding.

Step 2. Before you start choosing your colours, determine if you want a warm or cool palette. Use your audience from step 1 to help guide the direction you want to take your colours. For example, a warm palette could have peachy-pinks, yellows or sandy colours. A cool palette could have coastal blues, greens and greys.

Step 3. Take baby steps. Choose one to two main colours to drive your branding. Once you're feeling good about your main colours you can begin to select a few supporting colours. Supporting colours should feel cohesive to your main colours. Think muted or neutrals and/or a colour or two that provide a little bit of contrast. For example, my main brand colours are a light purple and a deep green, which are opposite from each other on the colour wheel. Another contrast example would be blue and orange or blue and yellow.

Step 4. Keep it simple. As tempting as it is, there is no need to go wild and select 15 supporting colours. I suggest having no more than 5-6 total colours in your palette. Keep in mind that when putting together too many colours on the opposite sides of the spectrum your palette can start to look and feel overwhelming.

Step 5. Keep your website and social content in mind when picking your brand colours. Remember that you always need a lighter colour or a neutral for section backgrounds (or social backgrounds) and then a colour that stands out for your buttons and calls to action.

Reach out if you have any brand colour palette questions! I’m always happy to help.