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Personal branding and building your brand story are all the rage right now. Small business owners should have a strong awareness of what their brand is, how it is perceived in the world, and the elements that go into creating their brand image. One of the most fun aspects of creating your brand can be choosing your brand colors!
Have you already created your brand? Did you put any thought into choosing your brand colors? Or did you simply pick your favorite colors? Or are you currently in the process of choosing a color palette and feeling a little stuck with which direction to take?
Just starting out creating a small business can be overwhelming and feel like there are so many things to decide and create. While choosing colors for your brand may seem fun, it can easily get paralyzing with all the color choices out there. It’s worse than walking into Home Depot to pick out paint colors!
Never fear! Keep reading! Below, I break a color palette down into 3 and 5 color choices and HOW to choose certain color tones and WHY having these types of colors is helpful!
Let’s start with HOW to choose your colors.
In general, start with 3 colors. You want something light, something dark, and something bold.
Think of your initial palette in terms of a business “suit”. The main color is the suit, use a complementary color for the shirt, and a bold color as accent, like fun shoes!
If you would like, add in two more colors, use a neutral color and one that complements the dark or bold color you chose.
This illustration below shows you my brand colors and how they are categorized. At times, I do substitute white for the yellow/gold to give my palette a true neutral color. (I kind of cheat and have a 6 color palette. But nevermind me, I like to be the exception to the rule occasionally. LOL!) When using the white as the neutral, then the “bold” in my palette becomes the turquoise hue.
I use terms in the image above like complementary, harmonious, and analogous. These are common in Color Theory. This post just tips the iceberg when it comes to all the intricacies of color theory. While Color Theory can get really complicated, picking your brand colors doesn’t have to be.
Find a palette you can live with that you think appeals to your ideal client and follows these “rules”. Then, move on to the next thing on your to-do list:
- a dark color
- a light color
- a neutral color
- a complementary color
- a bold color
Now, WHY would you want to choose your brand colors with all this in mind?
Answer: By choosing your brand colors to match this particular “scheme”, you will make your business life easier. You will have built-in options for many different circumstances: social media graphics, product packaging, logo design, letterhead and stationary, business cards, and more!
- You will have a dark color to use for your font, so it will show up on graphics.
- You will have a light color to use as background for your darker text.
- And vice versa, it’s nice to be able to have variety and use a darker background (maybe your bold color) with your light color as your text.
- Use your bold or complementary colors to grab your ideal client’s attention in graphics or on packaging to hopefully stop their scroll.
- These can also be built-in colors for different content categories if you are writing a blog.
Time to get started! What are your 3 (or 5) colors??!
If you need help choosing your brand colors, use these sites to narrow down your thinking! And remember…it’s not all about what you like, you want your brand to appeal to your ideal client. So keep in mind colors that will be perfect for them. And attract the person who is looking for the service/product you offer and the problem you solve for them.
I can’t wait to see what color palettes you come up with! And be sure to join my mailing list so you can be the first to learn about my brand workshop when it launches! We will go in depth on color theory as well as all other aspects of creating a brand for yourself and your business!
