It's a fact - your clients respond to colour. Purchase decisions are made not with logic, but emotion. Colour psychology dictates that different colours make us feel different things. Learn how understanding colour psychology can help you to choose the right palette for your brand.

1. Colour psychology:
Choosing the right palette
for your brand
It’s a fact – your clients respond to colour.
92% 85% 90%
of consumers prioritise
visual factors when
purchasing products1
.
of consumers believe
colour is the biggest visual
motivator when choosing
a particular product1
.
of snap judgements
made about products can
be based on colour alone
(depending on the product)2
.
Colours are stereotyped ...
Purchase decisions are made not with logic,
but emotion. Colour psychology dictates that
different colours make us feel different things.
While this always depends on the individual’s
personal experiences with the colour, there
are some general emotional ties to colour
that are almost universal.
TRUST
CONFIDENCE
BALANCE
PEACEFULNESS
EXCITEMENT
OPTIMISM
CREATIVITY
... but the golden rule is context.
Don’t let these conventional colour associations dictate
your palette without considering the context.
For example, brownis stereotypically
associated with ruggedness, but when
Cadbury use it in their colour palette
it’s associated with chocolate.
Six steps
to finding your brand’s palette
Define how you want
to be perceived
Create a physical
mood board
Choose your colour ratio
Rather than choosing the palette for
your brand based on colours you find
visually pleasing, start with a mind
map of words that describe how you
want people to perceive your brand.
With this research complete,
source images that reflect
how you want your brand to
be viewed and see if there
are any noticeable colour patterns.
This exercise will inspire the next step…
Once you have chosen your
colour palette, decide which
will take the most prominence.
Many designers abide by the
60-30-10 rule.
This suggests that you use the ratio of 60%, 30%
and 10% for distribution of your three colours.
1
3
5
2
4
6
C R E A T I V E
R E L I A B L E
A F F O R D A B L E
T R U S T W O R T H Y
P I O N E E R I N G
Y O U R
C O M P A N Y
603010
Analyse your competition
Research the logos, websites and colour schemes other
brands in your industry use and how they make people feel.
To get you started, look at the trends in these big-business colour
schemes and how they correlate with our preconceived emotional
understanding of the colour.
BLUE
Trust,
intelligence,
strength and
progress.
• Facebook
• IBM
GREY/
BLACK
Calm and
neutral.
• Apple
• Nike
ORANGE
Friendly,
cheerful and
confident.
• Nickelodeon
• Bankwest
GREEN
Growing,
healthy and
peaceful.
• Starbucks
• Animal Planet
RED
Excited, bold,
youthful and
energetic.
• Coca-Cola
• Target
YELLOW
Warm,
optimistic
and happy.
• McDonald’s
• Yellow Pages
PURPLE
Creative and
imaginative.
• Hallmark
• Cadbury
M
Create a digital mood board
Now you should have a long list of
colours in front of you. Use a
colour-picker tool, such as
ColorPic3
, and extract the
hex code of these colours
to start placing
combinations together.
Aim for a palette of
three colours.
#FED200 #212121
#0062B0
Take time and test
Don’t make a quick decision.
Put your chosen colour scheme
through a consumer research
panel to find out whether it
works as intended.
If you don’t have the budget
for this, ask employees, friends
and family for their honest
opinion before you sign off.
1
http://www.colorcom.com/research/why-color-matters
2
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/3abs/10.1108/00251740610673332
3
http://www.iconico.com/colorpic/
9 810 9
With your colour scheme signed and sealed, it’s time to deliver.
Start weaving it through all your design and communication assets
– including logos, packaging, websites, business cards and any
branded goods – to keep your message clear and consistent.
Contact Snap for all your design needs.