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Impact of Colours on Brand Identity

Colours are crucial for brands, especially because of the visual impact they can create in terms of establishing values and ideas a brand would want to project. With their aesthetic properties and psychological impact colours can turn around a brands identity. by Anindya Kundu
Illustration Credit: Anindya Kundu

The roots of the word brand can be traced back to the old Norse word brandr which denotes the ancient use of hot iron to mark cattle of one farm from another. The word maverick, which originally meant unbranded cattle has its origins in the story of a Texas rancher, Samuel Augustus Maverick, whose neglected cattle were rounded up by neighbouring ranchers.

distinguishing it from others. It often comprises the name, corresponding typography, shapes, symbol, logo or any other design elements including the colours used by the organization. Great branding is effective in driving loyalty, bring to limelight the products or services offered by a company and boost sales or transactions in unparalleled ways. Colour is a prime visual element people

Branding also found its expression in markings on bricks, watermarks on paper, and signs on barrels to distinguish products. Even the signatures of master artists such as Leonardo da Vincis on paintings can be considered as a form of branding. Much after, branding was done with the use of logos on printed posters and product packaging. With the advent of radio and television slogans, jingles, and mascots started appearing with brand advertisements.

perceive. Hence it plays a crucial role in any design. It is extremely important in branding because not only does it add aesthetic value in terms of art but also because different colours have different psychological impacts on viewers. Thus the choice of colours in brand identity requires to be made according to the vision of the company and the impact it wants to create on its specific audience.

A Glimpse into Colour Theory

Today, a brand is a voice that gives a unique identity to an organization or entity, Colours can be fundamentally described

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using two models the additive model and the subtractive model. The additive model of colour mixing is based on the behaviour of light mixes. Here red, green, and blue light combine to produce white light. The behaviour of mixing of colour pigments like any dye, paint or ink give rise to the subtractive model. In this case, any colour can be generated by mixing the colours cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, and is the foundation of colour printing and photography. Colours can also be defined using the three attributes of hue, saturation and lightness.

derived. Colours can also be divided based on their relative temperature, based on both nature and cultural norms. Warm colours include red to yellow including orange, pink, brown, and burgundy. Cool colours include green to blue including shades of violet. Cool colours have a calming effect and appear to recede, while warm colours represent heat and motion, pop-out and create emphasis. Hence cool colours are often used for backgrounds and warm colours for making headings or graphics to stand out. While choosing a colour scheme or a

colours equally separated in wheel), and the tetradic (also called double complementary).

The Functional Colours

Impact

of

The functional aspect of colours is to create emphasis or prominence, which is a primary goal of branding. Thus along with using the other principles of placement, continuity, isolation and proportion, contrast between colours is the factor determining readability and attention of the viewers. Black on white is the easiest to read on both paper and computer screens. Other most legible combinations include black on yellow, green on white followed by red on white. As mentioned earlier, warm colours tend to pop-out more compared to cooler colours, which appear to recede. This can be used effectively to emphasize branding.

Based on the traditional Colour Wheel that dates back to Goethes Theory of Colours published in 1810, red, yellow, and blue are the primary colours. By mixing the primary colours, secondary colours such as orange, green, and purple are produced. Consequently, by mixing a primary colour with its adjacent secondary colour the tertiary colours - vermilion, marigold, chartreuse, aquamarine, violet, and magenta - are

combination of colours that work together, relative positions of colours in the colour wheel offer an advantage. Thus some of the basic colour schemes which exist are: monochromatic (tones of a single colour), analogous (colours closely related), complementary (colours opposite to one another), split complementary (when complementary colours are split to two close and equidistant colours), triadic (three

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The Psychological Impact of Colours

Different colours have different emotional impacts associated with specific moods. Red is the colour for passion. It is known to increase human metabolism and has an exciting, dramatic effect. Even the richer colours- burgundy and maroon find their appeal amongst wine and fine living enthusiasts. Orange is an active and energetic colour. It promotes enthusiasm and creativity. It has a less formal and more inviting appeal to it. It works well for anything related to food and cooking. Being hard to find in nature they it also stands out and hence used in lifejackets, road cones and hunting vests. Yellow is a highly active colour and fosters happiness. Hence it is the colour of smiley icons and is commonly used to evoke friendliness.

Green is the colour for nature and freshness. It is also associated with currency and hence wealth and prosperity.

used appropriately in certain contexts.

Colours and Aesthetic value

Blue is the colour of tranquillity, peace and stability. It symbolizes openness, intelligence and faith. The negative connotation associated with it is melancholy as expressed in blues music. Purple has both the stimulation of red and the calmness of blue. It is the colour of royalty and extravagance. This association stemmed from the difficulty in preparing purple dye in ancient times. It is also commonly seen in gemstones, flowers, and wine. White is the colour associated with purity and perfection. In some Asian cultures it is the signifier of death. In spite of all its negative connotations with darkness, evil and death, Black is also the colour of elegance, power and strength if The aesthetic values of colours are derived from the choice of colours according to the context it has been used in as well as from the harmony in the colour palette. This harmony can be obtained from the use of the basic colour schemes monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split complimentary, triadic, and tetradic. Adobe Kuler is a great resource for finding and creating sophisticated colour themes based on these basic colour schemes.

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Nature & Freshness Currency & Prosperity Turquoise Green

Spring Green

Yellow Orange Friendliness & Happiness Energy & Dynamism Red

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Cyan

Stability & Intelligence Calmness & Peace Ocean Blue

Violet

Magenta Raspberry Passion & Drama Increases Metabolism

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Use of colours across different sectors

Different business sectors show particular preferences towards certain colours: Food and Beverage Industry It has an affinity towards the colours red, yellow, and orange. This is apparent in the branding of Coca Cola, McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell, Caf Coffee Day and almost any other fast food chain. Red stimulates appetite, while yellow and orange impart friendliness. Green is also used as in Subway branding to indicate freshness and nature. Pepsi and Dominos introduce a relatively uncommon blue, but it again has red to offset and contrast it. Automobile Industry Automobiles look for a classy appeal and usually use black and chrome textures. Prominent examples include Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, and Mercury. Red is also used sometimes to evoke passion as we can notice in Toyota, Audi, Suzuki, Fiat, and many others. Reliability and stability are evoked by BMW, Ford, Mazda, Volvo and Saab. Even the sporty yellow and orange find their expressions with Ferrari, Renault, Opel, and Chevrolet. IT Industry Computers and IT services companies have a preference towards blue as it gives the sense of clarity and stability. DELL, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Facebook, and eBay have blue as the foundation to their branding. In case of electronics both red and blue find prominence. Samsung, Phillips, Sony, and Panasonic use blue while others like LG, Canon, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Bosh are based on variations of red. Telecommunications Sector Organizations in the mobile and communications sector have similar colour preferences in order to represent energy, dynamism, reliability, and friendliness. Hence colours such as red, blue, yellow, and orange are common. For example, the blue branding of Nokia, Samsung and Ericsson, the red of

Vodafone and Virgin, and orange used by Orange are examples that stand for these attributes. Retail Sector This sector too uses a lot of red to capture energy, yellow and shades of orange for friendliness, and a splash of blue and green to denote freshness. Toys Since children are attracted by primary colours, logos of toy companies often use bright primary colours. Children tend to prefer primary colours and hence clothes and toys typically have primary colours. Fashion Industry The colours associated with luxury are black and richer shades of red like brown, burgundy, maroon, and forest green. Hence most designer labels use either black or these colours to make their statement to their niche audience. This is also the case with most wine, liqueur, and other premium products. Colours have a deep impact and on the

branding of a product or service due to its psychological, functional, aesthetic properties. Although there are no fixed rules for choosing colours for a specific brand, certain trends and patterns according to the industry and audience profiles can be mapped. While there are certain norms and rules based on colour theory, exceptions also exist and have alternative appeals to stand out of the crowd.