What if you woke up tomorrow and everything was in black and white?!?! 🌪 Ouch, I’d be confused, then very sad because I love seeing the beautiful color this world has to offer … a blue pool, a pink rose, a Monarch butterfly, a yellow daffodil, blueberries, strawberries and limes, the aspen trees turning gold in the fall in Colorado — all of it! 🌈🌈🌈🌈
Consequently, I was not one of those goth art students wearing black all the time 😉 I never wore black because I thought it made me look dead, haha. ☠️ So it’s color everywhere for me! 🌈
As a designer, you’ll be faced with picking colors for nearly everything! Every logo you design, every headline you create, every infographic, chart, web header and social media graphic.
- 🎨You want to have confidence choosing great colors and color combinations
- 🎨You want to choose colors that attract your audience
- 🎨You want to choose colors that reflect your brand
- 🎨You want to know which colors combine well with other colors
What do? Scroll and read, or just look at the graphics for the rundown on the color wheel, how to pick pleasing color combos and what different colors mean. Which major brands have chosen which colors? All answered below …
Speaking of brands, if you’re working on choosing a color scheme for your logo design, this work booklet covers that on page 6. To download the whole thing, click on the orange button below!
Ready, set, go!
Color wheel
You’ve probably been it; Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666.
This info is based on the artist’s version of color, not the digital, additive version (red/green/blue).
Categories of colors
Primary colors: In traditional color theory (the artist’s version), these are the 3 colors from which other colors are made (red, yellow and blue). They cannot be created by any other colors.
Secondary colors: The 3 colors that are made from mixing pairs of primary colors
Tertiary colors: The colors that fall between the primary and secondary colors on the color wheel; they are formed by mixing one primary color with a secondary neighbor. Refer to wheel graphic (yellow-green, yellow-orange, etc.)
Warm colors = yellow, red, orange
Cool colors = blue, purple, green
Color schemes based on color harmony
- Analogous – colors that are next to each other on the color wheel (ex. blue, aqua and green)
- Complementary – colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel (ex. orange and blue)
- Split Complementary – one base color combined with the colors on either side of its complement (ex. purple, yellow-green and yellow-orange)
- Triadic – 3 colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel, tends to be quite vibrant (ex. green, purple, orange)
- Tetradic – 4 colors consisting of 2 complementary pairs (ex. red, green, orange, blue)
The meaning of colors (with brand examples)
What do different colors signify? Color is subjective and culturally defined. If you’re selecting colors to speak to a certain audience, choose carefully. In Western cultures, here are what common colors signify and brands that use them.
Purple – Royalty, spirituality, creative, luxury, elegant, mysterious
(Brands: Hallmark, Syfy, Milka, Cadbury, Crown Royal)
Blue – Tranquility, peace, loyalty, trust, security, intelligence, classic
(Brands: Facebook, IBM, Lowe’s, LinkedIn, Intel, Pfizer)
Green – Money, growth, organic, eco-friendly, caring, fresh
(Brands: Fidelity, Sprouts, Starbucks, Tropicana, Android)
Yellow – Optimism, bright, energy, creativity, happy, warmth
(Brands: McDonald’s, Best Buy, National Geographic, Nikon, Sun Chips)
Orange – Friendly, success, bold, confidence, cheerful, fun
(Brands: Fanta, Nickelodeon, Home Depot, Amazon, Harley-Davidson)
Brown – Earth, outdoors, conservative, comfort
(Brands: UPS, Godiva, M&Ms, A&W, Nespresso)
Red – Energy, action, love, passion, strength, bold, sexy, excitement, power
(Brands: Target, Pinterest, Red Bull, Coca-Cola, Adobe, Frito Lay)
Pink – Love, romance, tenderness, caring, calm, playful
(Brands: Cosmopolitan Magazine, Barbie, Victoria’s Secret, Lyft, T Mobile, Dunkin’ Donuts)
Black – Dramatic, formal, classy, powerful, authority, sophistication
(Brands: Cartoon Network, Nike, Disney, Chanel, Wikipedia, World Wildlife Fund)
White – Purity, freshness, clean, virtuous, innocence
(Brands: Apple, Snapchat)
If you want to learn more about color:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory
Digital help in picking color schemes:
design-seeds.com
pictaculous.com
If you’re working on choosing a color scheme for your logo design, this work booklet covers that on page 6. For the rest of the questionnaire, click on the orange button below!
And what is your favorite color?
Are you working on a branding project right now and trying to pick colors? What adjectives describe your brand and what colors did you choose?
Tell me in the comments below …