Brand colors are one of the three most important branding aspects next to a brand name and a logo. Colors resonate with people intuitively, triggering thoughts and feelings immediately. How to find the right color for a brand? There are three cornerstones to consider when picking brand colors.
Overview
1. The Meanings of Colors
Based on meaning, options for colors can be assigned to brand personality traits. Your brand color is the first impression your brand makes, and it introduces your personality to your audience.
Explore different brand colors and examples below, and note the different personalities that fit with each color.

Red
Positive Traits:
Energizing
Powerful
Passionate
Strong
Driven
Negative Traits:
Ruthless
Aggressive Dangerous
Common Industries:
Food & Beverage
Communications
Hardware
Tech
Examples:
Virgin
Canon
Nintendo
Target
Lego
Coke
Netflix

Orange
Positive Traits:
Warm
Optimistic
Affordable
Independent
Stimulating
Adventurous
Negative Traits:
Shallow
Cheap
Insincere
Informal
Common Industries:
Outdoors
Food
Hardware
Tech
Examples:
Amazon
Home Depot
Timberland
Harley Davidson
Fanta
Nickelodeon
Google Analytics

Yellow
Positive Traits:
Wise
Logical
Communication
Optimistic
Creative
Joy
Negative Traits:
Judgmental
Too analytical
Impatient
Nervousness
Unstable
Deceitful
Common Industries:
Technology
Finance
Communications
Examples:
Sprint McDonald’s
Ikea Best Buy
Post-it
Hertz
National
Geographic
Nikon

Green
Positive Traits:
Balance
Harmony
Spring
Fresh
Growth
Hope
Stability
Endurance
Negative Traits:
Possessive
Enviou
Selfish Socially
conservative
Common Industries:
Money
Energy
Real estate
Environment
Eco
Leisure
Food
Education
Nonprofit
Examples:
Whole Foods
Starbucks
Tropicana
Spotify
Landrover
Heineken
TD Ameritrade
Holiday Inn
BP
Jaguar
Barnes & Noble
Xbox

Turquoise
Positive Traits:
Healing
Friendly
Invigoration
Clarity
Creativity
Calm
Negative Traits:
Aloof
Unreliable
Common Industries:
Electronics
Entertainment
Communications
Children
Examples:
Tiffany
Pampers
GoDaddy

Blue
Positive Traits:
Reliable
Orderly
Calm
Integrity
Vast
Loyal
Honesty
Negative Traits:
Rigid
Conservative
Weak
Common Industries:
Finance
Healthcare
Security
Technology
Sports
Examples:
Facebook
Twitter
IBM
Samsung
Intel
American
Express Allstate
Deutsche Bank
Bluecore
Visa
Paypal
GoPro
Gillette
Blue is the most used color in Fortune 500 companies and people’s most favorite color (women: 29%, men: 42%).

Purple
Positive Traits:
Imagination
Intuitive
Spiritual
Sensitive
Inspiring
Wisdom
Royal
Wealth
Mysterious
Negative Traits:
Cult
Religious
Arrogant
Cynical
Fraudulent
Common Industries:
Technology
Media
Education
Examples:
Yahoo!
FedEx
Syfy
PBS
NYU
Taco Bell
Slack

Brown
Positive Traits:
Earthy
Warm
Honest
Stability
Reliable
Comfort
Negative Traits:
Conservative
Dogmatic
Slow
Common Industries:
Transportation
Agriculture
Food
Outdoors
Legal
Fashion
Examples:
UPS
M&M’s
Hershey’s
Nespresso
Louis Vuitton
UGG

Gray / Silver
Positive Traits:
Pure
Neutral
Formal
Muted
High-quality
Timeless
Negative Traits:
Boring
Slow
Conservative
Expensive
Common Industries:
Technology
Fashion
Cars
Examples:
Apple
Wii
WordPress
Lexus
Nissan
Wikipedia
Swarovski
Coors Light

Black
Positive Traits:
Creative
Secret
Protection
Formal
Self-control
Exclusion
Cool
High-end
Negative Traits:
Outsider
Hiding
Unfriendly
Conservative
Common Industries:
Creative
Fashion
Theater
Architecture
Examples:
Puma
Nike
New York Times
Walt
Disney
Uber
Brand Colors Classification
Primary colors are red, blue and yellow. They’re considered more basic, they communicate simplicity and the strongest focus out of all colors when used alone. Secondary colors (orange, green, purple) are colors that are mixed by two primary colors, e.g. orange is mixed by yellow and red. They communicate strength too, less so than primaries, however. Additionally, they say “different” and “less basic.”
Tertiary or intermediate colors are mixed by primary and secondary colors: lime green, teal, violet, deep orange, sunflower yellow, pinkish red. These colors can be the easiest choices for brand differentiation in regards to competitors.
Color Harmonies
Complementary color groups like yellow and purple or red and green or blue and orange brighten and empower each other. Together, they can be jarring if not carefully adjusted. Analogous colors are the colors next to one another in the color wheel, e.g. yellow, lime green, green. They are harmonious, support serenity in design and are often found in nature. They lack contrast if not carefully selected. A triadic color group are three colors of an equilateral triangle on the color wheel. This is a more vibrant color group than an analogous color group and they create a strong, unique color palette.
A split-complementary color group is a complementary group with one of the complementary colors being split into its neighbors, e.g. green and instead of red, purple and orange (the two adjacents to red). This color group carries the same strength but without the tension of a complementary color group.
Pastel versus Saturated Brand Colors (Tints versus Hues)
Pastel colors have been a trend in millennial branding for the past few years — beige tones, muted greens, browns or reds — staying true to “back to nature,” with an emphasis on sustainability and a play on raw materials.
2. Competitors’ Colors
Positioning is the meat and potatoes of a brand’s strategy. In a color-finding process, competitors need to be listed and analyzed visually beforehand: their logos, color palettes and imagery.
Branding is about finding a design and tone that is memorable to your customers. Positioning is differentiation. It’s easier for people to differentiate between brands if they look, sound and walk differently.
That’s true for colors too. Getting as far away from competition as possible is key. So is staying in a world that a target audience wants to be in (no purple if customers think purple is a bit too magical): branding is about the right measurements of all components.
3. In Practice: Where Brand Colors Are Used
Color exists in many formats, in print, online, on t-shirts, in brochures, on old PC computers (for a target audience of older people, for example), in the world of sustainable products, or fashionable one-offs.
Every color application comes with constraints, and the reason why I’m listing items with no apparent common denominator is because it’s an easy oversight to not consider these constraints at the beginning. Awareness and a sense for practicality before a color process is essential because it cuts cost in the long run and keeps brand assets cohesive.
Differences in Target Markets
Color selections need to be tested in different markets. For example, red in China is a representation of luck and celebration whereas in South America red is the color of mourning.
Considering disabilities, brighter colors and high-contrast color groups are generally easier to identify for people with impaired vision.
Technical Restrictions
A bright red cannot be printed in CMYK (regular office or home printer) – it’ll be dull and brownish.
A Pantone color (a separately mixed ink) is needed which can lead to a) more expensive printing and is b) not always possible. Real gold ink with metal particles for reflection and a transparent ink that creates gloss are more obvious examples of color spaces that cannot be printed without the use of premixed inks.
For sustainability industries (energy, woodworking, slow-fashion) marketing assets are often printed on matte paper to communicate the sustainable aspect (matte papers can be made from recycled paper and can come in bright whites). Matte paper, in comparison to glossy paper, absorbs more ink and makes any color look duller. Print samples can be ordered through print shops.