The Branding Psychology of Your Color Palette
The color palette of your book or brand is an important symbol of what your brand stands for.
Before even reading the words, readers and clients will form conscious and subconscious associations with the colors you choose.
In fact, over 90% of shoppers make a decision based on color and visual aesthetics!
Make sure your color palette is giving exactly the message you want — whether you’re rebranding or starting from step one.
Instead of rehashing repetitive color “facts,” such as “red is the color of love” and “purple indicates royalty,” we’re going to rely on research-based analysis.
The reason being, color associations, are too dependent on personal experience. You can’t lie a blanket statement over colors and expect everyone to react the same.
If we can’t point to one tried and true emotion linking to a color, then it’s hard to expect every viewer will embody the same emotion from your brand image.
To liken the odds of eliciting a desired emotion, focus on the personality of your brand.
It’s more important for your color palette to align with the personality of your brand, rather than selecting colors which you believe will evoke certain emotions.
For example, let’s consider the Apple logo: it is mostly white, bare and simple. Surely, Apple’s branding team understood yellow is normally associated with happiness — don’t they want their customers to feel happy when purchasing their products?
Of course, they do! But the personality of their brand is simplicity and innovation, thus evoking happiness and satisfaction among their customers.
I hesitate to say all men and all women share similar views when it comes to color. Personal preferences, cultural differences, experiences and lifestyle choices have a huge impact on how we perceive and react to color.
Nevertheless, there are some research-backed similarities, which may be helpful:
Were you surprised by any of the findings shared?
What do you think about our color palette? Tell us in the comments below!