Designing advertisements, logos, and brand identities requires a lot of thought. There are many different design rules that will make your brand stand out in the right way, and color is a big part of that. In fact, color is one of the critical components of design and can draw the eye to the most important elements of a piece. No matter what kind of campaign you are pursuing, colors can convey your message to the recipient as clearly as possible.
Brand Identity
Setting a defined color palette is essential for a business that is trying to establish their brand identity. Successful companies need a recognizable design, and that means selecting a number of colors and using them in all their print and digital assets. Company need to keep to these colors because this is how customers and clients will immediately recognize the pallet on different media.
Choose hues and tints from a predetermined grouping to help keep decisions simple, distinct, and less time consuming. You can also limit confusion by clearly defining the colors by name and numerical value.
Logo Design
One of the most critical components of a brand is the company’s logo. Not only does brand recognition hinge on this graphic, but it is something that will be included on all your products, marketing materials, and buildings. Once you put it on so many things, it is not easy to change later on, so the colors you use should be right in line with the rest of your brand.
There are several different rules for logo colors, such as:
• Only use three colors or less. Too many colors make it too busy.
• Use bold or bright colors that fall in line with the branding guide.
• High contrasts can lead to more clarity and better visibility.
• Choose colors that reflect the personality of the business.
• Be unique. Do not choose the same colors as all your competitors
Using simple, relevant designs are the key to having a successful logo.
Billboards
Billboards are still a useful form of advertising. Choosing the right colors for these displays can be a bit of a challenge because they are bigger and must be seen by people moving really fast. If someone is discovering your company for the first time while driving on the interstate, it is important that they can quickly learn about you within seconds – and even more important that they’ll remember you once they get home.
The best ways to use graphics and colors change a little from the techniques used in a logo. Many believe that since there are so many different billboards along the busy roads that they must use bright colors to catch someone’s attention. However, using really bright background colors merely to draw the eye can sometimes look cheap. Instead, incorporate specific colors to highlight the most important parts of the well-designed ad.
If you are planning to use colorful text against another color of background, some combinations always work better than others. High-contrast colors (light colors used against much darker colors, and vice versa, to enhance readability) are more visible to the average person and can actually improve recall by 38% over competitors who may not pay attention to their color choices.
Direct Mailers
Once again the rule of using no more than three colors applies here, along with keeping things simplistic. People are more likely to open a mailer when it seems familiar, so again, use brand colors. When reading advertisements, people will generally scan the piece of print more than they will sit and study it. In order to optimize the ease of reading, avoid light and neon colors especially in the font. When graphics are made smaller to fit onto a handout, the lighter colors tend to disappear.
Always Be Aware
Many studies have been done on the way colors can influence the way a person feels, which means choosing the right colors is very important for any business designs. If a design is meant to excite, yellow is often the choice. If the advertisement is meant to help put the reader at ease, cooler colors might be used with shades that are softer. If you want the reader to take action of some kind, harsh lines in darker colors can be used in strategic areas, but especially in the contact information.
Being Deliberate Delivers Results
The best thing that you can do is really study out your designs before bringing them to fruition. Try different colors to see what will fit your branding guidelines and the feelings you want to encourage. Hammer out the color details and keep everything simple and, in the end, your message is sure to come across and your business is going to benefit.