The Importance of Color in Branding
By The Rasor Blogging Team
At Rasor we recently had some accent walls painted in our conference and huddle rooms. We pulled the colors from the gorgeous wall mural in our main work area and the result has been great! The rooms immediately felt warmer and more inviting and dynamic.
This got us thinking about the importance of color, especially when it comes to helping our valued clients develop or refresh their look and feel through successful company branding.
Color, As Seen in the Rasor Strategy
As part of our audit process, we often look at our clients’ competitors or peers to get a sense of how they present themselves both in content and appearance across their websites, social media channels and any other relevant sources that are available. We then strive to identify branding elements that will best differentiate our clients from others in their industry and color is a big part of that.
When we updated the brand for Hamilton County Conservation District our team incorporated mid-color blues and greens with some rust color to reflect the District’s work with water, earth and soil, respectively.
We also recently worked with the Clermont County Soil & Water Conservation District to update their brand to better reflect the services they provide throughout the county. Their new logo incorporates their history―Est. 1943―and supports their refreshed tagline “Conservation from the Ground Up” by using a nature-inspired design featuring deep blues and greens with earth tones and a soy plant leaf graphic.
Choosing Colors for Your Company Branding
Based on color psychology best practices, here are some questions to consider when choosing brand colors:
- What colors will help you stand out from the crowd in your industry?
- What colors best represent what you do/the services you provide?
- What colors evoke the feeling you are trying to convey about your organization or company? Warmth (oranges and yellows)? Excitement (red)? Trust and security (blues)? Health and growth (green)?
- Who is your target audience? While the color blue is usually appealing across the board (and therefore used in many different industries, most commonly in finance and healthcare businesses), men tend to prefer stronger, bolder colors and women are typically more drawn to softer tones. However, other factors such as age, culture and even personal experiences can certainly impact color preferences. Conducting research into which colors suit your organization best, and why, is always a good idea.
- How will your branding be reproduced/applied to materials? Which colors will read best on materials such as logo wear (hats, shirts, etc.) pens, mugs, etc.?
Thoughtful color choices are an important aspect of your brand strategy. When leveraged well, the right colors convey your brand personality, enhance recognition and help build connections to drive business success.
Rasor is an award-winning marketing agency in Cincinnati, delivering communications, design and branding strategies to industries including healthcare, municipal and infrastructure and B2B/B2C. Want to learn more about how Rasor can help you develop, enhance or implement your branding? Contact us at info@gorasor.com or 513-793-1234.