Colour and Logos
Choosing colours for your logo can be tricky.
Although you may think it’s not that important - it really is.
Our minds easily pre associate colour with certain meanings. When you
think pink, your initial reaction may be to think of it as feminine,
while blue may be considered masculine. Different shades of colour are
just as important, while blue may be considered masculine, a pastel
blue or baby blue isn't.
I’d like to focus on a few colours for now. Eventually I’ll deal with other major colours, but for now we’ll discuss red, blue, and green.
If I want a logo to provoke and stimulate an interest (or I own a fast food chain), I’ll choose Red:
Red stands out next to anything, that’s probably why we stop at red lights. It’s a signifier that tells us to “stop” and look. A red logo is great for catching someone’s attention. This is a great feature for fast food chains. While you’re driving home from work and your eye is keeping a look out for anything red, you’ll most likely come across a fast food logo and stop to think “gee, maybe I am in the mood for some KFC”. Red may also be associated with risk taking, and sometimes clients don’t want to take risks, they want to deal with a secure business – which may be a drawback to using red. Don’t decide to go red just because you want your logo to attract attention, there are other colour features that may be better associated with your company.
If I have a formal and professional company, I’ll choose Blue:
The colour of business is blue. Why? I don’t really know, maybe because all of my business text books where in blue, or maybe because the world from far looks blue, and all businesses want to control the world (no…I just made that up). Still, blue has a very
worldly sophisticated connotation to it. Dark blues are a lot more professional looking, so stick with blue if you are a professional.
If I have an ambitious company that aims for growth and progress, I’ll choose Green:
Green has a natural and organic association to it. While money doesn’t grow on trees, it still has the same colour, and if trees and nature are associated with growth, then money can be as well. So, if you want to give off the impression that your company is a money growing investment, then go for green, Green is also associated with being environmental friendly. If your company has a natural and organic quality then you should reflect that by using a green logo.
When I suggest colours, I don’t mean only sticking to one colour. You can have a logo that has all 3 colours I just mentioned, but you should have at least one dominant colour. When you begin your logo designing process, don't forget to ask advice from the graphic designer - they can suggest which colours best suit your company.
I’d like to focus on a few colours for now. Eventually I’ll deal with other major colours, but for now we’ll discuss red, blue, and green.
If I want a logo to provoke and stimulate an interest (or I own a fast food chain), I’ll choose Red:
Red stands out next to anything, that’s probably why we stop at red lights. It’s a signifier that tells us to “stop” and look. A red logo is great for catching someone’s attention. This is a great feature for fast food chains. While you’re driving home from work and your eye is keeping a look out for anything red, you’ll most likely come across a fast food logo and stop to think “gee, maybe I am in the mood for some KFC”. Red may also be associated with risk taking, and sometimes clients don’t want to take risks, they want to deal with a secure business – which may be a drawback to using red. Don’t decide to go red just because you want your logo to attract attention, there are other colour features that may be better associated with your company.
If I have a formal and professional company, I’ll choose Blue:
The colour of business is blue. Why? I don’t really know, maybe because all of my business text books where in blue, or maybe because the world from far looks blue, and all businesses want to control the world (no…I just made that up). Still, blue has a very
worldly sophisticated connotation to it. Dark blues are a lot more professional looking, so stick with blue if you are a professional.
If I have an ambitious company that aims for growth and progress, I’ll choose Green:
Green has a natural and organic association to it. While money doesn’t grow on trees, it still has the same colour, and if trees and nature are associated with growth, then money can be as well. So, if you want to give off the impression that your company is a money growing investment, then go for green, Green is also associated with being environmental friendly. If your company has a natural and organic quality then you should reflect that by using a green logo.
When I suggest colours, I don’t mean only sticking to one colour. You can have a logo that has all 3 colours I just mentioned, but you should have at least one dominant colour. When you begin your logo designing process, don't forget to ask advice from the graphic designer - they can suggest which colours best suit your company.
Trackbacks
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6/20/2007 10:50 AM
Logo Design and Marketing Advice wrote:
/images/83535-73038/images2.jpg"> VS. /images/83535-73038/images_11.jpg"> Coca Cola and Pepsi have always been rivals in the beverage industry, but if you never heard of either of them, and you had the choice to choose one, which would you go for basing your decision solely on the logo? I decided to take this question to the public and surprisingly the results were split. Here were some answers I got from asking: Which logo do you prefer the Coke or ... -
6/26/2007 1:44 AM
Logo Design and Marketing Advice wrote:
While we’re on the subject of logos, we’ll continue with the importance of colours in logos. For now, I’ll focus on Yellow/Gold Grey/Silver Brown/Bronze. The reason I paired the colours up, is because they generally have the same functions, and sometimes it’s difficult to get the metallic look of gold, silver and bronze so companies pick yellow, grey, and brown as an alternative. If I want my company to reflect value, honor, or quality – I’d choose Yellow/Gold: Well of course every owner wants their company to reflect value ...
Great Article! Color plays an important role in success of a logo. I read another useful post about the color psychology of logos. Take a look at that
http://www.logoblog.org/wordpress/color-psychology-of-logos/
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