How Colors In Logo Design Promote Brands

Last updated on November 29th, 2019

Colors are crucial elements of graphic designs including logo design. Mostly, experienced designers use colors to evoke a set of desired emotions. A strategic use of colors in logos can help in turning a business into a trustworthy brand.

One of the powers of colors is that they are distinctly visible from a long distance. We usually see a color first in a design as compared to the other elements such as typeface. For example, take Coca-Cola logo. There is a classic or retro lettering used in this logotype. But it is the red color that attracts the consumer’s attention immediately. This is because red becomes instantly visible to the eyes. It is only after viewing the color that the people notice the lettering part of the logo design.

In fact, colors enhance the visibility of a logo and hence the brand also. This is the reason that most of the logos of global companies use red, blue, and yellow to draw the attention. These colors catch your eye from a long distance.

But the designers have set their own rule for using colors. One of the rules is to avoid creating multicolor logos. Unless a client insists on having multiple colors in a logo, the designers usually avoid it. This is because many colors may confuse the audience. A logo designer is not just creating a logo. More than that, the designer wants to create a brand message through a logo. Multicolor logo may become a hindrance in the way of sending a message clearly to the target audience.

Moreover, modern designers lay emphasis on minimalistic designs that look simple. So, they prefer using one or two colors only. Most of the companies have logos in one or at best two colors. This helps audience in focusing their attention on a logo easily. A simple logo design with one color is the best design principle followed by the designers today.

Logo designers take additional care in incorporating colors. A basic mistake in making a right color choice can ruin the design. A balanced use of colors will create the desired emotional impact on the viewers. Their response to the logo is usually based on the emotions evoked by colors in a design.

Colors can be categorized as warm and cool colors. A designer will incorporate colors as per the requirements of brand marketing. Red, yellow and orange are generally accepted as warm colors. Blue, green and grey are considered as cool colors. The message of warm colors is that of energy and excitement. The cool colors evoke a relaxing feeling.

A logo designer can make good use of the warm and cool colors to convey a business message to the viewers. Colors evoke the desired emotion from the target audience. In fact, colors help customers make an opinion about a business. But colors should be used only after knowing the attributes of a business and the message it wishes to send to the consumers and market.

Warm Colors

Red

Red evokes the feeling of energy, anger, passion, rage, excitement, and adventure.The designers usually prefer this color when they need to express some feeling of warmth. Warm colors can bring the desired effect in a design.

For the brand-building purpose, red is usually the color of choice. Red is the color for energy and hence many fast food logos have this color to target youthful audience.

Lays, Coca-Cola, Red Bull are famous logos that have the use of red to attract young generation towards it food products. Other businesses such as TV channels also strategically utilized red in their logo.

Yellow

Yellow is another crucial warm color. Logo designers express joy, positivity, playfulness, sunshine, warmth, concern and inquisitiveness through this color. This eye-catching color gives positive and sunny image to a brand or business. The color makes a desired impact on the youth, when they are the target customers.

Global players using yellow in their logos include DHL, Shell, McDonald’s, National Geographic and Nikon.

Cool Colors

Green

Green represents nature and its freshness. So, the color is also associated with natural beauty, growth, and coolness. Companies which have a concern about environmental issues typically have logos with green color. Also, the businesses involved in farm products use the power of color green to create environmental logos and other logos to express feelings of good health and growth.

Starbucks Coffee, Animal Planet, Holiday Inn and BP are some of the global companies using green in their logos.

Blue

Blue also has an association with nature due to this being the color of ocean and sky. The logo designers use blue to evoke depth, vastness, heights, calmness, success, and power. The color represents consistency also.

Technology-based companies and the social networking sites mostly use blue in their logos. Governmental organizations and medical institutes use blue to evoke the feeling of faithfulness and loyalty. Renowned drinking water companies have blue in their logos.

Facebook, Twitter, Pepsi, Skype, IBM, Dell and Walmart are some of the global players who made a good use of blue in their logos.

Which color should your logo design use? That may be a question haunting you right now. If you are looking for a unique logo design concept with the perfect use of colors, you can rely on Designhill. This is a leading marketplace for graphic designers and business owners. You can launch your logo design contest on this platform and get dozens of designs from as many designers. If you do not like the design entries, you have 100% Money Back Guarantee from the crowdsourcing site.

Conclusion

People recognize a brand by the colors used in its logos and other marketing tools. So, selection of colors should be based on the type of business you run and the industry you are in.

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