Your brand is doing color all wrong (INFOGRAPHIC)

There are many times where I’m asked, “Which color is best for my brand?” or “Which of these color options do you like most?” My reply is always the same: “What do you want people to feel when they see your brand?”

It is then that I see a specific look. The look says, Carlos, you have three heads. I then go on to kill their dreams by asking what the core values of the organization are, and what positioning they would like to have in the market. It’s at this point that the person begins to severely regret asking me this question at all. And that’s fair.

For the most part, your organization’s values should pick the color, not you. Take Mount Sinai’s new-ish logo.

Purple and Blue. You may be thinking, so easy and cool to look at. Exactly.According to Leatrice Eiseman’s Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color,”Blue is perceived as a constant in our lives” and purple “has a futuristic quality that would speak well for products that involve newness and cutting edge technologies…” It’s no wonder you see purple popping up all over healthcare.

It’s my job as a brand designer to know what these colors mean. But so many companies start on their own now, it’s important for you to have a resource to help you select a color. At DBC, we’ve made a basic infographic about color selection, and it’s free for you to use! It’s below and I hope you make use of it for your next new idea or product.

Feel free to comment why you chose the colors you did for your brand!

Alyssa Varner is a Design Thinker for DBC. A creative talent, Alyssa’s skills range from illustration to writing to color theory. Crafting brands that are manageable and easy to implement makes Alyssa an essential asset to clients of all sizes. Check out DBC at studiodbc.com.