How to Choose a Brand Color Palette
Color is the first thing people feel about your brand, usually before they’ve read a single word. It sets the mood. It tells people whether you’re bold or calm, playful or refined. So when your brand color palette is right, it quietly does a lot of work. Here’s how we build one.
Start with a mood, not a color
Before picking a single shade, decide how you want people to feel. Grounded? Energized? Calm? Luxurious? The mood narrows your options fast. It also keeps you from choosing a color just because it’s trending.
Look around you
Some of our favorite palettes start right outside the window. In the Wood River Valley, every season hands us a new set of colors: the quiet neutrals of late fall, the clean, cold light of winter, the soft greens that show up in spring. Borrowing from your surroundings gives a brand a sense of place. As a result, it feels natural instead of forced.
Look back, too
Inspiration doesn’t have to be new. In fact, we’ve pulled palettes from paintings that are over a hundred years old. Great artists spent their lives figuring out which colors work together, so there’s no reason not to learn from them.
Keep your brand color palette small
A strong brand color palette usually has just a few core colors: a main color, a couple of supporting tones, and one accent. The accent is your pop of brightness. It’s what draws the eye to a button, a headline, or a call to action. Add too many colors, though, and nothing stands out.
Test it in real life
A palette that looks beautiful on a mood board can fall flat on a website or a storefront sign. That’s why we test colors on screens, in print, and on real materials. After all, the same shade can look completely different depending on where it lives.
Think long term
Trends come and go. Some years everything goes earthy, and other years everything goes bright. A good palette can nod to what’s current without feeling dated in two years. Generally, quiet, well-chosen colors age well. (Your midnight Pinterest board may disagree. That’s fine.)
Want a brand color palette that feels like you?
Color is one of our favorite parts of any branding or rebranding project. If your brand could use a fresh look, Studio 360 Design would love to help. Let’s talk color.
