Building a brand is quite difficult and can take many years to cultivate from its inception. You need to carefully pick colors, your logo, and figure out exactly what all of those things mean to you on the deepest possible level. If you want your brand to come to define both you and your company, you need to spend some time getting to know yourself, what you stand for, and what your brand means in this world.
Picking Colors
As you pick the colors for your brand, the first thing to consider is what those colors mean. Yes, color psychology is a field in the marketing realm and I would strongly suggest researching what each color says about your brand, your industry, and what some of their positively and negatively perceived traits may mean for your brand. Once you have done this, then you can proceed to pick a logo.
**Note: Remember, there is a difference between your branding and your products and services. You do have the choice to have your product or service’s colors match the brand, run complementary to it, or run completely independently from it. Just be careful to keep the proper balance between brand optics and product optics. Products come and go, but brands you take with you always so do not neglect them in favor of a product very often or you will lose your brand. That being said, use each set of colors as appropriate if they differ. For example: a product release for a product that is known for its blue color may be housed at an event with a blue theme, but don’t lose track of your logo if your logo is red. It should still be there and make an impact in some capacity even if you host a one-off event. Then afterwards, immediately return to your regular colors.
How many colors should you use
Next, you want to decide if you are a 1 main color, 2 main color, or 3 main color brand and the use of a backdrop color (either black, white, or grey). This choice will also depend on how many industries you hope to encompass in your brand as you may need more colors to represent different aspects of your company later down the road, or you may choose to stay in one industry with one message. Be sure to decide on a hierarchy for those colors as you pick them.
Choosing Your Primary Color
First, you should pick your primary color. What is your company all about? How are you trying to impact the world and society? If you have a complaint about big business or even the world, especially in your field, what would it be? The color that says, ‘this is what is missing in the world’… ‘we are this’… that is the color you should choose. For example, if you feel that your industry is not trustworthy, you may want to pick a color that represents being trustworthy or loyal. Pick a message that you can get behind and a way you would like to change the world and or your industry. That is your starting place.
2-Color Branding
Now, you can move on to select your second color. If you chose two colors, you will want to choose a color that is on the near total opposite side of the color wheel. This choice will represent the duality that your company fights to stay between.
3-Color Branding
If you chose three colors, then you will want to pick two other colors such that the distance between a three of them on the color wheel is nearly the same. These will come to represent the three colors that together keep your brand and the world around you in perfect harmony.
Your Backdrop Color
Once you have these colors closer to their final colors, you will want to select your backdrop color. This is the color that will emphasize the landscape for your company. Think of this color as representing the world (or industry) that your company sits within. Maybe you want that white purity, that bold black, or even a neutral gray.
Picking your Shades
Now, dial in the specific shades of your brand’s colors. Do you want your color to be vibrant or more subdued? Lighter, darker, or somewhere in the middle? If you choose two or three colors (with or without a backdrop), you will want to balance those choices so that each color has a different feel to it. For example, maybe a lighter clear natural ocean blue and a deeper more saturated red with a medium-pale yellow.
Picking your Logo
Now that you have picked out your colors, you should pick some shapes and or objects that are meaningful to you. Are you a writer? Maybe a ballpoint pen. Are you an athlete? Maybe the laces on a football or a baseball. Are you an actor? Maybe the comedy and drama masks. Pick the shape based on the legacy and virtues you want to leave behind. You can always modify your logo from there, but this will give you an excellent place to start. This will get especially interesting and unique once you add your brand colors to this supposed image in various interesting ways. Once you have three or more good ideas that are all different, create a few different versions of each of your best ones. Find a few combinations of the different versions. Now, tweak those designs to look great using only your brand’s colors. BOOM!! Now you got it.
What does your Brand mean to you?
By now you should know the significance of your colors and the logo emblem you’ve created. You should know what it says to you, about you, about your industry, about the world, and about your impact. The better you know why you chose all of these aspects, the better the branding will be and the more likely it will be successful. If you know what you stand for, it will help guide your company and its future success by serving as a beacon for all to follow. Remember, write down all of your answers and research by creating a branding packet that you can share with all employees and affiliates that are authorized in its use. This will ensure that they use it properly and know exactly what it stands for.
Summary:
Creating a brand can be an overwhelming process. You need to pick colors, logos, and most importantly, discover what those colors mean to both you and the world around you. The better and more accurate your brand is, the more it will mean to all. Remember, the deeper you dig into your brand, the deeper you dig into yourself.
Take care.
Matthew P. Dunnam
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