A brand identity is made up of many elements, fonts, graphics, tone-of-voice but colour can be the most powerful element of them all…

By setting a tone to your visual identity, you’ll communicate your brand story far more easily and of course, attract your ideal client.

In this blog, I will share the steps I follow when creating colour palettes – from discovering more about your business and what makes it shine, to the details that ensure consistency across all your marketing materials.

So let’s begin!

 

Step 1 – Discover

As colour holds so many meanings and communicates different emotions, it’s an essential tool to communicate your brand story and the reason why I like to ask lots of questions in this discovery stage.

How would you like your audience to feel after interacting with your brand?
Tell me about your brand story?
What makes your service or product different?
Describe your ideal customer and the brands which would appeal to them?
What colours do your competitors use?
Would you like us to prioritise green values when choosing your colour palette? Applications such as foil blocking for example, are less environmentally friendly.
Do you have an existing colour palette and /or brand?
What is your marketing strategy?
Where are your customers located, are there any cultural or religious values we need to consider?

All this background information will help us to choose colours, tones and textures which appeal and are sensitive to the needs of your customer or audience. A vital step to setting the right tone.

 

Step 2 – Create

The next step is creating a mood board or style sheet, which considers everything I have discovered about the brand and its values. This is applied across every single brand element; fonts, images, tone-of-voice, portraits, logo and our colour palette to represent a professional business and communicate your values and messaging.

The colour tone either warm or cool should also be considered when selected your colours so they complement each other well.

Primary Colours
These are usually one or two colours, used as the foundation to create a recognisable brand.

Secondary Colours
These will form the accent colours, which can be used on imagery or infographics to communicate a particular feature or function.

Neutral Colours
Often used as base colours which compliment the primary and secondary colour range. Many clients often take tints off the secondary palette to create these neutral shades.

 

 

Step 3 – Development

A simple mood board can be sent across as PDF’s or if you would like to work more closely together a Private Pin Board can be a very effective way of collaborating.

 

Step 4 – Delivery

Once you have approved your brand colours, I’ll put together a Colour Guide, this usually forms part of your brand guidelines where we explore all the elements of your brand.

The colour guide will include the Pantone, RGB, Hex and CMYK references to help keep your brand consistent.

It’s always important to bear in mind that colours can change depending on how your screen or printer(s) are calibrated, so it’s always worth asking for a proof and a colour match.

The material you print on will also make a difference depending on how the ink is absorbed into the paper. Uncoated stocks tend to absorb more ink while coated and laminated papers tend to be more vibrant. We therefore recommend choosing a paper stock which represents your values (perhaps recycled paper) and then using it consistently across all your marketing.

 

 

Lets start the conversation!

I hope you have enjoyed my guide to creating impact with colour and do share your ideas below. If you would like further information or would like to talk through a project, feel free to get in touch.
Call: 07769 321 499 / 01270 762348 or Email: amanda@dantumadesign.co.uk