Tips for creating a perfect color scheme for your brand [Infographic]

Our brains are hardwired to love visuals.

In fact, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000x faster in the brain than text. 

That’s not limited to only images or video. On a broader scale, it also includes color. 

Consider the role color plays in our everyday lives. 

We naturally associate different colors with different emotions. 

For example, certain shades of red can signal danger or alarm while shades of green tend to give people a feeling of calmness.

That’s exactly why companies put so much thought into the colors they use for their branding. 

When the right color scheme is chosen it creates a feeling and experience that people relate to and instantly remember.

Think about McDonald’s golden arches, Tiffany blue, or even HubSpot’s orange. 

When we see these colors we’re able to instantly recognize or think of the company without even seeing a logo. 

Picking the perfect color scheme for your company can be stressful. These are the colors you’ll be using for the foreseeable future so you want to get it right.

You’re probably wondering “Where do I get started with creating a color scheme and how do I choose colors that will relate with people?”

Luckily, the team over at Designmodo shared an infographic that walks you through how to create a successful color scheme.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways:

Research the psychology and meaning behind each color

Every color elicits some sort of emotional connection in people when they see it. 

Understanding which emotions are associated with which color will help you make sure your brand gives off the right look and feel. 

Here’s a high-level breakdown of the different emotions the six basic colors are associated with:

• Red is a dynamic that gives users feelings of excitement, energizing, passion. This color can also give people the feeling of being dangerous and aggressive. 
• Orange is the color of ambition, happiness, and energy. It’s also associated with warmth and enthusiasm.
• Yellow is typically seen as being youthful, cheery, and optimistic. 
• Green is typically attached to nature. Depending on the shade this can make people feel relaxed, hopeful, and generous. 
• Blue is a color that reflects security, trust, protection, and stability.
• Purple is most commonly seen as being a color for royalty, respect, wealth, and luxury.

Understand color theory and its vocabulary

Color theory is a set of guidelines used for creating different combinations of color. 

Studying color theory will give you a full understanding of the color wheel and the different ways you can combine different colors that will work well together.

You’ll need to have an understanding of the color wheel and the three main types of colors (primary, secondary, and tertiary) as well as some of the common color vocabulary. For instance:

• Hue is the pure form of a color
• Shades are a combination of hue and the color black
• Tones are a combination of hue and the color grey
• Tints are a combination of hue and the color white

Decide what color scheme type will work best for you

There are millions of different types of colors you can choose from for your branding. 

Deciding on a type of color scheme you want to use will help you limit down your number of choices and give you a roadmap to follow for picking your colors. 

Some of the main types of color schemes include:

• A monochromatic scheme uses variations in lightness and saturation of a single color 
• An analogous scheme uses colors that are next to each other on the color wheel
• Complementary color schemes use colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel

• Triadic color schemes use colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel

To see the full breakdown of how to create your color scheme, check out the full infographic below: