The Color Palette Psychology

We are all in pursuit of beautiful things, and every business wants a part of that aesthetic appeal. I am willing to bet that you came here ready to dive straight into the steps of choosing which colors go with your business look.

Be patient and see the beauty of the process, dear reader.

Colors are a wonder to behold, and your color palette is the single most crucial aspect of your branding. Why? Well, it sets you apart from the crowd and communicates your brand’s subtle essence. It is a sneak peek of the magic you offer before your client delves into your products and services.

So let’s play a little game.

Quickly, when I say Coca-Cola, what colors come to mind?

Red and white.

If your answer is anything else, I’ll go ahead and assume you haven’t had any contact with civilization for a long while. What if I say Apple? I bet silver comes to mind; look at your MacBook if you have one. How about when I say elegance or luxury, black and white and Chanel come to mind. Can you see the pattern? Are you catching on to this thought process?

I, for one, spent countless hours selecting my colors. I aimed to evoke a sense of warmth, elegance, sophistication, intelligence, and mystery. I was adamant about avoiding black, white, or silver. After a careful and lengthy analysis, I landed on my perfect blend of three.

Yes, you will need only three colors to make the perfect color scheme for your budding business.

If you are still reading, congratulations, here; I open the vault to give you the secret formula on landing your perfect three. 

Step one

Part 1 of 2, “Color Psychology

We, humans, tend to veer towards our favorite colors to incorporate into our perfect three. However, it is paramount that you understand this; sometimes, bringing a shade of red or orange you like may not be the best color to represent your brand.

Step 2, ask yourself these three questions.

1. Who is my ideal client/ customer?
2. What are the top 3 values that I want my brand to be known for?
3. What are the five main adjectives that best describe my brand?

After you answer these three questions, reference back to the color psychology and decide. For example

The “light beige” color that we use for QIC has a brown mix to represent warmth (the way we want our brand to be perceived by others). Our “dark (accent)” color stands for elegance and sophistication, and finally, our “secondary color” has a touch of mystery to it, which all springs from our essence and how we do things.

Step 3

1. Create a Pinterest board to gather images that reflect the colors that inspire you and will evoke the emotions you want your ideal customers to experience.
2. Then use ColorZilla Extention for Chrome to pick the colors directly from your browser and copy their HEX code!
3. Or to keep things comfortable and straightforward go-to colors.Co, an online color scheme that will generate beautiful combinations for you to pick from. You can also type in your primary color number to see which colors are suggested that will complement it nicely.

I hope this foundational information will help you choose your colors intuitively. Watch out for Part 2 to learn how to create your color palette based on the six color scheme combinations. And of course, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I am only an email away, or you can quickly find me at @theqic on Instagram, where I post regularly. Until next time, stay colorful.