What Logo Colours Say about Your Brand

Since we help companies with branding, and logos on their promotional products, we are versed in logo design. One of the most important aspects of your logo is its colours. Selecting a logo without thinking about the colours first can be a huge mistake that ends up costing your business a great deal. When designing a logo and colour for your company think about the meaning and the feelings that the colours invoke. Many industries have similar colour logos for a reason, so look to the other companies in your industry and see if similar colours will fit in with your company philosophy and appeal to your target audience. Careful deliberation will help ensure that you make the right decision for the colours and design of your logo. Here is a list of the top 10 colours used in logos and some of the most popular brands that use those colours:

  • Black Logos: Of course, we all know that black can be dark and ominous. If not used properly it can seem dark and ominous. However, when used properly black in logos can be sophisticated, high end, elegant, or classy. It can also be interpreted as heavy or serious. Some famous black logos include Blackberry, New York Times, World Wildlife Fund, Porche, and Playboy.
    black
  • White Logos: Just like the classic white knight or the white cowboy hat, white can represent “good”. In addition, it can mean cleanliness, openness, or purity. Since white is so often the background, white logos have to have outlines in other colours to create whitespace. Very few logos are all white. You will probably notice now that whitespace is used in many logos. Companies that have whitespace or white in their logos include Apple, Adobe, Subway, and Quantas Air.
    white
  • Red Logos: Red is one of many colours that can mean different things. It is a vibrant and strong colour that really stands out in logos. Red draws attention, it is used to represent emergency and urgency, it can also cause a subliminal “stop” reactions since it is the colour of stop in signs and traffic signals. It also represents passion, fire, and can get the heart pumping. Companies that have red logos include news portals CNN and BBC and companies that want to invoke excitement such as Nike, and Virgin.
    red
  • Yellow Logos: Yellow is yet another colour that can have very opposite meanings. On one hand, it represents joy and sunshine; but other connotations have indicated it to mean cowardice. It is usually easy to design with yellow to capitalize on the joy and sunshine aspect of the colour when you emphasise its brightness. That is because in every culture on the planet, yellow is used to represent the sun. Logos that effectively use yellow’s brightness include McDonalds, Subway, Sprint, and Best Buy.
    yellow
  • Blue Logos: Blue is one of the most popular logo colours. The main themes with blue are loyalty, trustworthiness, education, and also to bring out a calm, soothing vibe. Blue is used for hospitals, banks, and many technology and social media companies including Twitter, Facebook Skype, and Foursquare. Other companies that use blue for the influence of trust and security include GE, Jet Blue Airlines, IBM, and Hewlett Packard.
    blue
  • Green Logos: The challenge with green logos is to make sure that your intent of natural and earthiness come through instead of the negative ideas of greed or envy. Darker green can be used to represent money or even military; the lighter colours of green can mean all natural and healthy. Popular and easily recognisable green logos include Cooking Channel, Animal Planet, Sprite, and Starbucks.
    green
  • Orange Logos: What do you think of when you see orange colours? Chances are it is youthfulness, fun, and creativity. That is what many successful companies with orange in their logos are trying to impart. Companies that successfully use orange in their logos include Blogger, Nickelodeon, The Home Depot, and Orange Theory Fitness Gyms.
    orange
  • Brown: Logos: Brown is a colour that is used to show durability, reliability, and wholesomeness. Be careful that the design does not make your brand look to appear dirty though, which is a possible downfall with brown. Gold and tan colours also fall into the brown category and those shades and colours can imply richness, solid, earthy, or upscale. UPS is probably one of the biggest companies known for their brown colour; it is even in a popular motto, “What can brown do for you today?” Other companies with brown logos for you to examine include Godiva and Ghirardelli chocolate companies and Cotton.
    brown
  • Pink: Logos: Pink is an off shoot of red, but it gets its own category here because pink logos are very different than red.
    Pink generally is used by companies aimed at girls or women because of their popular affinity. It can also be used to attract youthfulness or fun; depending on the shade it can be sentimental, sexy, or romantic. Hot pink can invoke the idea of excitement and really attracts the eyes, especially since it is not a primary colour and so often only primary colours are used in advertising. Here are some companies you are probably familiar with their pink logos: T-Mobile. Victoria’s Secret, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream, and the iconic Barbie.
    pink
  • Purple Logos: Purple may not be the first colour you think of when it comes to associating with your brand, but purple also stands out in the same way pink does because it is not a primary colour. Purple usually means royalty, magic, and fantasy. Some popular purple logos for brands you might recognise include Yahoo!, Cadbury Chocolate Company, Hallmark, and FedEx.
    purple
  • Rainbow Logos: Your bonus number 11 logo colour is rainbow. If your company truly is all things to all people and a universal brand, rainbow colours might be the way to go for you. Check out these companies who successfully use multiple colours in their logo: Google, Reading Rainbow, NBC Universal, and the Olympics.
    rainbow

Summary and Takeaways for Your Business

Think about how combining colours can also help show your unique style and brand. As you can see, a great deal of care, planning, and thought must be put into a logo and your brand colours in order to make sure that you create a memorable logo that helps your brand be recognizable and unforgettable. Since so many colours can evoke different feelings because of their dual meaning, it is important to test out your designs on a small group of customers to see what impression they get from the design. Perhaps after reading this, your logo could use a revamp if it is not working for you.


Comments are closed.