How to Choose Brand Colors
Pick a main brand color and two supporting ones based on your brand personality, audience, and real-world testing before you commit.
Key takeaways
- Start with three words that describe your brand personality, then choose colors that express them, not the other way around.
- Three colors are enough for most brands: one main color, one supporting color, and one accent color for alerts and buttons, plus white and black for text.
- Test your colors on a phone screen, in print, and on both light and dark backgrounds before you approve them.
- Ask the designer for the color codes in writing (HEX and CMYK), not just an image.
Choose your brand colors based on your brand personality, not your taste alone. Write down three words that describe the impression you want to create, then choose one main color that expresses them, and add one supporting color and one accent color for alerts. Three colors used in consistent proportions help people recognize your post before they even read your name. But a color chosen just because it “looks nice” will usually change with the first new designer or the first ready-made template, and the recognition you built starts to disappear.
The problem: choosing color by taste alone
A business owner likes green, so the logo becomes green. Then they see a nice account using purple, so the posts become purple. Then they print packaging in whatever color the print shop has available. Six months later, there is no such thing as the business’s color. Taste is not wrong, but it does not answer the real question: what should the customer feel when they see my brand?
Start with your brand personality
Write just three words: is your brand calm or bold? Premium or accessible? Traditional or modern? Then look at color from that angle. The table below shows common associations. It’s a starting point, not a rule, because the meaning of a color changes depending on its shade, what sits next to it, and your audience’s culture.
| Desired impression | Common color direction | Example business |
|---|---|---|
| Trust and calm | Blue and navy | Financial services, clinics |
| Energy and excitement | Orange and red | Fast food, sports |
| Nature and health | Green and earthy tones | Organic products, care |
| Luxury | Black with gold or dark shades | Perfumes, jewelry |
| Fun and friendliness | Yellow and bright light colors | Kids’ products, gifts |
Then look at your direct competitors. If they all use blue, blue may make you blend in with them. A different color that serves the same brand personality can help you stand out.
A three-color palette
- Main color: the one people remember. It appears in the logo and the largest areas.
- Supporting color: works alongside the main color without competing with it, and is used in backgrounds and secondary elements.
- Accent color: a color that catches the eye, used sparingly in buttons, offers, and prices.
- Neutrals: white and black or dark gray for text and backgrounds.
A common rule designers use is 60-30-10: about 60% of the space for the main color or a neutral background, 30% for the supporting color, and 10% for the accent color. It’s an approximate rule that helps keep your colors from competing equally for attention.
Test colors where they will actually appear
- On a phone screen: most of your customers will see the color there, not on the designer’s monitor.
- With white text and black text on the main color: is it easy to read? Weak contrast strains the eye and weakens the message.
- The logo in color on a light background, a dark background, and over a product photo.
- In print: print a test page, because color on paper looks different from color on screen.
- Next to competitors’ posts: does it stand out or disappear?
What to ask your designer for and what to receive
Ask for the color palette in writing, not just visually: the name of each color, its role, its screen code (HEX), and its print values (CMYK), plus one or two examples of how they work together in a post and a business card. With this sheet, any designer or print shop can reproduce the exact same color later. This palette is part of any visual identity, even a basic one. On Hylance, at the time of writing, a basic visual identity package (logo, colors, and fonts) starts at around SAR 150 (about $40), and the exact price is shown on the service page.
Common mistakes in brand colors
- Using five colors or more with no system, so none of them sticks in people’s minds.
- Changing the shade in every design: light green today and olive tomorrow are two different colors to the customer.
- Using very light text on a light background.
- Copying the colors of a famous brand in your field.
- Approving a color based on one screen only without testing it in print.
- Keeping the colors only in the designer’s memory: if the codes are not written down in a file you keep, they will change as soon as someone new works on your materials.
- Using the accent color everywhere until it loses its ability to attract attention.
Once your colors are fixed, every future design piece becomes faster and cheaper, because the designer is not starting from zero. And if you order your identity on Hylance, your payment stays on hold until you receive the color file and logo and confirm that they match what you agreed on.
Example: a color palette for a coffee roastery
A specialty coffee roastery chooses three words: warm, crafted, calm. The main color is a dark roasted brown used in the logo and packaging. The supporting color is a light cream for backgrounds and labels. The accent is a coppery orange used only for the offer price and the order button. Add black for text, and the palette is complete. This is just a hypothetical example for illustration, but it shows the idea: each color comes from a word, and each color has a specific place.
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Frequently asked questions
How many colors does a brand need?
Three colors are enough for most businesses: one main color that dominates, one supporting color, and a third accent color for alerts and buttons, along with white and black or dark gray for text. Too many colors make the business look different in every post.
Should I choose my brand color based on my personal taste?
Your taste matters because you’ll live with the color, but it should not be the first criterion. The real criteria are your brand personality, your audience, and what sets you apart from competitors. From the colors that serve those goals, choose the one that fits your taste.
What’s the difference between HEX and CMYK in brand colors?
HEX is the color code used on screens, such as your website and social posts. CMYK is the color value used in printing. The same color can look different on a screen and on paper, so you should receive both and ask for a print test before large quantities.
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