- I've got a three-part formula
that I want to share with you.
It's a formula designers can use
to choose just the right color
for a client's logo, their brochure,
a website, whatever.
So here's the formula.
Look for a color that connects
with your client's target audience,
doesn't look like colors being used
by your client's competitors,
and expresses what your client makes or does.
Now, before I say anything else about it,
notice how this formula
doesn't say anything about you, personally,
loving the color that you come up with
or even that the president
of the company that you're working for
loves the color.
I mean, it is nice when those things happen,
and they do sometimes,
but it's really not what choosing a color
for a client is all about.
A client's color is about the client.
It's also about the three things we just talked about:
connecting with the client's audience,
coming across as original,
and representing the client's product.
So, with my three-part formula in mind,
here's how I approach the job
of choosing a color or a set of colors
for a branding project.
I start by asking my client to tell me
everything they can about the people
they want to connect with.
I also ask them for a rundown of a media
that these people are interested in.
Then I take a good look at the websites,
the magazines, and the packaging
those people are attracted to.
I acquaint myself with their color preferences,
while I'm at it.
Then I quiz my client on their competitors
so I can google these companies
and find out what kinds of colors
they're using for their branding.
That way, I can infer something
that will stand out uniquely from the crowd,
and I also make sure to do this
to avoid the possible embarassment
of inadvertently choosing a color
that's already being used by a company
right down the road from my client.
It could be a company that offers a similar product.
Once I've learned about my client's
target audience and their competition,
then I get to work selecting a specific color choice,
or a set of choices for their branding,
or for whatever other kind of work I'm doing for them.
It's at this point where I just need to sit down
and do some good old-fashioned,
straight-up designer-style right-brained thinking.
This is the kind of serious contemplating
that you do to get the look, the feel,
the purpose, and the flavor of the product or service
that your client offers,
and to communicate it through color.
Then I start looking for color choices
that do these things effectively.
This is the kind of work, really,
that being a designer is all about.
I should add a footnote right here
that says that yes, most times,
you should look for a color
that fits the look and the feel
of what your client makes or does,
but every so often, it's a way out there color choice
that might work even better.
Say you're working for an industrial tool manufacturer,
and they go with a bright pink for their corporate color.
The bright pink, because it's so unexpected,
it actually becomes a really useful
and integral part of their branding.
What else? Well, be practical.
Be sure to take stock of all the ways
your branding color might be used in the real world.
So ask yourself, will this color need to stand out
against certain dark, light, or visually busy backdrops?
Or will you maybe want it to blend in
with a certain visual environment?
Find out if the color will need
to get along well with other colors
that are already in place for whatever reasons.
Things like this, they might not always be easy to do,
but they're really also not supposed
to be all that difficult,
especially if you remember
that it's just a matter of finding a color
that appeals to your target audience,
something that stands out from the crowd,
and a color that expresses
what needs to be expressed.