Welcome back to the second installment of colors and what they mean to both your logo and brand image. Let’s start with green.
Green
On an international scale, brands tend to use green in their logos if they’re environmentally inclined, representing values of health, wellness, nature, growth, tranquility, and renewal. Green is commonplace in natural food markets and agriculture-related products. Whole Foods, Animal Planet, Starbucks, and John Deere all utilize emerald-hued logos. It is known to alleviate depression and encourage relaxation, so stores, spas, and businesses use it to promote a calming effect. It is also the color the human eye is most sensitive to and can discern the most shades of.
Blue
To evoke calmness, trust, and tranquility, think blue. Its strong associations with the ocean and meditation make blue the perfect color for brands that want to bring serenity to a stressful process and lower an onlooker’s blood pressure. Think Dell, AT&T, and Lowes. That’s also why we often see banks, financial companies, and corporate business, such as Chase and Visa, with logos that incorporate the color blue. If a customer is going to make a monetary deal, their intuitive association with the financial institution should give a feeling of calmness a and low-stress environment.
Purple
Purple speaks of nobility or wisdom. Not only is it most commonly known as the color of royalty, but it also denotes imaginative and creative behavior. Yahoo and Cadbury use purple as the background for their logos, and both brands are instantly recognizable to their consumers. Yahoo goes for the wisdom association with tools that provide both information and inspiration. Cadbury — whose founders once supplied their products to England’s Queen Victoria — embraces the royal connotations of its history with a rich purple hue.
Black & White
Black and white are often used against each other, with black signifying mystery, power, authority, and sophistication, and white denoting cleanliness, simplicity, and purity. But when combined, they create balance and calmness – think Time Magazine, Wikipedia, and Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network successfully uses black and white to create a simple, balanced logo with the two shades displaying the yin and yang of the brand name itself. “Network” conveys sophistication and can even feel stuffy, but when brought together with “Cartoon,” it plays on the equilibrium of two contradictory ideas.
Bearing in mind the responsive value and connotation of a color can do wonders for your brand. It’s best to work with simple colors, and the impact of a strong and constant hue will help to make your brand unforgettable. Keep it simple and stick to just one or two well-thought-out colors. For help designing a logo and other marketing materials that speak to your consumers and evoke the emotions you want for your brand, contact us. We would love to help your brand find its voice! 