Here are the basic colour groups and their meanings:
Primary colours
Red: Symbolises passion, power, importance and energy, anger/violence and evokes a sense of danger.
Yellow: Bright and luminous, associated with happiness, optimism, sunshine, spontaneity and hope; also used to warn caution.
Blue: Induces a feeling of calm and peace, strength, trust and cleanliness, but can create a sense of coldness if overused.
Secondary colours
Green: Synonymous with ecology, symbolises nature, growth, fertility, renewal, stability, calm, and health.
Purple: Associated with wisdom, supernatural, creativity, power, magic, leadership.
Orange: Represents energy and excitement, and can evoke feelings of enthusiasm, vibrance, adventure, and warmth.
Pink: Evokes images of romance, playfulness, feminine. Stronger hues can symbolise popularity and confidence, whilst paler signifies softness and sweetness.
Brown: Associated with stability, dependability, warmth, vintage, earth, age, and seriousness.
White: Symbolises purity, cleanliness, simplicity, minimalism, virtue, honesty, and spaciousness.
Black: Represents power and sophistication, edginess, luxury, and professionalism, can also denote mourning.
Grey: Seen as responsible, serious, intellectual, represents neutrality and balance.
Picking your brand colours
When choosing brand colours, you need to consider:
Your target audience: who are they, what do they like and dislike? How do they currently feel and how do they want to feel? What brands do they already use or engage with?
Your competition market: who are they, what colours do they use in their branding?
Your brand identity: which colours represent and communicate your brand’s values, personality and messages? Do the cultural interpretations and contexts of these colours align, nationally, globally and individually?
Your product uses: what contexts will your brand and products be interacted with or used within?
How to pick your brand colours
Most branding utilises 3 colours: a base, an accent and a neutral. Some colour schemes implement 4 colours, usually adding an additional accent.
The base should reflect your dominant personality trait, the accent should pair well with the base, and the neutral should avoid drawing attention.
Primary / base
The primary base should strongly reflect your brand's personality and values, and also be visually appealing to your target audience. It's important to choose a colour that is versatile and can be easily integrated into various aspects of your brand's visual identity, including your logo, website, and marketing collateral. This colour should not only serve as the foundational colour for your brand, but also guide the selection of the rest of your brand colours.
Secondary / accent
The accent colour should be used to accentuate key elements of your design and marketing materials, making them stand out. It should be used sparingly, so as not to overpower the base colour, but rather, to complement it. Along with the base, this must speak to your brand personality.
Neutral
Often used as a background colour, neutral will often be a hue of white, grey or beige. This colour should blend seamlessly with your base and accent colours. It should be subtle and not draw attention away from your main colours. The neutral colour usually helps to balance out your designs and maintain visual harmony.
Colour Schemes
When it comes to selecting a colour scheme for your brand, there are a few popular strategies that you can consider:
Monochromatic: This scheme involves using different shades, tones, and tints within one specific colour. It's often used to create a clean, sophisticated look, emphasising a single colour.
Analogous: This scheme uses colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. It's generally used to create a serene and comfortable design.
Complementary: This scheme combines colours from opposite sides of the colour wheel. It's used to create a vibrant and high-energy and dynamic design.
Triadic: This scheme uses three colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel. It's typically used to create a balanced, harmonious design.
Remember, the colour scheme you choose will play a significant role in how your brand is perceived, and will be implemented on all your marketing material, so take the time to choose a scheme that best represents your brand's personality and resonates with your target audience.