Ahhh, color. What else in the design arsenal is as powerful and as dangerous as color?
Dangerous? Yes! When properly implemented, color can give your marketing materials a polished, cohesive look. But if you don’t handle color with care, your stuff will look terrible, or worse – be confusing.
Your Visual Message Should Speak the Same Language as Your Words
Color can support what you say in your marketing messages, or it can have an odd, disconcerting effect.
Here are some imaginary businesses. Can you pick the best color palette for each? [Hint: Visit this page for questions to ask about each group].
- Your business sells products to a high-end demographic group. These folks are big spenders who buy luxury items and are used to elegant environments. Which color palette do you choose?
- Your business is geared toward 18-24-year old males who devote every spare moment of their time to surfing. Which color palette will “speak” to these dudes?
Here’s one more: you have created a line of products you hope to sell to eco-conscious women in their 30s and 40s.
Were you able to see the best combinations? In all cases, the second color palette is more effective. The colors in the second group support and reinforce the marketing message because they appeal to what motivates the audience.
The high-end luxury buyers will associate rich, deep hues with quality. The surfer dudes see the ocean blues contrasted with bright color as a reflection of seaside living and excitement. The eco-conscious women equate green and brown with the environment they want to protect.
This isn’t science, of course, and you may have a different opinion. Do spend some time thinking about what colors naturally appeal to your audience. Make sure your colors “speak” the same language as your words, so that everything works together to communicate a cohesive message.
Design 101
This is the fifth in a series of ten lessons called “Design 101.”
The next lesson will be about using white space, and why leaving some areas blank can be the best use of space.
Get this series delivered to your email inbox so you don’t miss a lesson: enter your email below and get the Marketing Toolkit, which includes:
- The full Design 101 series, so you can apply good design techniques to your marketing
- Free small business marketing audio: 20 minutes of insider advice
- Blog updates and the exclusive Weekend Digest newsletter
Sign up below for instant access!
|  |
This is a great resource Pamela.
Thanks for pointing this out. I will probably go for the high-end palette, the second option.
Eugen
Great tips, Pamela. When you’re trying to do your own design work (and you’re not a trained designer), it doesn’t always occur to you that it’s not about the colours that appeal to you, but the colours that appeal to your customer base.
This is excellent information and now I need to change the tone of red I have on my website.
Nikki, it’s a very bold red, and you have “bold” as part of your tag line. I think you should stick with it! Thanks for dropping by.
I always like to refer to “Tide” detergent as a prime example of packaging/color in marketing. It’s been the same for probably 100 years. It jumps off the grocery store shelves. It’s orange and yellow and the lettering is dark blue (contrast w/ the orange) and to finish it all off… it’s a spiral design. It doesn’t get much more perfect than that.
I was thinking though, that eco-friendly/conscience should really be more blue and white (clean) than green or brown…
Hi Paula!
That’s the thing: color is subjective to a certain extent, and definitely influenced by culture. Blue and white could work perfectly in some circumstances: it would depend on the project and the audience you were trying to reach.
What I really want people to do is think about their audience before they choose colors, and make sure their color choice enhances their message.
Thanks for answering the very question I had about which colors to use to encourage sales!
You’re welcome: I’m glad it was helpful!
I’m excited! I picked all of them correctly!
Of course, it might help that I have an eye on the high end, while being a surfing and dedicated follower of fashion. Ok not really, but I’m always up for a Project Runway, Vogue or V Magazine.
Hooray, Dave! You know the best colors are an opinion, of course, but it’s based on common sense.
I want to encourage people to think about their audience, and what they will respond to, rather than the color crayon they’ve always liked best since they were 3 years old!
Uh oh, that means my new site will appeal to surfer dudes, lol
I just chose the colors because I like them, and I have to look at my site everyday. But I did read somewhere that sky blue is soothing and builds trust. I figured that in order to market more effectively to my ideal client, I would have to be myself and not pretend to be something I am not, so I wanted to use colors that really resonate with me!
Hi Kathleen! You’re right: most people think blue builds trust, which is why you see so much of it in the corporate world. You chose a nice high-energy blue. I think it looks great!
G’Day Pamela,
I’m really enjoying your stuff. It’s just astonishing how colours are misused. I was recently referred to a consultant as someone who could help me with a technical/design problem. I checked his website first.
The whole site was in reverse–white on black! I didn’t proceed.
I reckon that good design is a marriage of what it reads like and what it looks like. And if it it doesn’t look OK, it wont be read. “Looking Right”has many elements. Colour is one. The”OK” judgement is entirely in the eye of the beholder.
Sadly awards for “good design”rarely take effectiveness into account. Keep flying the flag. And…..
Make sure you have fun.
Regards
Leon
Good to hear from you again, Leon. Thanks for the encouragement!
What a wonderful series! This is just what I need to help me set up my new blog !
Pamela, I just want to say that I love your website. Great advice and great design!
Christian
Merci, Christian: thanks for stopping by!