Brand colors: how to choose your company's palette (without defaulting to everyone's blue)

Color is the brand element the eye catches first — before the logo, before the name. In a browser with 15 tabs open, it's the favicon color you find. That's why the palette isn't an aesthetic choice: it's a recognition choice.

The structure of a palette that works

• 1 proprietary color. The color the brand "owns" in its category. The fewer competitors use it, the harder it works.
• 1 dark and 1 light for text and background. Almost always a graphite (not pure black) and an off-white (not pure white).
• 1 or 2 support colors for highlights, charts and states. In small doses.
• Proportion: 60% neutral, 30% proprietary, 10% support is a safe starting point.

How to choose the proprietary color

1. Map your direct competitors' colors. What's left is opportunity.
2. Test the color at 16 pixels (favicon) and at 3 meters (storefront). It has to be identifiable at both.
3. Check contrast: text over the color must pass 4.5:1 (WCAG). Vibrant colors almost always need a darker version for light backgrounds.

One code per medium

The same color has HEX (screen), RGB, CMYK (print) and, ideally, Pantone. Vibrant screen colors usually come out dull in CMYK — decide the conversion before printing, not after.

The most common mistake

Rainbow: four colors with equal weight. The brand doesn't look "cheerful", it looks ownerless. If you need to differentiate items (categories, products), differentiate by shape or icon — and let color do the brand's job.