Colour is fundamental to our lives; it can determine our moods, influence our choices and have a powerful yet totally subconscious effect on our emotions and behaviour. Colour psychology is a critical element of any design process, pivotal to the success of a product and how it is received by an audience.

Red is a colour associated with warmth and energy, but can also convey caution and urgency. Green represents growth and ambition, and aligns our decision making between head and heart. Blue brings professionalism and integrity, creating calm and confidence in our choices. Optimistic oranges and yellows are cheerful and inquisitive, whereas pinks and purples inspire people to feel creative and playful.

Knowing which colours best fit your brand is a great starting point, but it’s how we consider the hues, saturation, tints, tones and shades that can determine the subtleties of success in your colour palette.

Tints - adding white to a colour
Tones - adding grey to a colour
Shades - adding black to a colour
Hue - the dominant colour family
Saturation - the intensity and vibrancy of colour
Contrast - opposite points in the colour wheel
Monochromatic - varying tints, tones and shades of a single colour

Let’s look at an example. When selecting the colours used in RMG’s branding, we started with a turquoise that border professionalism and confidence (blue) with growth and honesty (green). In bridging this gap, we create a turquoise that opens communication with individuality and flair. These characteristics are all integral to our brand. We use tints and tones for design variety, and complement the core colour with a much darker shade of green based grey. To balance the turquoise and bring warmth to our palette, we look to the colour wheel to find our third colour, coral, which provides a playful and creative accent.

What colours represent your brand, and how can we create a palette that works for you?