let’s talk about colors, specifically choosing your brand color palette. if you’re DIYing your brand it can get a bit overwhelming with so many choices so i’m here to help you out – and there’s a freebie!

color provides the visual story and sets the tone of your brand so it’s important to choose wisely. you may be absolutely gah-gah over a particular color palette but ask yourself: is it really communicating the right message to your audience?

remember:
you’re designing your brand to suit your target market, not yourself

different colors evoke different feelings and is a form of non-verbal communication. to make sure you’re speaking the right language, here’s a quick cheat-sheet for ya:

blue = trust, peace + loyalty

green = balance, growth + harmony

red = energy, passion + action

yellow = cheerfulness, hopefulness + fun

pink = feminine, romantic + nurturing

orange = warmth, optimism + rejuvenation

if you want to dive deeper into color psychology, take a peek here

hopefully this gives you a better idea of the colors that will work for your brand and in what direction you should begin when putting together your palette.

inspiration for your brand color palette

designseeds has some beautiful color inspiration to jump start your creativity if you’re stuck. they’ve been helpful enough to provide the hex color codes you need for accurate recreation when designing.

but what if you don’t have the color codes? maybe you saw the most perfect picture on pinterest that just screams “this is my color palette!” have no fear, there are a couple options for you. of course there’s always photoshop but let’s assume you don’t have it

1. on the interwebs, there’s imagecolorpicker. upload your photo and get your codes, 1-2-3!
2. for your apple device, i love the palettecam app. same premise – upload the photo, select the colors from the photo and bam! color palette created. you can also take a photo in the app so when you’re drooling over the newest home decor collection in target, you can snag those also 😉
3. another cool app – iOS and android – is coolers. it’s like a color slot machine without the risk of financial loss.

one last color palette tip for you: if you’re creating your palette from scratch with no visual inspiration, a good rule of thumb is to choose a bold, a complimentary, a neutral, a dark and a light. canva has a great color wheel that will help. and then just go wild – rules are meant to be broken!

freebie

if you’re still not sure where to start, i’ve created a freebie with 5 color palette suggestions for different brand personalities – flirty, romantic, energetic, earthy + moody. choose a few colors from the freebie to jump start your creativity or use the palettes as-is for your own brand!

i hope this info has been helpful in choosing a color palette for your brand – leave a comment if you have any questions!