What do these colors remind you of?
Colorize It!
So you've hopefully been working on your logo with a pen, or in black and white on your computer. Once you have your colorless design to a point you are happy with, you are ready to start thinking about adding color. Here are some time-tested principles about color:
1. Pick a color that reminds people of something relevant to your business. Take a look at the 2 logos at the left, they are terrific examples of using reminder colors. Olay® makes products for the skin. They chose a tannish brown color for their logo, because healthy skin is usually some shade of brown. Olay wisely avoided red because it might remind people of skin rash or bleeding. And they wouldn't want green because green skin is associated with sea-sickness, and envy (and martians!).
The Microsoft MSN® logo has all the colors of a rainbow. This happy, optimistic design encourages people to think of MSN as an enjoyable, fun, limitless, take you to your dreams kind of technology. Their slogan "Where do you want to go today?" reinforces this sentiment.
The idea of color "reminding" people of something is one of the most popular methods for choosing color. Think about it for a minute. Why do we have phrases like "Navy Blue" or "Fire Engine Red?" Or why do most restaurant logos contain some shade of reddish-yellow-brown or green? Because most cooked foods are this color. Spend some time thinking about the color of products you sell, or colors associated with using those products.
2. The 3 most common logo colors are blue, black, and red. If you feel uncertain about picking colors, stick with one of these and no one will object to your logo color.
3. Most professional logos are 1 or 2 color designs, some are 3, and rarely are they 4 or more. The Budget® logo is a nice example of a simple 2 color design. Keep in mind your printing costs. If you design a 4 or more color logo, everytime you print anything, you will have to pay for at least a 4 color printing if you want your official logo to appear. When you get as big as Microsoft®, you can design logos with a rainbow of color!
Most logos have 1 or 2 colors.
4. Check the competition. Remember when we talked about distinguishing yourself from your competition? Well, if every business in your category is using blue, try orange or burgundy, or something that will make you stand out.
5. Pick a color you like. If you're in the landscaping business, but don't like green (which would be an obvious "reminder" color), choose a color that you like. There are terrific logos out there that break every rule about color. Ultimately color is subjective, and like your logo design itself, the colors you choose are a reflection of who you are, so go ahead, pick your favorite!
That's it for production! Let's Pick a Winner!
Olay and the Olay logo are registered trademarks of Procter & Gamble. MSN and the MSN logo are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. Budget and the Budget logo are registered trademarks of Budget Rent a Car Corporation. All logos appear here for educational purposes only. ©2011 MyMarkets. All rights reserved.
