Colors hold the power to instantly communicate brand meaning, message, and personality. That’s why it is hard to overestimate the importance of color in the brand identity design.

According to Jill Morton, color psychologist and branding expert, the visual component people remember most about a brand is color, followed closely by shapes, symbols, then numbers and finally words. Although people have cultural differences, personal backgrounds and preferences, colors evoke natural associations common to us all:

Blue has a trustworthy, dependable feel. That’s why it’s widely used in brand design for businesses across financial industry.

Green is an emotionally positive color, associated with growth (including financial), but also with nature, organic, etc.

Red is powerful, bold, uplifting, energetic, exciting.

Yellow – bright, fun and friendly.

Orange – playful, positive, sunny and optimistic

Pink -- warm, sensitive, and nurturing

Purple has a sophisticated tone often linked with royalty.

Brown – earthy, simple, natural, honest Black has a bold, powerful, classic, confident, sophisticated, expensive feel

White is associated with purity and is very common for brands in baby-product and healthcare industries.

Context is also important for the correct perception of the brand color. In some cases brown is used for natural products, and perfect for those organic foods. In others, it’s rugged and masculine, perfect for hunters and motocross athletes.

Here are some examples of how colors are helping to convey brand messages and contribute to the success of the brand:

Blue Cross Blue Shield – Light blue color conveys the message of trustworthiness and at the same time affordability (health coverage).

The logo of the largest courier and logistics service in the world, UPS, created in 1961 by Paul Rand, is a great example how a single color—brown-- communicates the brand meaning. For UPS, brown symbolizes reliability, strength and durability of the company.

In 1967, Massimo Vignelli used essential colors of the American Flag, red and blue, for the American Airlines logo. Why? “Because national colors have a tremendous equity. They’re much more memorable. It rings the bell of identification.” For almost 50 years the unchanged red and blue “AA” represented American Airlines and in a sense America across the world.

Brands communicate meanings with the language of color and shape. If a company can effectively 'own' a color, they will achieve an enormous competitive advantage and instant brand recognition. That's the power of color, chosen right.

About the Author:

Kate Ratner is an award-winning User Experience and Visual Designer with more than 20 years of leadership in web, print, and multimedia design. She earned her experience in concept creation, branding, and user experience design by working on numerous projects for leading financial, high tech, pharmaceutical, and retail New England based and international clients.