The Psychology of Color and How It Impacts Your Brand

Colors evoke feelings. Are you tapping into the right feelings for your audience?

The whole purpose of branding is to connect with your dream customers, and colors are just one of the ways we do this. 

Colors evoke feelings. Think of color in your own life. If you a spending your days in dark dreary colors, you are more inclined to feel tired, lack energy and feel sad or even depressed. Whereas, if you have bright colors around you, your mood is elevated, you are more likely to feel happy and energetic. And while it is most likely only for a moment, when your dream customers see your branding details in full color, they feel something. 

How do you want your customers to feel? 

This is where you really have to get into the mind of your dream client, and tap into how you want to make them feel when they work with you. Understanding this will not only help you choose the right branding colors but also help you connect more deeply with those you are meant to serve. 

The key is to go deeper than surface level feelings. Yes you want your customers to

• trust you
• know you are dependable
• believe your are honest

But there is more, so much more to it than that. And is you chose colors based on these things alone, you would end up with an uninspired color palette that doesn't really speak to the amazing things you do! 

Remember that while there are definite positive traits for each color their are also negative traits to be aware of as well. 

Color shades matter

Going a little deeper, the shades you select have an impact on the feelings you evoke as well. Look at the color blue. This color evokes feelings such as calm, serenity, peace and tranquility. It also evokes feelings of authority, integrity, and responsibility. 

If you are looking to communicate a sense of calm tranquility, you would want to lean more towards the lighter shades. 

If you are looking to position yourself as a authority figure you would select the darker shades. 

Choosing the right colors for you

Before you settle on your brand colors I encourage you to ask yourself these questions... 

1. How do I want my customers to feel when working with me? 
2. What do I want them to say about me after it is all done? 
3. What would be the ultimate compliment I could receive about my work? 

Write down all the feelings that come to you, even the tried and true feelings you are expected to have like trust, dependable, and honest. These are important to and will most likely fuel the feelings that help you connect with your dream customers. 

Once you have written down everything that comes to mind, select the top 3 - 5 words that you feel the most strongly about, and match them with the Color Traits list below. This will give you a solid basis of where to begin finding the right shades that work together as a color palette.  

Have fun with this! 

Far too many get caught up in the search of the perfect color, and either spend weeks pouring over color combinations are simply become paralyzed unable to choose. If you find that choosing the right colors is becoming overwhelming, take a step back, take three deep breaths, and trust your intuition. This is not a final decision you have to stick with for the rest of your life. It is a choice to make right now based on where you are in life and business. And it is totally okay to change your mind in the future!

Want a little help Creating Your Visual Brand 

My Building Brand Awareness course will help you dive more deeply into selecting the branding colors that are perfect for you.  Sign up for free at https://teresaschlup.com/free-course-library/. And if you are wanting a little more help than a self-guided course, set up a consultation and let's talk about how we can help you nail down your branding!. 

Color Traits 

Below is a list of colors including the positive and negative traits of each to help you on your search. 

References: 

https://www.colorpsychology.org/

https://www.canva.com/colors/color-wheel/