Underrated Brand Element? Colors

All elements of a visual brand identity are important. We believe that color seems to be one that gets overlooked or not given enough consideration.

There are plenty of resources available that get into the psychology of colors and what colors symbolize in various cultures. Those are definitely worth a look and your consideration.

But colors can also have personal meaning, a localized meaning, or any other sort of meaning to you as a small business owner and entrepreneur. If you can integrate your color choices with your overall brand story, the meaning of your colors can be even stronger and have more resonance with your customers.

Put another way, clearly articulating the “why” behind your brand colors will provide even stronger associations with your story than with their standard psychological meanings.

In the case of Birch + Wolf, we chose a vibrant purple as our primary brand color to match our story and reason for being. Purple is uncommon in nature but striking where it exists, and we strive to help small businesses and organizations develop authentic brands that similarly stand out in their marketplace.

Simply choosing a color because it is trendy at the moment can shorten the life of your brand and undermine its meaning. As sports fans we remember well the 1990s – purple and teal were the common color choices of expansion franchises. Then several existing teams switched to purple- or teal-based color schemes shortly thereafter. Not to name names, OK, we’ll name a few: Bucks and Pistons for example. Their rebrands in that era included colors that had no association with their team heritage, locations, or names. Thankfully they have both moved on, visually speaking, since.

We encourage business owners to think about the fit of colors with their overall brand and underlying story. It’s something we can help with as we can develop multiple color boards with background information connecting them to the overall brand story. The business is yours. Make sure its colors are too!