Now that we have your attention…we’re actually going to talk about Hex AND branding.
Choosing colors for a design is not quite as easy as picking the red crayon or the yellow crayon. It’s not even as easy as picking a red crayon and coloring over it with yellow to make orange. In graphic design we work with hexadecimal numbers that represent a wide array of colors.
Hexadecimal (or hex) numbers are six-digits, and they represent the red, green, and blue components that make up a color. If you break the hex number into three sections (or bytes); the first two digits represent the red, the second byte represents the blue, and the last byte represents the green. Each byte ranges from 00 to FF.
Hexadecimal Number for Pink
#ff69b4
We could go into a lot of detail when talking about hex numbers, so we want to focus on why they’re important for branding…
Choosing the right color(s) for your logo or brand is the first step in building a positive association in your industry. But as we mentioned above, it’s just not as easy as saying, “I want my logo to be blue.” You could spend hours (probably even days and months) combing through all the information that exists about the kinds of feelings and emotions invoked by the color blue. The truth, however, is that a person is going to react to a color based on their individual experiences, associations, and memories.
Below is a just a small sampling of what you can find on just about any blog or Website about the different colors (we just pulled in a few):
Blue: Security, Stability, Loyalty, Wisdom, Confidence, Trust, Friendliness, etc.
Green: Wealth, Money, Calming, Nature, Ambition, Endurance, Healing, etc.
Red: Energy, Power, Vigor, Leadership, Courage, Passion, Activity, etc.
When thinking about your brand identity, rather than asking yourself what color you want to use, ask yourself what color(s) would best represent the personality of your brand. Obviously there are other factors that will ultimately impact this answer, but color tends to be the design element that most people notice first. In a study called Impact of Color in Marketing, it was found that 90% of snap decisions made about products were based on color alone depending on the product.
Another thing to consider is culture. If you’re a large international organization marketing to brides, you have to keep in mind that while brides in America wear white, brides in some eastern countries wear red. And furthermore, red can actually represent mourning in some cultures.
Small businesses won’t have issues with color that are quite this varied, but you still have to consider your local culture. If the local (popular) high school or college is represented by blue and orange, you may run into problems with brand recognition if the community will think of the local team first instead of your business if you also use the same blue and orange. This really just depends on what you have going on around you though. The important point here is that you need to know more about logos and color choices from more than just your competitors. You have to know and understand the community you serve.
When working with a designer to develop your brand, make sure to tell them as much as possible in relation to your brand’s personality. The more the designer understands how you want people to feel about your brand, they can choose color(s) that send that message and work with the other graphical elements as well.
And remember, once your colors are decided upon, make sure to write down the hex number so you don’t forget it! You’ll definitely use that information in the future.
Are hex numbers out of your league? Contact us! We love to talk about color in Prairie Magic Designs!