Here I am talking about color psychology for branding in case you want to choose the colors of your brand or website.

Creating a business or an online visual identity is not easy.

The moment you decide to create a website from scratch you are overwhelmed by a thousand questions. What “look” should my website have? How do i know which colors are best for my website? How do I get a logo that best represents me? And finally, where should I start?

And what happens in the end? Total confusion, stress and demotivation. I understand you, but know that all these questions have simple answers, and for this reason I wrote this article. In this article – guide I will try to give you some suggestions and I will tell you where and how to make all the elements you need.

I bet you too have asked yourself these questions (and many more) at least once when you decided to create your project online.

This is perfectly normal! Asking these kinds of questions is legitimate. It often happens, however, that the answers to these questions are a little confused or non-existent. If I had to use a metaphor, I would definitely say that the process of creating a website and a brand identity is like a craftsman working with marble to build a small statuette. The brand identity is built little by little over time, for this reason today I will try to help you in case you have recently created an online business (or website) or in case you want to “refresh” the your existing brand identity. I will explain what a brand identity is, why it is important to have a precise online image and how to find one. Let’s go step by step, read on.

What is a brand identity?

In simple terms, brand identity is the set of graphic and digital elements that define a brand in the eyes of its audience. Here I suggest you how to start branding.

Generally the brand identity of a brand, website or blogger is composed of the following essential and fixed elements: one or more logos, a color palette, one or two fonts, a series of icons and a brand identity kit.

These elements, if well studied, can help you define your online identity or your brand identity with clarity and precision.

Let’s take a practical example: the “McDonald’s” brand. The developers of this historic brand have always had the intention of communicating precise emotions and messages to their audience. For this reason, over the years they have always used roughly the same colors, the same typography that includes one or two fixed fonts and the same logo. Result? Their identity (or image) has always been very clear, it has not undergone radical changes

colour psychology for branding: why colors are so important?

If you have already created your logo, then now the next step is to find a precise color scheme for branding that can best represent you, your brand, your emotions and your project or website as a whole.

This is a crucial step if you have just created a small brand.

It is fundamental because it defines yourself, so when your audience looks at your website or blog they must perceive in a clear and simple way what you want to communicate.

Without a precise color palette for web design or a precise brand identity, what you want to communicate can be confusing and unclear. Result? Your website visitors may leave because they don’t understand what you offer and what your style is.

Know that if you are continuing to read this article, I understand your confusion: you will surely have a thousand questions in your head, and perhaps until today, you have never questioned the importance of colors and their subscription to your emotions or your project. Don’t worry, this is normal. Grab a pen and paper and I’ll help you jot down some website color palette ideas (and not just for websites) to find colors that might be perfect for you.

Let’s take an example: do you know when you buy (or decide to do a simple refresh) a house? Each room has a different function, and consequently also different colors. Think for example about the bedroom. Its main purpose is to relax those who live there, so its colors are often very clear: light colors are associated with emotions such as tranquility and serenity. Therefore, most of the time, they are suitable for bedrooms.

Here, the procedure for finding a color palette that suits you is more or less the same.

When trying to define the color palette for a website, I suggest you keep this scheme in mind or write down your answers on a piece of paper

useful for colour psychology for business:

1. Favorite colors: to date, what are the colors you particularly love or would like to have in your palette? Do not look for a precise shade, try to note the general category of color (for example, the teal color belongs to the category of green and blue). If you were to think about your blog, website or brand identity, how do you imagine it? What are the color categories that typically represent you?
2. Prevailing emotions: what emotions would you like to communicate to your audience? This is a very important step, so I suggest you take all the time you need and write down on a piece of paper everything that comes to mind and above all everything you perceive in your belly: the emotions are there. Do not overdo the search for emotions: there is no need to find many, two or three are enough, the important thing is that they are few and clear. I’ll give you an example: suppose you have a website aimed mainly at a female audience: inside you have decided to sell minimalist style logos for girls bloggers: since yours is a female and minimalist audience, they could be fine for example, the peach and pastel pink colors that generate emotions such as femininity, serenity and simplicity.
3. Type of project: it is very important to have a clear idea of ​​what kind of project you have. Do you have a website that offers podcasts about yoga and the relationship between body and mind? Well, then in this case, the emotions and purposes of this project will merge with precise colors. Close your eyes for a moment and try to image your project: how do you see it? Do you instinctively associate it with precise colors? Write your answers on a piece of paper.

what are the criteria for matching colors for websites?

There is no precise universal rule for choosing colors. Creating a color palette is subjective and typically a palette contains around 4 or 5 colors.

To all customers who request my help here for the realization of their color palette for website design, I recommend that you consider the following information.

So I also advise you to keep in mind this additional scheme that could help you in the creation of your website colors:

• Main Color: Choose at least one color to use to communicate your main messages / concepts / emotions. This color will help you to prioritize a certain thing over another (like when you create a legend with highlighters). If you can, put this color first in your color palette.
• Secondary color in the same category as the main color: this color will serve to contrast the main color you have chosen and will serve you for your “secondary or less important emotions or messages”.
• Light colors: I suggest you include at least one or two light colors from the same category as your main colors. For example, if you choose the green category, add mint or pastel green as well. You will need it to give a sense of “visual continuity” to your palette.
• Neutral Colors: Also add one or two neutral colors to your palette. They are not necessarily used to communicate something specific but you will need them to create the background of your project.

I’ll show you an example of a color palette I made myself a few months ago.

If you also notice, there is a main color that is the key to the entire palette and that generates all the other colors. But it’s not over yet, there is a surprise for you.

what’s behind color psychology?

According to human psychology, each color contains a specific emotion. There are so many experts who have studied the psychology of colors. Here are some emotions related to each single macro category color that I found on the web:

Black: elegance, sophistication, power, strength, classic, austerity, mystery, prestige, oppression, death.

White: clarity, cleanliness, simplicity, peacefulness, humility, youth, innocence, purity, emptiness, sterility, death, coldness.

Red: anger, passion, excitement, love, energy, power, desire, aggression, danger, violence.

Blue: productivity, calmness, sadness, cleanliness, stability, peacefulness, tranquility, stability, harmony, security, loyalty, melancholy, depression.

Green: luck, nature, environment, safety, health, luck, motivation, renewal, generosity, fertility, jealousy, envy.

Yellow: warmth, energy, joy, attention, danger, optimism, happiness, imagination, hope, frustration, deception, danger, betrayal, dishonesty.

Purple: mystery, immagination, wealth, royalty, creativity, spirituality, nobility, femininity, enlightenment, rarity.

Brown: nature, isolation, earth, strength, security, stability, reliability, comfort, richness, endurance, simplicity, robustness.

Orange: attention, energy, balance, happiness, warmth, enthusiasm, dynamism, friendly, spirituality, spontaneity, communicative.

Pink: femininity, health, care, calmness, nurturing, kindness, love, innocence, peacefulness, sweetness, romance, tenderness, acceptance, nostalgia.

Beige: comfort, natural, classic, neutral, softness, warmth, subtlety.

Grey: sober, classic, basic, timeless, logical, fundamental, maturity, sadness, boredom.

Broadly speaking, these combinations are good for both color psychology in logo design and color psychology in marketing. The talented designer Rachel, the Founder + Creative Director of Oktober Designs also suggests it to us with this very interesting post on instagram and Entre Ideas designers instead give us here some tips about a couple of color combinations not to use.

ok, but how can i make my color palette? how many colors should a website have?

You can make your own color palette with Adobe Photoshop or Canva Color Palette Generator. These are just two of the useful tools for website color palette generator and in particular Canva Color Palette Generator allows you to obtain a color palette from an image.

A single color corresponds to a single HEX code. The HEX code is usually preceded by the hashtag # (for example, the hex code #fggdz3 corresponds to a specific color). There is no exact number of colors that will fit all websites, it depends on your needs. Typically people looking for a color palette for their website or brand create a 5 color palette. People who reach 10 colors are rare. In my humble opinion, five colors are just fine.

Please, note: when making your color palette, make a note of every single hex code. Those will be exactly your colors.

In addition to the various websites and apps to create color palettes, if you don’t want to create your own color palette, I personally offer  services aimed at building brand identity:

1. Within my website, I offer services aimed at creating brand identity design which includes numerous templates and services: click here to read more.
2. On Fiverr I offer three types of different services for every need aimed at creating a brand identity and color palette. With this service we will work together step by step and I will also send you the guidelines to choose and make the best use of your color palette: click here to read more and / or order your own color palette

extra gift for you: a free theme for your wordpress website!

If you want to create your brand identity yourself, then maybe I have the right gift for you. Sign up for my newsletter and gain access to the reserved area of the site where you can download the template to create your website design for free. My multipurpose free theme has a minimalist, feminine, clean and sophisticated design and is super versatile!

one click is enough to download the brand identity kit for free!

1. Sign up for my newsletter from here and get access to the reserved area.
2. Check your email box (and your spam folder): after registering, I emailed you the password to access the reserved area of my site. Enter the password you received here and download my WordPress child theme for free.
3. The file download will start automatically immediately after entering your email address. In case it does not happen by mistake, contact me by email and I will send it to you.

I hope this article has been helpful to you. Otherwise I will be happy to answer your questions or clarifications that you can leave below in the comments.

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