Colour can help your business feel distinctive and recognisable. The strongest palettes come from understanding your brand, then giving each colour a clear purpose.
Start with the impression you want to create
Before choosing colours, think about how you want your business to feel.
Confident and energetic? Calm and considered? Warm and approachable? Your palette should support that character alongside your typography, photography and language.
Colour associations depend on context. A deep blue paired with traditional typography creates a different impression from the same blue used with oversized lettering and bright orange. Look at the whole identity when making your decision.
Give your colours clear roles
A useful palette needs enough flexibility to work across different applications.
Start with a primary colour, supporting neutrals and an accent where needed. Decide which colours belong in backgrounds, headings, body text and important details.
For example, a brand might use cream for most backgrounds, charcoal for text and a vibrant orange to draw attention to selected elements. Giving colours defined roles makes it easier to produce a consistent website, brochure or presentation.
Not every colour needs to appear in every design.
Make readability part of the decision
A colour combination can look beautiful in a mood board and become difficult to read on a phone.
Check that text stands out clearly against its background, especially in smaller sizes. Website buttons, links and form fields also need to be easy to identify. Avoid relying on colour alone to communicate important information.
Test your palette in real layouts before committing to it.
Think beyond the screen
Your brand may appear on packaging, signage, business cards and documents as well as online.
Colours can look different across screens, printing processes and materials. A bright digital colour may be difficult to reproduce accurately in print, while textured paper can affect the final appearance.
Define suitable colour values for digital and print use, and request proofs for important printed materials.
Build familiarity through consistency
A considered palette becomes more valuable when people see it used consistently.
Record your colour values and a few simple examples of how to apply them. This gives everyone working with your brand a useful reference and reduces guesswork.
Your colours should feel connected wherever your business appears, while leaving enough flexibility for different messages and formats.
Need a palette that works across your whole business? Tell us about your project.