Tätä opasta ei ole vielä omalla kielelläsi, joten tässä se on englanniksi.
Lyhyesti
- To choose brand colors, start from the brand's character and audience, then look at what colours your category already uses.
- A strong brand palette is built around one hero colour that people can associate with you, not several equal colours.
- Most of a brand palette is neutrals: a tinted dark for text, a tinted light for backgrounds and one or two quiet supporting colours.
- An accent colour, used sparingly, gives calls to action and highlights somewhere to stand out.
- Every brand palette should be tested for text contrast and in real formats, at small sizes and in print, before it is written down.
Tällä sivulla
How to choose brand colors, in short: decide what the brand should feel like, look at the colours your competitors already own, pick one hero colour that sets you apart, surround it with neutrals and a small accent, then test the lot for contrast and in real designs. The steps below turn that into a method you can finish in an afternoon. The result is a palette with a job for every colour, rather than five colours you happen to like.
If you are new to hue, saturation and lightness, read colour theory basics first. It will make each step easier.
The method at a glance
- 1
Write the brand's character in three words
Calm, precise, warm. Bold, playful, local. These words decide temperature, saturation and contrast before you look at a single swatch.
- 2
Know who is looking
Consider your audience, where they will see you and, if you work across countries, what colours mean there. Colour meanings around the world helps.
- 3
Map your category
Collect the logos, sites and packaging of ten competitors and note their main colours. You are looking for what is crowded and what is free.
- 4
Choose one hero colour
One colour people will associate with you. It should fit your three words and stand apart in your category map.
- 5
Add neutrals
A tinted near-black for text and a tinted near-white for backgrounds, plus one quiet supporting tone.
- 6
Add one accent
A contrasting colour for buttons, prices and highlights, used sparingly.
- 7
Test contrast
Check every text and background pair against WCAG ratios.
- 8
Test in context and write it down
Put the palette on real formats, then record every code and every colour's role.
Step 1 to 3: character, audience and category
Most brand palettes fail before a colour is picked, because nobody decided what the brand should feel like. Three words are enough. Warm, crafted, unhurried points to earthy, muted colours with soft contrast. Sharp, fast, technical points to cool, saturated colours with strong contrast. Colour psychology covers what colours tend to signal, and why context matters more than rules.
Then look at the competition. Suppose you are a small coffee roaster and the roasters near you mostly use brown, cream and black. Another brown will blend in. A category map makes that visible.
| Competitor | Main colour | Feels |
|---|---|---|
| Roaster A | Espresso brown | Traditional |
| Roaster B | Cream and black | Minimal, classic |
| Roaster C | Kraft brown | Artisan |
| Roaster D | Forest green | Natural |
| Gap | Warm orange, deep teal | Nobody nearby uses them |
Being different does not mean being random. The best gaps still fit your three words. A warm, crafted roaster could take a roasted orange; a bright electric blue would be different but wrong.
Step 4 to 6: hero, neutrals and accent
A hero colour is the one people will remember. Give it most of the brand's colour moments: the logo, the packaging, the first frame of every post. Choosing two or three equal heroes spreads recognition thin; one is stronger.
Neutrals do most of the work. Pure black and white feel generic; tint them slightly towards your hero or towards warm or cool, and the whole palette feels related. Then add one quiet supporting colour for panels and illustration, and one accent for the few things that must stand out.
Avoid
- Five colours of equal importance
- Pure
#000000and#ffffffas neutrals - An accent used everywhere
- Choosing by personal favourite colour
Do
- One hero, clearly leading
- Neutrals tinted towards the brand
- An accent kept for actions and highlights
- Choosing by character and category gap
The 60-30-10 rule is a handy guide to proportion: roughly 60% neutral, 30% hero and support, 10% accent. The exact numbers matter less than having a clear order.
Step 7: test contrast
WCAG asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Check every pair you intend to use. Brand colours in the middle of the lightness range, like many oranges and greens, often work with white text but not with black, or only at large sizes.
| Text on background | Ratio | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| Ink on paper | 16.4:1 | All text |
| Paper on roast orange | 4.9:1 | Body and large text |
| Ink on roast orange | 3.4:1 | Large text only |
| Deep teal on paper | 5.1:1 | Links and body text |
| Ink on oat | 12.9:1 | All text |
Colour contrast explains the ratios and how to measure them. If your hero fails with both light and dark text, darken it slightly rather than giving up on it; a few percent of lightness is rarely noticed.
Step 8: test in context, then write it down
Swatches lie. A colour that looks refined as a small square can be overwhelming across a whole story, and a subtle neutral can disappear on a phone in sunlight. Put the palette on the formats you will actually use.
Instagram post
1080 × 1350
Story
1080 × 1920
Website hero
1920 × 1080
Business card
1050 × 600
- Small sizes: does the hero still read as the hero in a favicon or profile picture?
- Print: will the hero reproduce in ink? Very vivid screen colours often print duller. See printing gradients.
- Dark mode: do the neutrals invert gracefully?
- Beside competitors: put your post next to theirs. Can you tell which is yours at a glance?
Finally, write it down: the name, HEX and RGB of every colour, CMYK or spot equivalents if you print, each colour's role and its approved text pairings. Put it in your brand style guide and your brand kit so it is used the same way everywhere.
Usein kysyttyä
How many brand colours should I have?
Usually one hero colour, two neutrals, one supporting colour and one accent. More than that becomes hard to use consistently.
How do I choose a brand colour that stands out?
Map the main colours of your competitors, find a colour that is not crowded in your category and check it still fits your brand's character.
Should brand colours be based on colour psychology?
Use associations as a guide, not a rule. Colour meaning depends heavily on culture, category and context, so being distinctive and consistent usually matters more.
What contrast do brand colours need for text?
WCAG recommends at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Check every text and background pair you plan to use.
Can I change my brand colours later?
Yes, but recognition built on the old colours is lost gradually. Small adjustments to lightness or saturation are easier than switching hue.
Kirjoittanut Gradiently
Gradientlyn tiimi. Gradiently on Markien ympärille rakennettu suunnittelutyökalu: eläviä liukuvärejä, joiden ansiosta kaikki suunnittelemasi näyttää omaltasi.
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