October 07 2014
Colour is such a prevalent part of your brand identity and should be used with care in all mediums. A carefully selected colour palette can really help build a positive brand image for your brokerage.
There are many ways that the right colour scheme can help your brand. Three reasons why you really want to give some thought to your colour scheme are:
Selecting which colours to use on your website
During your branding process, you may have selected a certain colour palette to use in all marketing materials. If you have done this, your website should definitely reflect these colours to help bring consistency to your brand.
If you don't have a specific colour palette that you know you want to use, a good place to start would be by selecting three colours that represent your business. They can be colours from your logo, colours from one of your previous promotional pieces, or colours from a picture that you use frequently in your marketing. The main thing to keep in mind is that one of these three colours will probably be used in about 60% of your website, and the other two will be used as various elements throughout your site (through the use of navigation, icons, buttons, etc).
You also may want to consider what colour schemes are used on websites that you like the look of. If you primarily are attracted to websites that have dark colour schemes, maybe yours should be along those same lines. On the other hand, if you prefer websites that appear more airy and open, whites and light greys may be where you want to start for your colour scheme.
When selecting different colours to use together, you want to select colours that complement each other – not compete with each other. This is most easily done by selecting colours with contrasting brightness – for example, a really bright and vibrant one with a more muted one. This is especially important when you are considering text or link colour – text that is the same brightness and vibrancy as the background can often be very different to read, even if they are two completely different colours.
One of my favourite ways to test whether two colours compete with each other is to place two squares of colour right beside each other and then turn the colour off on my monitor. If the two squares are easily distinguishable from each other, then there is enough contrast in them so that they won't compete with your attention when viewing them on a website.
I mentioned earlier that oftentimes colours are already associated with different feelings and ideas. Knowing what different colours can bring to mind can be a huge help when deciding on your website colours scheme.
During the web design process, talk to your designer about this! They'll be able to work with you to select colours that will best reflect your brand on your website.
To view the original article, visit the Lone Wolf blog.