EXAMPLES of Colourful logos

What colour is right for your logo? 

Here are 4 things to consider when you choose a colour for your logo:
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1. Customers
2. Competitors
3. Consistency
4. Protection

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Read more below…

1. Never confuse your customers

​No matter how people come across your brand, your logo and its colour should be unique to you. Your colours (brand palette) – or signage colours, or packaging colours for that matter – should never get you confused with another brand in your market space. ​

Be unique. 

Remember, colour psychology plays an important role too.

Choose a colour for your logo that matches your industry or Unique Selling Proposition (USP). 

• Red Power, Passion
• Green - Nature, Affluence
• Blue - Trust, Calmness
• Orange - Warmth, Energy
• Pink - Feminine, High Visibility 
• Yellow - Caution, Optimism
• Purple - Royalty, Mystery
• Black - Authority, Elegance
• Grey - Corporate, Neutral

Remember, if you're venturing into overseas markets, make sure your colours mean the same thing to customers who share different cultural values.

2. Audit your competitors regularly

​Your logo colour/s should be different to your competitors, regardless of what colours you personally like and don't like. 

​A professional designer can audit your competitors to make sure your brand has it's own, distinct place in the market. This is something large brands do regularly. 

​Big brands also aren't afraid to update their image and go in new directions when competitors catch up. 

​Small brands can do the same. 

3. Consistency

​The key to 'owning' a colour for your brand is consistency. Your logo colour needs to look the same everywhere it's seen in the marketplace. 

​For this reason, your designer should supply at least 3 sets of logo files for you to use in different applications: 

• PMS (Pantone Matching System)
  For commercial offset printing in spot colour/s and matching by suppliers for signs and plastics
• CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
  For offset, digital printing and some packaging
• RGB (red, green, blue)
  ​For all sorts of digital use on screen like online, TV and video.

Remember, RGB files can change a lot when you send them to print. And CMYK files can change on screen (or may not display at all).

If a web-based (digital designer) developed your logo, make sure they have a good understanding of print and any industrial colour matching systems that might be used in your industry. 

Colours like orange can be tricky to reproduce in some processes, and not all colours stand up well to UV light in sunny outdoor environments. 

This can affect colour choices for your storefronts, transport fleet (trucks), and outdoor media like billboards.

​Talk to your designer about what advertising mediums and printing processes will be best to keep your brand and logo colour consistent. 

4. Protect your colour

​It's important to invest in marketing your brand so people learn to link a particular colour (or shape, font, character, or brand ambassador) with your name. 

Registering a trade mark can protect your name, logo and colour formally. But, the rules are different in each country. It's best to ask a professional for help with the process.
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If you have an exit strategy that involves selling the business, trade marking is a great idea.

Many people (even designers) don't realise that trade marks can be listed alongside other assets and have a 'tangible' value attached to them by auditors. This is when formal trade marking comes into its own as a potential future investment for a brand. 

If you're a micro brand that only trades locally, or you aren't at real risk of being 'copied', the expensive process of trade marking might not be best for you.

​Consider using that budget for advertising or PR to grow your business instead. 

​If you do pursue trademarking, remember the following points:
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• Registering a trade mark can be tricky – your first pick logo may not be accepted. This means your designer will need to develop multiple versions of a logo to get it over the line and approved. 
• ​Make sure you cover this with your designer (and I.P. lawyer) first.
• Allow plenty of budget for the process. 
• For more information about trade marks in Australia, visit the I.P. Australia website here. 

​Need a colourful logo?

​If you'd like to develop a colourful logo along the lines of the examples above or any other logo on this site, please get in touch via the contact page.

Logologologo.com.au can audit your competitors to narrow down the best colour choices for your logo, and give you the best possible chance of being remembered by customers. 

Examples above

The logos above are recent B-sides in living colour. Why are they only B-sides you might ask? 

It might seem strange, but some clients develop logos that are only meant to help bring investors on board or test an idea in the marketplace. Some go ahead, some don’t…
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​Them’s da breaks for these colourful logos!  ​