Want to Do Your Own Company Branding? Understand the Color Wheel First

Company branding is so much more than your colours and your logo but choosing colours to represent you and your company’s image is usually where more people start in the branding process. There’s no shame in choosing your own brand colours instead of hiring a designer but it’s not exactly simple. Let’s dive into an explanation of the colour wheel and how it can help narrow down your colour choices.

A colour wheel consists of colours with the following distinctions: primary, secondary, tertiary, complementary, and analogous. 

• Primary colours are those which cannot be achieved by mixing other colours together. Red, blue, and yellow are primary colours.
• Secondary colours are those which can be made by mixing two primary colours. Orange, green, and purple are secondary colours.
• Tertiary colours are created by mixing primary and secondary hues together
• Complementary colours are located at direct opposite ends of the colour wheel and
• Analogous colours appear close together on a colour wheel

How does this help you? Find a colour wheel online and take a look. You probably have an idea already of at least one colour to use in your branding efforts, so find that colour/hue on the wheel. Now, look at the four colours next to it. Those are analogous colours that will look appealing when used together. Or find your first colour and look at the colour directly opposite. Those are complementary colours that will also be appealing together.

Once you make a decision on colours, the online colour wheels will show you the HEX and RGB codes for each colour. Write those down in a safe place so you use those colours consistently with your website, social media pages, and products without having to look them up numerous times.

As the famous artist, Marc Chagall once said, “All colours are the friends of their neighbours and the lovers of their opposites,” and this is certainly obvious when looking at the colour wheel itself. Choosing complimentary or analogous colours in a family that represents you and the image you want to portray is the first step toward branding your company.