Our own favourite colour and what's behind it.
We all know that the colours we see around us affect our environment and ourselves. They affect our mood, our sense of space, our sense of warmth and, in addition to these, they also carry and convey a number of additional messages. There have been many books, excellent writings, reports and studies on the impact of colour and the additional, hidden messages it can have on those who receive it. You can also read many articles on why a particular brand has chosen and uses the same colours in its corporate identity that you see all the time. In this article, we will therefore explore the reasons behind our own intuitive colour choices and the factors that influence them, with a few examples of designs we have created over the years.
Basic requirements for corporate identity colours
As a graphic designer, I work with shapes and colours every day. After starting my own business, I chose to design my own identity, like most of my graphic designer colleagues, and although I had already done a lot of identity design, I realised that it was not necessarily easy to choose a specific identity colour (for myself) that I could identify with, in addition to the important aspects summarised above. One that I can use regularly in the years to come without getting tired of it quickly. So I want my main identity colour to be one that is timeless, and preferably also describes and underpins my services, and is specific to me, and which also stands up well from a graphic point of view. In other words, it should be visible, contrasting, easy to produce and facilitate the integration of the branding elements and any finished base colours into the branding, not least to create a link with other accompanying colours when the branding is developed or extended online.
So, although I was aware of the multiple criteria listed above, I went into a kind of instinctive choice, which seemed to me to be a novel approach to my previous conscious choices, and I thought it was worthwhile to go around this selection process.
Own colour setting
Everyone has what is known as their own colouring, which is absolutely determined by their individual point of view. Of course, this can be influenced by many factors that we have experienced in our lives. Many of these are the result of semi-conscious choices. For example, the colours of our favourite fashions that we always like to return to (as fashion repeats itself), the current fashion colours of our various accessories from home furnishings (see IKEA catalogue), or the familiar tones of our colour tones that reflect our moods.
The less is more principle
Some people swear by black and dark colours in their clothing and try to reflect this mood in their surroundings. The opposite is a cheerful diversity, which often leads to a cavalcade of colours. If this is mixed with a multitude of shapes that are not chosen in the right rhythm, it can lead not only to eclectic chaos but also to undesirable chaos.
I always try to limit the amount of colours I use in my designs. This was the case, for example, with the website of the Budai Rajziskola, where a very colourful palette of seven different (!) colours was already available, from which it would have been difficult to choose a dominant main colour, so on my advice the website is randomly displayed to visitors in different colours every day, thus also referring to the diversity of the art school. Don't you think? Check it tomorrow! :)
But what if I have a complex service package or a complex system?
A good example of colour coding different categories is my award-winning concept design for a café brand logo, packaging and identity plan for Quality Café. Recycling was an important consideration in the choice of colour scheme, as the concept featured boxes and pouches partly made of kraft paper for the packaging materials, with a greaseproof paper coating on the inside, so the finishes evoked the colour scheme of colonial products in burlap. I used basic pastel colours for these, both the basic beige of the bag and box closure labels, the colour codes of the origin of the product varieties and the intensity of the roasting of the coffee beans.
If it is necessary to use colour coding to distinguish between different areas, I take care to choose shades that are distinct from each other, preferably with different grey values. For example, in a subsequent commission for the 2015 redesign of the Slide Sport Club's identity, I introduced the following different and cheerful colours to easily identify the wide range of services...
...which we then used consistently in online and print communications across the entire brand identity, as a background colour for advertising, as a base colour for workwear and to differentiate service categories on the website.
Match the colours to the theme
Our gender identity can also be a determining factor, as we are told from an early age what colour clothes to wear. Later in life, we are also strongly influenced by the intense, attention-grabbing, bright primary colours (red, blue, yellow, green) that are used to create children's toys and that also help to stimulate and motivate children.
I assume that those who prefer these colours primarily have managed to retain some of their childishness as adults. So, in a theme that is mainly concerned with children, the use of these primary colours is therefore evidence. Just to mention a few examples, such as the new mascot logo and the new corporate identity of the Mátyásföldi Katica Óvoda which I designed...
...or the recently renewed mascot logo and image of the Bajai Sítanoda which is also primarily focused on children's education. In addition, the theme of education and the potential support for the purchase of merchandise products will also play an important role in the brand identity, which will further increase brand awareness.
But if the aim is to attract attention, it is also possible to consciously use these colours in corporate communication and in the most important surface for selling products, in packaging design, because if it is important to stand out from the crowd and to be more eye-catching than the competition, then this is most true for the shelf image in a shop.
This is how Bonus Kft., a company that manufactures and distributes cleaning tools, chose the bright and eye-catching red background colour as the primary new corporate identity colour for the redesign of its product packaging. Since then, we have redesigned the packaging and the entire corporate identity for more than 100 of the company's products, and the new look has brought huge success for the brand and the company. So it just goes to show how important a good colour choice is in any graphic design.
Subconscious factors influencing colour choice
How much the environment we come from can subconsciously influence our choice of colour in relation to our taste is no better proof of this than my own case. As a child I was surrounded by a lot of paintings and Intarsia pictures, as my father was also a painter in these fields. I have, for example, developed a strong attachment to almost every shade of wood to this day, and so brown and its shades are one of my favourite colours.
I have been creating inlays with this palette for years as an inlay artist under the name Wood Arts Intarsia. Yet, when I was looking for my own corporate colours, these were not the ones I chose.
So I grew up surrounded by a lot of brown-toned marquetry and coloured oil paintings, but if I think about it, during my years in the family nest - which is a significant part of my life so far and also my teenage years - almost the entire apartment was covered with a medium green carpet, which dominated almost 40% of the total surface. I love the colour green, and I suppose the above may have something to do with it, in addition to my love of nature.
But I didn't know where the light blue came from. But it was there and it was my choice. I thought it was a surprise myself, in this pale "baby blue" shade, but something told me it would be the one. I accepted it and as I hadn't received any negative feedback from people who knew me well, I went with it and gathered the arguments for it.
Blue is the coldest colour and the purest colour in absolute value. A masculine colour, it carries messages of creation, sky, water, harmony and peace. It connotes reliability, commitment, intelligence, but it can also be associated with coolness, conservatism, confidence, loyalty, idealism, strength, determination, justice, power, lightness, friendliness. The colour blue is also associated with the throat chakra, so it is also associated with self-expression, honesty and verbal communication.
So, overall, the colour chosen initially as a more visceral feeling and less consciously, is a pretty good way of underpinning and describing the complex services we provide and the values we represent in our business. :)
Since then, I have used this colour in many places on my own materials, it has been used as a background for my own exhibition material, and my corporate identity has also received positive feedback, so I can say that it has worked. But just out of curiosity, I did dig a little deeper into the past and took a closer look at my attachment to the colour blue.
I remembered that a few years ago, when I was obsessively searching online for an Italian vintage bike, the first bike that really caught my eye was a sea blue Vicini road bike. I can't quite put my finger on what it was that made me feel immediately that this was going to be my bike, but I knew I had to have it. It was nearly 35 years old at the time, some of the paint on the frame was a bit chipped, the saddle was in terrible condition, the handlebar bandage was the only thing on it that was brand new and snow white. It almost glowed. It was sold in the countryside, so I couldn't even see it in person, so I bought it sight unseen, without trying it on, based on 5 photos, paid in advance. Others said I didn't think I was serious about buying one in 2009 (the retro craze wasn't that big then), but I felt a connection to this bike. In the end it was my faithful companion for many years and never let me down (unlike its predecessors). The picture shows the restored end result.
I recently found a photo of my childhood, which was black and white, but it reminded me of the little sea-blue bicycle I got when I was 7, which had already been taken off by the neighbour's boy. It was a big step for me, as it was the first thing I really learned to ride a bike on after the tricycle. With its white insulated handlebars, it was perfection for me. Later, when I outgrew it, I still liked to use it.
So it was this experience that was so influential in my decision to buy it later. :) However, the answer about the light blue colour came from an even more surprising place.
In every family there are treasured memories that our loved ones are keen to pass on to posterity. In my house, this was the little blanket I was given at birth. This piece was later, on my mother's advice, "served" my sister's two sons for a very short time and was passed on to us as a heirloom by my sister when my daughter was born, so it has become a tradition. I remembered it, but I had no idea that it could have been so influential and defining for me. Can you guess what colour the ducklings in the field sample were?
My advice is that when it comes to choosing your own corporate identity colour, you should take a look at your past before you decide, and then contact us! :)
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