Branding = Signature Color

My first rule on a successful branding? Establish your signature color….then promote the hell out of it. When you think about it, we do it everyday all day long in our personal lives: decorating our homes (inside & outside), weddings have a signature color, when we get dressed in the morning….we’re all very conscious of color and its importance. It’s only natural that we take this understanding of color into the business universe. Color, partnered with a logo, establishes your company identity more so than anything else. All Target has to do is show a bright red bullseye and INSTANTLY you know you’re watching a Target commercial. Or if you see a Tiffany box under the tree…. that blue green color is unmistakable, thrilling females across the globe on christmas morning, with no idea as to what’s inside…we simply associate something sparkly and beautiful with that specific color. That’s brilliant: a signature color has been paired with a logo AND an emotion….that’s the ultimate trifecta of marketing success we all hope to achieve 🙂

A few years ago, I was working at an association that required an immedite re-branding of all materials internal and external. The first thing I did was establish a corporate color palette with one color being the signature color: BLUE.  Pantone 2935C to be exact (tip: know your pantones people…it’s what separates the amateurs from the pros). I then incorporated that signature color in a way that made it really stand out. The example I have below shows one of the mailers I did for a lengthy membership campaign. 

Our signature blue was the visual focus.

I purchased a really great image online. I then made the image black and white so I could visually emphasize the blue shirt, of which I made in photoshop. I created another layer on top of this image for the blue shirt. I then told the printer that the spot color is our blue pantone, and to make sure that my blue shirt was as close to that spot color as possible. I love this mailer: it’s simple, clean, and eye-catching. I also love that the only color on this piece comes from the company signature color. The entire campaign was built in this manner: black, white, grey, and a POP of bright blue…. one of the best color-coordinated branding campaigns I’ve ever done. 

So remember…. don’t under-estimate the power of your signature color. Get it out there! And start visually communicating what your company is all about.

To view a larger version of this piece, or to view other pieces from this campaign, click here!