Let’s face it. Everyone has a favorite color. But when branding your emerging fashion label, and choosing your brand’s colors, it’s not enough to simply have a personal favorite. It’s better to have a strategy. As in, what color palette best exemplifies the feeling and psychology of your brand? A well-written brand strategy can help you execute the appropriate color palette for your brand. And the appropriate color palette can help you connect to your target customer on an emotional level.
Consider some following commonly-held assumptions about color:
• Black: depending on the other brand elements it’s paired with, it can be swing from upscale and chic, to modern, and even edgy or goth
• Red: vixenish, vampy, but can also be classic all-American; believed to be good luck in China
• Pink: youthful, girlish
• Blue: light to medium shades can come across as casual and relaxing, while darker shades speak of a conservative approach
• Green: clichéd as the color of the Eco movement
The above examples are but a small fraction of the ideas surrounding the meaning of color. Color trends also come and go at a whim, the challenge is to choose something that has staying power and gives you room to grow. Also, if you think your company may have an international audience, you should also research what different colors mean in different cultures when planning your branding. Wouldn’t you be totally, utterly horrified if your brand’s color meant “bad luck” to an international audience. Eek! (Personal story: I once unknowingly pitched an “unlucky” color palette to an Asian client. I should have done my research before-hand. He accused me of wishing death on his business. I was completely naive, and really mortified!)
How would you use color in a way that’s meaningful and relevant to selling your product?
