Choosing your brand colour palette looks like an aesthetic decision, but it is mostly a question of judgement. If you add eight colours because you like them all, the result looks more like a funfair than a brand. Here is how I approach it.
Fewer colours than you think
A working palette needs three pieces, no more. Everything else is a variation on those three.
- Dominant colour: the one people remember. It defines how your brand feels.
- Dark colour: for text, headings and serious backgrounds. It is rarely pure black; usually a very dark blue, green or brown that sits well with the dominant one.
- Accent colour: the one that points to what matters, such as a button or a link. It only works if it appears sparingly.
Add one or two neutrals (off-white, light grey) and you have a complete system. You do not need more.
The 70/25/5 rule
Good colours are not enough; what matters is how much space each one takes. The proportion I use as a starting point is 70/25/5:
- 70%: backgrounds and surfaces, meaning neutrals and your base colour. This is the breathing room of the brand.
- 25%: the dominant and dark colours, in headings, blocks and identity elements.
- 5%: the accent, reserved for calls to action and details you want noticed.
It is not an exact law, just a guide. But almost every time a website or logo feels cluttered, the proportion is broken: the accent covers 30% and no longer accents anything.
Contrast and accessibility: not up for negotiation
A lovely colour you cannot read is a bad colour. The contrast between text and background decides whether someone can read you without effort. That includes people with low vision or colour blindness, but also anyone looking at a phone in bright sunlight.
What to check
- The WCAG guidelines ask for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
- Always test your accent against the real background where it will appear, especially on buttons.
- Do not convey information through colour alone: an error in red also needs text or an icon.
Free online contrast checkers exist. It takes two minutes and saves you a redesign later.
What each colour communicates, with caution
There is plenty written about colour psychology, and it deserves a sceptical read. Meanings shift with culture, industry and context, and no study guarantees that blue builds trust in your particular case. Treat it as orientation, not a recipe.
- Blues: usually associated with calm, order and seriousness. That is why they are everywhere in banking and tech, and why it is hard to stand out with them.
- Greens: nature, health, balance. Also money, depending on context.
- Reds and oranges: energy and urgency. They work well in small doses.
- Purples: creativity or a certain premium feel, depending on the shade.
- Neutrals and earth tones: restraint, warmth, craft.
My advice is to decide first how you want your brand to be perceived, then look for the colour that supports it. Not the other way round.
Typical mistakes I keep seeing
- Copying the competition. If all your competitors are blue, blue makes you invisible, not professional.
- Choosing by personal taste. Your favourite colour may not be your client’s.
- Too many accents. If everything shouts, nothing does.
- Forgetting real-world uses. Your palette must work on screen, in print, in black and white and at icon size.
- Gradients and neons for no reason. They tend to age quickly.
- Documenting nothing. Without exact codes (HEX, RGB), every piece will come out in a slightly different shade.
A simple method to decide
If you are starting from scratch, these steps are usually enough:
- Write three adjectives describing how you want your brand to be perceived.
- Look at the colours your sector uses and decide where you will resemble it and where you will stand apart.
- Pick the dominant, derive a dark from it, and find an accent that contrasts with both.
- Test them on a logo, a website and an invoice. If it works on all three, it is fine.
- Leave it for a couple of days before committing. First enthusiasm is misleading.
It is a short process, but it changes the final result a great deal. And if you are torn between two options, keep the one that reads better: legibility settles the tie almost every time. A discreet palette that works everywhere is worth more than a spectacular one that only shines in the presentation.
Once the palette exists, you still have to apply it
A good brand colour palette is useless if every channel interprets it in its own way. Consistency comes from applying it the same way across your website, social media, documents and presentations, with the same proportions.
If your brand no longer represents you, or your website feels cluttered, I can review it with you and propose an orderly colour system. Write to me through the contact page and we will see where to start.
