My Brand: Color Pallet

Hey y'all!

Hope everyone is staying safe and sane during quarantine!

I have binged Tiger King. I have been completely inspired by the madness.
Hope you had a chance to check out my Tiger King Beer Series. If so, let me know what you think!

As promised, in this post I will be discussing my color choices for my brand.

My Brand / part 2 / Color

So last week, I explained my logo creation process for my own brand. That was just the beginning. 

It's funny... color is very intimidating to most of my clients!

I have had so many conversations with people about how hard it is to choose their brand colors. 

And you know, I AGREE. 

Some FAQs when it comes to color:

 - How do I choose colors to go with my brand?

 - How many colors is too many?

 - How many is not enough?

So, I am going to try to answer ALL those and more hopefully. 

In my case, my colors needed to represent ME.

Roan Mountain with the Rhododendrons in bloom

I started looking around my apartment, at my favorite clothing, photos I liked on my instagram, etc. 

I believed that my color pallet already existed in my subconscious and I just had to look for patterns to discover it. 

My colors not only represent me but they also pair with my existing logo. 

I wanted my colors to reflect my femininity as well as my love for nature and travel. 

It was important for me to have a good range of highlights, midtones and darker colors. My colors are overall muted to reflect nature. I specifically was inspired by the region I call home: The Appalachian Mountains. 

Earthy tones remind me of a Tennessee Mountain sunset. The pale orange adds a pop to an otherwise neutral scheme.

My brand has 5 colors. White and black are typically always colors I automatically include in a pallet. In my case, I included white but have replaced black with a dark charcoal gray for a little more dimension.

I wanted a good range because my business is mainly on social media. I wanted my pallet to be reflected in my feed. I use presets in Lightroom that give my photos a similar look to my color pallet.

Above shows the application of my color pallet to my Instagram feed and below is my Facebook profile:

This photo that Taylor Meo Photography took of me a couple years ago is one of my favorites! When I decided on my color pallet, I realized this photo perfectly matched my aesthetic. Earthy tones with a subtle pop. 

So what about your brand?

If you plan on using social media (which you definitely should) I would highly recommend having at least 3 colors: a highlight, midtone, and dark shade/shadow. These could be as simple as white, black, and an accent color. This is perfect for those who want a minimalist aesthetic! 

How many colors is too many? Five is a good number because if gives plenty of options and it is easily applied to design. 

In conclusion, be inspired by your everyday life. When you look at the things that already inspire you, your brand will reflect that. If you are feeling lost, look at brands with similar goals. Use their colors and aesthetic as a guide. You are never locked in either. If you are unsure, you can always start with a 5 color grayscale pallet and starting adding different colors in. 

Here is an example! This simple color scheme can make a BIG impact just by adding one accent color.

Let me know if this was helpful!