Run, don’t walk to the crayon box (or colour palette) ????

It's time for this week's Team Member article.

This week, our Senior Creative, Ali-Ann, talks all about her lifelong journey with colour.

Take it away, Ali-Ann!

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Colour has always brought me so much joy. I remember being in my Reception class, delving into the old ice-cream tub full of waxy crayons, and pressing down hard to create glistening masterpieces (or so my Mam thought). Fast-forward to the day job, 30(ish) years later, and I get to work with colours to communicate on a global scale.

It probably comes as no surprise that we use different colours or tones to communicate different brand messages. Whites can be for purity / no fuss, rich blues for decadent but serious brands, and reds for passion and energy. But how do you make sure that your brand is working with colours that speak to your audience?

Make it sing

Think about what colour your brand would be if you could only pick one. Then think about the various sectors within your brand and how you might need a couple of pillar colours to ensure you can always communicate with the correct tone. From there, you can look at accent and base colours that add power to your message.?

Your main colour is your lead singer, but then you need a few backing singers for harmony, a base colour is like your drummer keeping it all in check. When it comes to short run campaigns or new products, you can throw in some top tier fans who storm the stage! (Sorry for the analogies, I’m writing this through festival season).?

It’s not only about print or static assets

Art direction is going to play a major part when it comes to using your colours through all your brand and campaign assets, not just print. It could be as subtle as a photo of someone wearing your brand colour on a jacket lining, or as lavish as having a car wrapped in your brand colours; how obvious or subtle you go largely depends on your brand's tone of voice.?

But speaking of print

It’s not easy to get your head around, and as designers we will always do our best to ensure that clients understand the differences between on screen, printed, and large format graphics. It’s so important that even if you have a well-established brand palette that was created when TikTok was the sound made waiting for ink to dry, that you look separately at your digital assets and adjust or create new palettes where needed.?

On the flip side, if you have a digital first brand and you’re looking to create some mega event graphics, mailers, packaging - anything printed, then it’s always important to speak with your design team to ensure that you are going to get the output you’re hoping for.?

We can always supply test prints, swatches, and samples to ensure that the time spent developing the creative is not wasted with unsuitable production methods. I’ve spent many an hour in the studio and with suppliers working across multiple substrates and gradients, with miles of print to be produced, in order to understand the importance of those steps early on in the design stage - so any questions when it comes to that please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Finally...

A super obvious point but one which is so important (Always! This is not exclusive to colour). Don’t fall victim to trends. While they can be great for short lived campaigns, remember you are building your brand to outlive your working days (I imagine), so don’t choose a colour just because it’s the same as your living room wall. Pinterest (etc) can be a place many people look at for similar palettes, but these should be used with caution and as a starting point only.

If you want to learn more about colour and how it can reinforce your brand identity, then I am happy to talk about this all day long. And, for those of you who are into colour psychology... if you haven’t already, do some research on the Baker-Miller Pink and Norwich City, then you'll really understand why testing before you go to market is so important!

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Thanks Ali-Ann!

And if you're wondering how you can effectively use colour for your brand or business, head over to?helloagent.co.uk?and let's talk!