Practical Insights on Selecting Colors and Fonts for Brand Logos: Guidance on Common Errors to Avoid
For a small homemade soap business, creating a logo wasn't just about soap and suds—it was about conveying a clean, calming, and natural brand image. One individual embarked on this journey, finding the process of choosing colours and fonts to be a challenge they hadn't anticipated.
However, they soon realised that this wasn't just about aesthetics, but about communicating a message effectively. Defining the emotions they wanted their brand to evoke and the kind of customer they were trying to attract was crucial in this process.
The Power of Colour Psychology
Understanding colour psychology was the first step. Different colours evoke distinct emotions and associations. For instance, blue conveys trust and calm, red signals energy and passion, and green represents growth and balance. Choosing colours that align with the brand's values was essential—finance brands favour blue for professionalism, while creative brands might use orange or yellow for fun and optimism.
Considering cultural context was also important, as colour meanings vary by culture. The individual ensured their chosen colours resonated with their target audience without unintended interpretations. Using the colour wheel for harmony, they selected colours that contrasted well for readability and evoked the intended mood—warm colours urge action, cool colours promote relaxation.
To maintain brand recognition and visual cohesion, the individual limited their palette to 2–3 main colours. Testing emotional impact was crucial to ensure colours elicited the desired feelings in their customers, helping to build strong emotional connections.
The Role of Fonts
Font choices were equally significant in communicating the brand's personality. Serif fonts often convey tradition and reliability, sans-serif fonts suggest modernity and simplicity, and script fonts evoke elegance or creativity. Prioritising readability was essential, as clear, legible fonts improve message delivery, especially across digital and print media.
Consistency was key, with the individual using a consistent font or limited font families across all brand materials to maintain a cohesive identity. They also considered font pairing thoughtfully, combining fonts to enhance hierarchy and aesthetic appeal. Reflecting the message tone, formal brands benefit from classic fonts, while casual or playful brands can use more whimsical or unconventional fonts.
A Fresh Perspective and a Few Adjustments
To gain a fresh perspective and generate ideas that the individual wouldn't have come up with on their own, they used an AI logo maker. They also used a design tool called Turbologo to help with colour suggestions and keeping combinations balanced.
Small adjustments, such as thicker font weights and slight colour shifts, were made to address issues and better reflect the brand's desired emotions. Warm earth tones started making more sense than bold neon colours, and limiting the colour palette to 1-2 main colours prevented the logo from looking chaotic.
Testing for Readability and Emotional Impact
Testing combinations of colours and fonts in real context helped the individual identify issues like text disappearing on small sizes, colour blending into the background, and font weight feeling too light for product packaging. Fonts carry emotions, and choosing a font that fits the message was more important than following trends.
In the end, the process of choosing colours and fonts helped the individual understand their brand better and communicate it effectively to others. Great branding doesn't have to be complicated or expensive; with patience and thoughtful decisions, beginners can create something that feels truly "them."
The AI logo maker aided the individual in gaining a fresh perspective, resulting in ideas not initially conceived.
The combination of warm earth tones and limited color palette in the logo elicited a calming and natural feeling, effectively aligning with the brand's lifestyle, fashion-and-beauty, and home-and-garden focus.
