Color Design and Psychology for Branding

Brands and color are inextricably linked because color offers an instantaneous method for conveying meaning and message without words.

Branding is a word commonly referred to by advertisers and marketing people, but what does it actually mean? Marketing experts define "brand" as the "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify a company's products or services." In other words, a brand communicates the "idea" of company or product. This is what forms the connection with consumers.

For example, in the illustration of the 3 brand images above:

The JAL (Japan AirLines) image has several components: The bird symbolizes flight and the color red communicates power. Red also symbolizes good luck in Asia. The circle and the color red reference the flag of Japan. Therefore, the brand image communicates powerful air transportation from a Japanese company — and good luck with the journey.

The AT&T image is an award-winning design. The globe symbolizes a world circled by electronic communications. More specifically, the symbol is made up of very carefully delineated 'highlight' and 'shadow' elements. As a result, the symbol may be reproduced to give the impression of a three-dimensional sphere that is lighted from a distance source. (Source) Test yourself on what blue symbolizes.

The UPS (United Parcel Service) image is an excellent example of how a single color communicates meaning. Brown symbolizes dependability and solidity. (It is not a snobby color; it is not high technology; brown is grounded in the earth.)

The Power of Images

A single image delivers a lot of information in a very short time because we perceive an image all at once, whereas reading or hearing often takes significantly longer to process the same information.

A recent study found that images of brands trigger religious reactions. (Source) Dr. Gemma Calvert discovered that when people viewed images associated with the strong brands— the iPod, the Harley-Davidson, the Ferrari, and others— their brains registered the exact same patterns of activity as they did when they viewed the religious images.

The Power of Shapes and Colors

Brands communicate meanings with the language of color and shape. As the overused cliché says, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

There are natural — or universal — associations evoked by shapes and colors that are common to all of us: For example, a horizontal line is stable and a diagonal line is dynamic. Red is hot and full of fire, blue is cool and watery — or intangible like the sky.

About Shapes

Colors and shapes work in harmony with each other to communicate. Therefore, an understanding of shapes is essential to understanding the power of color in branding.

Even the most basic geometrical shapes can be soft or hard, stable or threatening. The image below illustrates basic geometric shapes and contemporary symbols that evolved from basic shapes.

The Power of Color

Our minds are programmed to respond to color. For example, we stop our cars for red lights and go on green.

Consider the effects of color in the image of contemporary symbols below.

The Power of Color for Brands

Brands and color are inextricably linked because color offers an instantaneous method for conveying meaning and message without words.

Color is the visual component people remember most about a brand followed closely by shapes/symbols then numbers and finally words. For example, the real McDonald's is easy to detect in the image below.

People see color before they absorb anything else.

Many of the most recognizable brands in the world rely on color as a key factor in their instant recognition. (See for yourself and take the "Recognizable Brands Test" at the end of this article.)

 Trustworthy formulas for energizing your brand’s personality
Color Psychology for Logos and Branding

Why Color Matters Facts

Research has reinforced that 60% of the time people will decide if they are attracted or not to a message - based on color alone!

Color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. (Source: University of Loyola, Maryland study)

Read more color facts about "Why Color Matters"

Examples of Color Branding

1. Natural and Universal Color Symbolism for Brands

FedEx's two different color schemes are the best examples of the "universal" symbolism of colors. Green communicates ground services; orange communicates the high energy and speed of air transportation.

Another example can be found in a common household product—laundry detergent.

The next time you're in a grocery store, look at the colors of laundry detergents. An overwhelming majority are blue and orange. Blue symbolizes cleanliness and orange is dynamic energy. Therefore, a blue and orange package would clearly communicate "industrial strength cleaning power."

Cigarette packaging is another example of color branding. Notice how every menthol brand uses some shade of green to distinguish menthol from the natural flavor of tobacco. Now that new tobacco laws in the U.S. ban the use of the word light to imply that some cigarettes are safer than others, cigarette companies are using gold, silver and lighter colors to circumvent the law.

Australia will be the first country in the world to require tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging. The new legislation will be implemented throughout the country in December 2012. Legislation in other countries may require dull olive brown packaging or graphic images of health risks on the packaging.

2. Creative and Imaginative Color Symbolism

Some brands break with color traditions. T-Mobile's magenta (hot pink) is an unexpected color in the crowded cellular communications marketplace. Risky but it does succeed in creating a unique identity of the brands.

3. Good and Bad Color Branding

The colors of football team uniforms are also branding images. But sometimes the colors are horribly wrong. For example, the colors of Wyoming's football uniforms were cited as one of the worst in college football. (Source) Why do you think that brown is such a tough color to accept as a sports uniform? It works for UPS. Here's a hint: Brown isn't the most powerful color of the spectrum. It's as dependable as Mother Earth, but it lacks energy.

In conclusion, if you're questioning the power of color in branding, look at this example:

Links: Recognizable Brands Test

Find the best colors for your business in "Colors that Sell" - an e-book from Color Matters.

This article was written by Jill Morton, color psychologist and branding expert at Colorcom
©Jill Morton, 2012, All rights reserved / Protected by Copyscape

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Color Branding & Trademark Rights

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Color Matters Blog - Color Infringement: Microsoft vs. Google - 2009

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Who owns hues?

Marketing research indicates that over 80% of visual information is related to color. In other words, color conveys information and/or provides the user with some other operational benefit.

The use of distinctive colors to identify products can be seen everywhere, from pharmaceutical items to industrial equipment. Some products are packaged in a variety of distinct colors. For example Kodak’s film comes in a yellow and black box and Fuji’s, green. Other products tend to be packaged in variations of the same two or three colors in different designs. For example, laundry detergents are typically solid in blue, orange and/or yellow packaging. The actual design of the container or label may be quite different, even though the colors are the same. On the other hand, a more confusing situation may confront a consumer. Right next to your favorite brand of cough syrup, sits another brand in similar colors. Even the labels are oddly similar, so much that you might even confuse the two and pick up the wrong one by mistake.

Until recently, the importance of color as a brand identity wasn’t a big legal issue and the courts were lenient. It was an open question whether trademark law protected distinctive colors that had become strongly associated with a particular product or manufacturer. Today a color war is exploding and the use of color is generating unprecedented lawsuits.

Consider the fact that colors are in limited supply. Would allowing companies to appropriate a single color or a color combination lead to the "depletion" of all of the attractive colors in each product line?

Here are four examples of true “color” trademark infringement lawsuits. The first list contains a simple description of the four lawsuits. Decide how you would rule if you were the judge. The second list contains how the courts ruled. See if you agree!

1. Blue frozen dessert packaging (USA)

Ambrit, a frozen food company, had sold their frozen desserts in a royal blue packaging. Kraft Foods followed suit and used the same color on their packaging for frozen desserts. Ambrit sued to prevent Kraft from using blue. Does Ambrit - who first used this color - own the rights to blue on frozen desserts?

2. Red buckets (USA)

 Dap, a building supply company, sold their ceramic tile mastic in a red three-gallon bucket for many years. When Color Tile Mfg. Inc. packaged their mastic in a red bucket, Dap sued. Does Dap have exclusive rights to use red on their adhesive containers?

3. Multi-colored candy wrappers (USA)

Life Savers, a well-known candy company, has used a multi-colored striped background on the wrapper for its multi-flavored hard candies. Later, Curtiss Candy Co. introduced their brand of hard candies in a multi-colored striped background wrapper. Life Savers sued. Do they have the right to get a permanent injunction against Curtiss to stop their use of a multi-colored striped label? Note: In this case, the issue is several colors and a striped design.

4. Red books (Austria)

An author of a series of books about legal matters used a deep red hue for the cover of his publications. The publisher of another series of law books claimed that they had been using a similar red color and that this color distinguished their books from others. They sued for trademark protection of this color. Who won?

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The Rulings of the Courts

1. Blue Frozen Desserts (Ambrit v. Kraft)

The U.S. courts denied Ambrit's request for protection of blue, on the basis that royal blue when used to package frozen desserts was functional and could not be monopolized in a trademark. The ruling stated "Royal blue is a 'cool color;' it is suggestive of coldness and used by a multitude of ice cream and frozen dessert producers." Although the ruling acknowledged the issue of protecting the consumer from confusion, preventing a monopoly of a functional color was a greater issue.

A similar lawsuit occurred when Campbell Soup tried to obtain an injunction against another food company, Armour, stating that the company's use of red and white labels on foods were an instance of trademark infringement. However, the U.S. court denied Campbell the right to the exclusive use of labels which are half red and half white for food products, ruling "If they may thus monopolize red in all of its shades, the next manufacturer may monopolize orange in all of its shades and the next yellow in the same way." Obviously the list of colors will soon run out. Note: The court also found that the Campbell red was not the same as Armour's Carnation red and that Armour most often uses the red-white color scheme in a different pattern than Campbell's.

2. Red Buckets

A federal district court ruled in favor of Dap and granted protection to their red packaging. They found that "secondary meaning" was attached to DAP's red plastic bucket for its tile mastic the color red was not a functional feature of the tile product. Red had nothing to do with the color of the adhesive, the ceramic tile industry, or the product’s performance. In other words, there was no logical reason for red, such as a red fire extinguisher's functionality related to red fires. Dap used the color solely as a unique color for brand identity.

Therefore, there was no logical reason for a competitor's copying DAP's packaging "save an attempt to realize upon secondary meaning that is in existence." (In other words, using the same red color was seen as exploiting the identity of Dap’s products and creating confusion for the consumer. )

The precedent-setting example of "secondary meaning" of a color was the basis for the Federal Court's ruling that Owens-Corning was entitled to trademark protection for its pink insulation. The ruling stated "A pink color mark registers for fibrous glass insulation does not confer a 'monopoly' or act as a barrier to entry in the market. It serves the classical trademark function of indicating the origin of the goods, and thereby protects the public."

3. Multi-colored candy packaging (Life Savers v. Curtiss Candy Co.)

The court denied Life Saver protection of their striped colors, citing that no trademark infringement or unfair competition had been established. They found that it was a "general practice of the trade" for hard candy manufacturers to sell their candy in packages with multi-colored backgrounds for their assorted flavored discs, and labels with single colored background for their packages containing one flavor of candy discs." They concluded that the multi-colored background was in fact descriptive and served as a ready identification of the flavor of the candy in the package. Once again, an example of functional color.
 

4. The red law books (Manz'sche Verlags v. Linde Verlag)

In 1997 theleft Supreme Court of Austria ruled that the use of a color on products of a color previously established to identify the goods of another party violated Section 9 of the Unfair Competition Act. The decision prohibited the defendant from publishing law books in the same shade of red as the plaintiff's legal treatises. It is interesting to note that the defendant proved that a number of publishers in other countries, for example, in Germany, publish their law books in the same shade of red. The Supreme Court nevertheless held that the plaintiff was entitled to protection in Austria.