It’s been almost a year since I started my freelance graphic design and marketing business, but this post isn’t about how fast time flies! This post is all about how I developed my brand, starting with my color palette!
This process started when I realize that I needed a complete professional overhaul. My college online portfolio (complete with mismatched business cards) wasn’t going to cut it when I entered the professional world. So enter the necessity for a personal rebrand!
- I started by thinking about the feeling, aesthetic, and vibe I wanted for my website and my brand. First, I created a Pinterest board of images, brands, graphics, and photographs that inspired me. I came up with many common threads, some of those including black and white, high contrast photography and bright, graphic pops of red. After sorting through these, I decided that I wanted a masculine, edgy, bold, and graphic brand!
- Then I thought about how to add a pop of something unexpected. I knew that I didn’t want the typical, feminine brand with lots of white, gold, and soft accents of pastel colors – in fact, I wanted something that went in the complete opposite direction! I’ve always been drawn to high fashion color contrast, but I couldn’t see myself going for a Christmas inspired red and green and wasn’t particularly overjoyed about the thought of adding yellow. I finally decided that I wanted some sort of red and blue combination, but I definitely didn’t want it to feel super patriotic.
- Finally, I tried experimenting with lots of different shades and combinations. I found myself looking through deep, rich blues and blood reds, before finally deciding on a dusty-blue and a slightly orange-toned red. I added in a dark gray and a deep, barely-there navy as two of my accent colors to disperse through my website for font choices and extra versatility.
What I Learned When Choosing My Color Palette
- Choose a brand that feels different to the crowds. Whether that means doing some research on your competitors and choosing a color palette that’s unique for your industry or researching common colors used in your industry in other countries, spend the extra time to create a palette that is different and will stand out against others.
- Choose attainable colors. Choosing a lot of neutral colors for my palette meant that I can change a lot of pictures to black and white if they don’t fit with the scheme that I’m looking for. If you plan on posting a lot of pictures of your home on your interior design blog, you wouldn’t choose colors that are completely different to your home’s colors. Choose colors that will meld easily with your industry and what you do, as well as the space you find yourself in most often.
- Choose a palette that you love. Even if you don’t have lots of pink in your space, even if lots of your industry uses pink, use pink if you love it. At the end of the day, a brand should represent who you are and what you stand for.
Have you developed your own color palette? What was your biggest takeaway?
Till next time,
Sarah
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