Branding

# A field guide to choosing brand colours

1 Dec 2025 5 min read

Colour is rarely just about what looks nice. A good palette is distinctive, flexible, and works everywhere your brand shows up.

It's tempting to start a brand with a favourite colour. But a palette has a job to do: it has to set a mood, stay legible, and survive being used across a website, a business card, a social post, and everything in between. That takes a little more structure than picking a shade you like.

## Start with one colour that means something

Most strong brands lean on a single, ownable colour. Choose it for what it communicates, not just how it looks. Warm and approachable? Calm and considered? Bold and confident? The right hue carries the feeling before a single word is read.

## Build a working palette around it

One colour isn't enough to build with. You'll want a neutral or two, a deep tone for text, and an accent for moments that need to stand out. Keep it tight, a small palette used well beats a big one used inconsistently.

- A primary brand colour with personality.
- Neutrals that do the quiet, everyday work.
- An accent reserved for the things that matter most.

## Test it in the real world

Before committing, check your palette where it'll actually live: on buttons, on text, on photography, at small sizes, and against accessibility contrast ratios. A colour that sings in isolation sometimes struggles in context, better to find out early.

## Related reading

Accessibility

### Designing for accessibility without sacrificing aesthetics

Design

### The case for slower, more intentional web design

Strategy

### Why your homepage shouldn't try to do everything

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