How Many Brand Colours Should You Have?

When it comes to branding, the colours ~ and how many of those ~ we use can significantly impact how our business looks and the message it presents to clients and customers.

Colour has the power to evoke emotions, communicate your brands values and serve as important visual cues. One of the most important decisions when it comes to your brand colours, however, is how many to use.

Use too many colours and your website may start to resemble your Year 8 Word Art poster (overwhelming and a little too busy), but use too few and your brand and website may look a little… well, meh.

While there's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question (as it mostly depends on you and your business), here's what I always recommend to my clients as a quick guide to help you.

PRIMARY COLOUR // This is what it sounds like; it's your main colour that defines your brand and will be instantly recognisable by your audience. Think about how Selfridges use their yellow or Tiffany use their blue; each of these are the respective brands' primary colours and they use them in their logos, packaging and as accents on their websites.

SECONDARY COLOUR // This colour - or colours (I'd recommend only 1-2) complements your primary colour and adds contrast or depth to your primary colour. It could be a contrasting, complementary colour or, it could be a shade of your primary colour (darker or lighter, for example). Keep reading for a great resource to help you with this!

BASE COLOURS // These are your neutral shades of blacks, whites, beiges etc. They balance out your primary and secondary colours, with the lighter colours being used as your website backgrounds and the darker ones for your text.

Ultimately, your aim is to create a cohesive, consistent brand palette that both aligns with you and your business and remains accessible for everyone. I've included a link to a great tool to check your brand colour accessibility below..!