Color me ____: The Psychology Behind Logos [Plus Infographic]

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a logo is worth at least a thousand more. Mindfully crafted and skillfully rendered, company logos are all designed with one question in mind: how will this make people feel?

Designed with the end buyer in mind, logos heavily play on customers’ psyche, subconsciously influencing us to buy, enroll, register, or positively respond to any other call to action. The best logos go beyond the eyes, communicating directly with our subconscious through hidden symbols and emotionally charged colors.

A great example of this is the FedEx® logo, strategically designed to hide a white arrow in the blank space between the last two letters. Although we may not notice the arrow at first glance, it communicates an idea of speed and precision to our subconscious, helping build brand trust and preference. Stemming from numerous studies linking colors to positive changes in emotions, thoughts and even buying habits, color psychology has spread to almost all ends of the market.

Such colorful tricks are commonplace within the bio space. Check out how many of your favorite brands use the psychology of color to influence your opinions and buying habits:

Yellow is one of the least used colors in the bio space and is used to show optimism.
Orange is a friendly color commonly used to make customers feel welcome and collaborative.
Red is one of the most heavily used colors within the bio space, used to communicate excitement and passion.
Green relays a sense of peace and tranquility, and also portrays nature.
Blue is arguably the most popular color in the bio space, especially the medical sector, as it is proven to relay a sense of trust.
Purple is commonly used to evoke the sense of creativity, and is heavily used by creative agencies, pioneering companies and innovators as a whole.
Gray communicates a more corporate and balanced message to consumers.

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What’s your company’s official hue? Does it properly represent what you stand for; what you want your customers to feel? If the answer is no, it’s never too late to hit the drawing board and design a new logo that better represents your organization.

If you need a starting-off point, we recommend beginning with the process outlined below:

1. The first thing you need to do is create your brand identity. You can easily do this by asking:

What separates us from competitors?
What benefits do we offer to our customers?
How do we want our customers to perceive us as a company?

2. Based on your new brand identity, you can match the color that best represents your brand strategy.

After you have your color picked out, it’s time to develop your logo. If creativity is in your DNA, then designing one yourself should be easy. However, if you require some assistance, creative agencies and freelancers offer a simplified solution.