Your Brand Colors Might Be Lying to You (Here’s How to Tell)
Your brand colors have opinions.
(Stay with me.)
Every color you put on your website, your Instagram grid, your logo, your business card... it’s saying something to the person looking at it. Not “blue is calming.” Deeper than that. It’s telling them what kind of business you are. How much to trust you. Whether they fit here.
And if your colors are saying the wrong things? You’ve got a problem. A pretty, pretty problem. But a problem.
How to tell your brand colors are actually working
A good brand color palette does three things:
It matches the vibe of your business
It attracts your dream client (not everyone)
It feels like you, not like this year’s Pinterest trend
If your palette isn’t doing all three? Let’s talk.
The most common brand color mistakes I see
These are the patterns I see over and over when someone comes to me for a refresh.
1. You picked colors you like personally, not colors that serve the business
“I love sage green” is a beautiful reason to decorate your kitchen. It’s not always the right reason to anchor a brand.
Your personal taste matters. It should influence the direction. But the palette’s real job is to attract your dream client. Sometimes those overlap, sometimes they don’t. (Mine do, which is why everything I touch ends up dusty mauve. But that’s also strategic.)
2. You picked trendy colors and now they feel dated
That specific shade of millennial pink from 2017? That sage and terracotta combo that was everywhere in 2021? Trends age fast.
A great palette has a point of view without being tied to a specific moment. Timeless beats trendy almost every time.
3. You have too many colors
A brand palette isn’t a rainbow. You need:
One anchor color (the main one)
One or two supporting colors
A neutral for text and backgrounds
Maybe an accent for special moments
That’s it. If your palette has seven colors doing equal work, none of them are actually working.
4. Your palette feels cold when your business is warm (or vice versa)
Nothing is worse than a warm, personable business wrapped in icy blues and stark white. Or a strategic, high-end service wrapped in baby pastels.
The feel of your colors has to match the feel of your actual work. Clients will pick up on the mismatch even if they can’t name it.
5. Your colors don’t play nicely across platforms
A palette that looks great on your website but falls apart on Instagram? That’s a palette doing its job in one spot and failing everywhere else. Real brand colors need to work on your site, your social, your emails, your flyers, and your proposals. All of it.
The test
Here’s the one-question test for your brand colors.
If you showed your palette to your dream client, with nothing else, would they get a feeling? A specific one? Would they feel “this is for me”?
If the answer is yes, your colors are earning their keep.
If the answer is “I don’t know,” we’ve got a conversation to have.
Your brand colors are a key part of my Brand Identity Package. I’ll dig into your business, your dream client, and your vibe, and build you a palette that’s intentional, strategic, and actually works. Ready to stop guessing? Let’s chat.
