How Many Colours Should A Logo Be?

How Many Colours Should A Logo Be?

When it comes to logo design, we all realise that the audience should be able to understand the brand message in a matter of seconds. However, making a logo with a wide colour palette or depending too heavily on colour are also typical blunders.
Colour may be the last attribute to be addressed when designing a logo, due to the reality that a logo would appear fine in both black and white and colour. Getting the right hint, though, is always relevant. And, as a common rule, a logo does not contain more than three colours. Excessive usage of colour may be perplexing. And a logo style can’t leave a strong impression of a lot of different colours and hues.

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Whatever good or service you have, the message must be communicated with a simplistic interface and an even simpler colour palette. Harmony is achieved by mixing contrasting colours. As a result, the template is quickly processed by the brain. Making the incorrect colour option or combining multiple opposite colours may be expensive. In this segment, we’ll look at how to choose the best hints and why your logo design shouldn’t have more than three colours.

The Colour Palette

Colour is important for achieving clarity. So, in order to create continuity, you must resist colour discordant compositions, or combining the incorrect colours together. How do we stop this?
A good way to start is with the colour wheel. To build a well-balanced palette, any designer consults the colour wheel. It is important to understand the connection that colours have with one another and what kind of combination fits better for your brand.

How Many Colours Should A Logo Be
How Many Colours Should A Logo Be

The colour wheel is classified into three main hues: red, yellow, and blue. We get the secondary colours brown, Gray, and violet by adding two main colours. And combining two main colours yields tertiary colours such as red-orange, yellow orange, yellow grey, blue-green, blue-violet, and red violet.
Artists have utilised this method of colour blending for decades. It’s also known as a subtractive process, which involves combining colours like a typical artist.

However, there is another way of combining colours known as the additive method, which applies to mixing coloured light from a particular range of primary colours: red, green, and blue. RGB is a colour model that is often used in computer programming.
Colour is treated differently by computers; for example, a web browser may only produce 256 distinct combinations. Pixels lack the number of bits needed to generate all possible colour combinations. Furthermore, 40 of the 256 hints vary significantly between Mac and PC. But, now that you realise this, you should start thinking about how to use colours efficiently.

Since these colour variations might vary on various channels, you might want to know where you’re most likely to use the logo. If you wish to create consistency, examine how the emblem appears on a computer screen and on paper. Here, not all machines or television screens process colour in the same manner. It is important to choose a colour palette of little tone variations.
This is why artists warn against using more than three colours. Aside from generating doubt, you risk undermining the design and the message behind it. It is incredibly challenging to handle a rich architecture across many platforms. Fortunately, there are certain combos that will benefit the brand. We mentioned that colours have a connection with one another. They are mostly classified based on their temperature.

Temperature of colour

Warm colours are those that have a strong red meaning. They are opposite each other on the paint wheel. Not every brand is appropriate for a warm colour scheme. Nonetheless, some labels that use warm colours have been well-known to customers. Primarily since red is such a distinct colour.

Cold colours: These are clues with a prevailing blue value. On the colour wheel, they are similar to each other. And since it is more appealing to the human eye and does not take too much attention to recognise, this palette is very popular in company and software products.
Let’s have a peek at the colour schemes now. This will assist you in determining which colour scheme fits well for your brand.
Monochromatic design: Monochromatic refers to a single hue and its different colours, varying from darkest to lightest. The transition is subtle, but it can also have a positive effect. Often companies use a monochromatic colour scheme since one colour in all of the colours is simple to remember.

Analogous Shades

Analogous Shades: Colours that are adjacent in the colour wheel; this is the most popular colour system that is commonly utilised in logo design.

Complementary colours are those that are opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as blue and gold. This mixture is used for online, illustration, and logo design and has a “strong strength.”

Split-Complementary: This colour scheme uses two colours that are identical and one that is opposite. While dangerous, when employed correctly, this mixture will provide a rich contrast.

Triadic: Three colours that are evenly distributed on the colour wheel. Designers recommend using 60% of the same colour, 30% of a different colour, and 10% of a different colour. As a consequence, one colour sticks out and the style becomes more balanced.

Tetradic or Double Complementary: This colour scheme blends two complementary pairs. This is the most complicated colour mix to match. Again, it is best to use one primary colour and the others in minor proportions.

As we’ve noticed, a logo shouldn’t have more than three colours. A plethora of colours can cause confusion. Furthermore, there is often the possibility of putting the design at risk when using a diverse colour palette.
Colour is one aspect of architecture, but it is not the only one. A logo template should be straightforward and quick to grasp. To provide unity, a dominant colour must run in the brand. Having said that, even well-known brands have violated the law.
Google and Ebay are two examples; the multicolour palette fits best in both situations since the fonts are equally spread. They use a diverse paint range, but this does not distract from the brand message. You can bend the guidelines, but it must be visually appealing.

Red Colour for Logo

Red is the common colour of ecstasy, desire, and anger. It catches the eye and lets you stand out from the crowd. Is your brand brash, playful, young, or modern? Consider the colour red. Which is more mature, classic, or serious? Red may not be your colour.
The colour red is the first colour that babies notice (besides black and white). According to science, humans developed the ability to see red better than other colours because it helped us to distinguish fruits growing on trees more quickly. It has acquired a clear evolutionary meaning: human faces turn red while they are emotional (either with rage or passion). As a consequence, we now equate the colour with strong emotions such as affection, rage, and passion. Red has also been found to increase hunger, which is not exactly an emotion (which is why you see it in many food and restaurant logos).