Brand palettes: choosing colours that sell
Colour is the fastest thing a customer reads about your brand — before a single word. Get the palette right and everything you make looks intentional. Get it wrong and even great work feels cheap.
A palette is a system, not a favourite colour
A working palette has four roles, not four random colours:
- Primary — the colour people remember you by.
- Accent — used sparingly, only for buttons and things you want clicked.
- Ink — your near-black, for readable text.
- Paper — your light background, so everything can breathe.
The 60 / 30 / 10 rule
Designers balance a palette roughly 60% dominant (usually a neutral), 30% secondary, and 10% accent. That 10% is where the eye goes — so your accent should point straight at what you want people to do: buy, book, message.
Palettes that do a job
Different industries need different feelings. Four examples, with each colour’s role:
Contrast is non-negotiable
If text is hard to read on a colour, the colour is wrong — no matter how nice it looks. Keep strong contrast between ink and paper, and never set small text on your accent.
Do
- Pick one accent, use it only for actions
- Keep about 90% of the page calm and neutral
- Test colours on real screens, indoors and in sun
Don’t
- Use five bright colours equally
- Put pale text on a white background
- Choose colours you like over colours that read
Every brand WE MANAGE builds starts with a palette tied to real roles and tested for contrast, then applied consistently across your brand, website, and social. Talk to us about your colours.