How to Choose Brand Colors for Your Small Business
Quick Answer
Choose a main brand color by comparing competitors and testing a few candidates on the same logo in real placements. Measure the text-and-background combinations separately, check printed proofs when needed, and record the approved hex values and uses. Build supporting colors after the main choice; color associations and fixed palette percentages are not universal rules.
Choose brand colors by comparing a few candidates in the places customers will see them. A row of attractive swatches cannot tell you whether the name reads on your sign or the website button is usable.
Start with one main color. The rest of the palette comes after you have a reason to keep it. If you already have a settled logo color, go to building a five-color palette for supporting colors and their roles.
Write the constraints before opening a color picker
List your audience, the materials you will produce, and any colors you must retain. A business with an existing painted storefront has a different starting point from a new online consultancy.
A short brief is enough:
Main customers:
First places they will see us:
Printed materials we actually need:
Existing colors we must keep:
Competitor colors we want to avoid repeating:
Tone we want to explore:
Use tone as a direction to compare, not a promised customer response. "Restrained and warm" can help you reject a fluorescent option. "Blue creates trust" cannot tell you which blue belongs on your sign. The color-psychology guide explains the limits of those associations.
Compare your own competitors
Collect the logos of a handful of businesses customers might choose instead of yours. Use roughly equal sizes on a plain background. Note repeated hues and, just as importantly, whether they are pale, dark, saturated, or muted.
If most use blue, you have several options. Keep blue but change its shade and the rest of the design, explore another hue, or use a neutral wordmark with a small colored detail. You do not have to abandon a workable color solely because someone else uses it.
Keep the audience and placements visible while choosing. A color that looks unusual in your competitor row may be hard to reproduce on the packaging you need.
Test three main colors in the same layout
Use the same logo, type, copy, and background for every candidate. Changing all of those together makes it hard to know what you are judging.
The following is a worked example for a fictional repair business, Northline. The hex values are real; the business and its competitor observations are illustrative.
| Candidate | Hex value | Question to test |
|---|---|---|
| Deep teal | #145A54 | Does it remain readable on a light sign and invoice? |
| Burnt orange | #C65D21 | Can we use it as a recognizable detail without relying on white button text? |
| Navy | #183153 | Does it look too similar to the blue signs in our example competitor set? |
Place each candidate on the website header, a van-door layout, and an invoice. Inspect the business name at the intended size. For a van, print a reduced layout to judge the composition, then request a production proof for color and legibility. A screen preview cannot establish either at full physical size.
The example business might choose teal because the name stays clear and it differs from its comparison set. Orange can remain an option for a small graphic detail. That is a decision tied to this brief, not a claim that teal is the best color for repair businesses.
Measure the text combinations
The main logo color and the button color do not have to be identical. Check every text-and-background pair you intend to use.
Using WCAG relative-luminance calculations, the example colors produce these ratios against white:
| Color paired with white | Contrast ratio, rounded | Normal-size text at 4.5:1 |
|---|---|---|
Deep teal #145A54 | 8.01:1 | Passes |
Burnt orange #C65D21 | 4.21:1 | Fails |
Navy #183153 | 13.10:1 | Passes |
The ratios are calculated from the hex values, not measured from a screenshot. The displayed values are rounded; use the unrounded result when checking a threshold. In this example, a button with normal-size white text on the orange background falls short. Darken the orange, choose darker text after checking that pair, or use teal for the button.
WCAG's text-contrast guidance specifies 4.5:1 for ordinary text and 3:1 for qualifying large text. Logotypes have an exception. Keep the logo readable anyway, and check body text, links, and button labels separately. A passing color pair alone does not establish accessibility for the whole website.
Check print before ordering the run
Digital colors use RGB values. Print appearance depends on the ink, paper, process, and color profile. A generic RGB-to-CMYK conversion is a starting point for a proof, not a promise that every printer will match your screen.
Send your chosen values and artwork to the printer. Ask which file format and color specification they need, then approve a physical proof for important work. A coated business card and an uncoated paper bag can show the same artwork differently. The business-card print guide covers bleed, margins, and export checks.
Also check the logo in one color if you need stamps, engraving, or one-ink jobs. A palette cannot repair a symbol whose parts merge when the colors are removed.
Record the decision, then build the supporting palette
Save the exact main hex value, the approved background pairings, and a note explaining why you chose it. Keep the rejected candidates too; they help you avoid reopening the same debate next month.
You do not need a fixed 60–30–10 distribution across every material. A mostly white invoice and a colored shop sign can belong to the same identity. Give colors jobs rather than forcing percentages.
Once the main color is settled, the brand color palette generator can help explore supporting shades. Use the five-color palette process to assign roles, then put the final values and print references in your brand kit handoff.
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