When & How To Use Yellow In Branding?

Published on:
July 15, 2022

Yellow in branding is a prominent color nowadays. If you want your brand to have a friendly and positive vibe, Yellow is the best choice. It is not a coincidence that yellow makes you happy. Colors have effects on human emotions. 

As the University of Loyola stated, “Color can increase brand recognition by up to 80%”.

Since marketing is all about getting the right emotion from your customers, the impact of colors plays a vital role in your campaigns too. Several experiments are conducted to understand how colors affect customers and their perception of a particular brand. By altering the colors of your brand’s visual identity or your campaign’s significant elements, you can capture the audience’s attention. 

For example, the CTAs are red, blue, orange, or other eye-catching colors. You can use several aspects of color psychology to get a better return on investment. Look at the image. Does the yellow in branding identities not calm you down?

Yellow color in branding
Yellow color in branding

In this blog, MarsDevs opens up a realm of possibilities for your brand and the marketing team. The article tells you what yellow does to our minds. It also explores the examples of brands that use yellow in branding. It concludes with a solution that helps you analyze your brand's personality and color.

Color theory and branding

Back in 2003, Joe Hallock worked on an exciting study. He studied how colors affect human psychology. While yellow scored less on reliability, quality, and courage metrics, his observations rated yellow as a color that establishes happiness and fun. It is a pretty bright color that makes you feel more positive.

“Color is a powerful weapon which influences the soul.” Wassily Kandinsky's quote speaks eloquently about how color impacts web design.

One of our key responsibilities as web developers is to guarantee that every website we build conveys its intended meaning correctly.

One of the most important components of this is using (the proper) colors. Choosing a color scheme entails more than simply choosing your client's (or your) favorite colors or brand colors. It means delving deeper into the rules of color psychology.

colorsinbranding
colorsinbranding

Color Psychology is the study of how different colors determine our behavior. Marketers and advertisers use this color psychology to evoke certain emotions associated with specific colors. This helps the marketers achieve the return with strategized effort. You do not have to beat around the bush anymore.

Colors affect us every moment from the hour we wake up. We further organize colors in several ways. One of them is by warm and cold tones.

While warm tones include the colors like orange, yellow, and red, cold tones include purple, blue, and green. Also, specific colors complement each other when used together. For example, purple and yellow. And some colors clash, like red and orange. 

It is simply using colors to help develop a firm's image or impact how others view a company. So, a large data processing organization wants to be perceived as reliable and trustworthy by its consumers or potential customers. In that case, it can pick "formal" hues such as blue and grey.

If a hotel wishes to be considered wealthy, it can opt for black, gold, or silver.

Designers, psychologists, and artists agree that you need to use particular shades for an idea to come alive. Yellow in branding is one of the primary colors, yet one of the least used ones from the color wheel. It is still a critical choice for marketers, designers, and businesses to attract eyeballs. Let us understand how.

colorpsychology
colorpsychology

Why use yellow in branding?

"How wonderful yellow is. It represents the sun." - Vincent Van Gogh.

Yellow in branding
Yellow in branding

If you want to consider yellow in branding as the primary color to express your brand's personality, you need to understand the color's theory and references first. 

Having an all-yellow identity can be challenging. So, brands often pair yellow with other colors to make it easier to read. Several brands use yellow as an essential accent shade with another color to elevate the experience. 

Yellow in branding associates itself with warmth, friendliness, and a cheerful vibe.

Yellow for joy
Yellow for joy

Yellow adds a feeling of warmth, happiness, and friendly energy to it. It derives this symbolism from a sunny day. For example, Companies that seek to create happy thoughts, such as travel firms or children's party planners, will frequently choose yellow to appear warm and joyful. For instance, Chupa Chups lollipops fall under this category. They mirror the happiness that you feel when you have the lollipop.

Brands use yellow to add a friendly and cheerful vibe too. Also, Mailchimp upgraded its brand recently. Yellow dominates their brand's identity now. They associated the color in color psychology with the friendly monkey theme successfully.

MarsDevs Tips:

“Colors impact everyone,” wrote Neil Patel. So Yellow as a major brand color can help you grab the user’s attention, and also appeal to their happy side. However, the color calls for a break in design with contrast colors, simpler fonts, and unique styling. 

  • Brands associate yellow with safety.
Yellow in safety
Yellow in safety

Yellow is a very bright color and is easy to spot. Thus, it is associated with caution and thus ensures safety. You would often notice that police or government use yellow tapes or triangles to alert us of an upcoming danger. The color raises the alarm and serves as a bold protector.

For instance, the JCB and Caterpillar construction companies use yellow majorly. They make their products easy to spot. Here, yellow in branding feels impactful, yet effective as others can spot. We can spot them quickly and know that they are strong, and we should take them seriously.

  • Yellow in branding to stand out.

Yellow is a terrific color to use if your business is aimed at a young audience or if you want to demonstrate how young and optimistic your company is.

Standing out with yellow
Standing out with yellow

For instance, Snapchat uses yellow to reflect the positive vibe within the app and stands out, even though social media apps are primarily blue. National Geographic has one of the most memorable logos. But it is simple and literally just a cropped rectangle. Yellow gives them a distinct visual identity, becoming an integral part of the logo and branding.

As Kyle Prinsloo says, “Yellow also works great in differentiating brands as creative, out-of-the-box types.”

National Geography using yellow for branding
National Geography using yellow for branding

MarsDevs Tips:

  • Say your brand has an innovative edge to it. yellow can help you reflect the future possibilities.
  • If your brand caters to children, you can use yellow to depict joy. For instance, Pokemon, the highest-grossing media franchise, makes use of yellow to represent youthful energy.
  • Want to make a breakfast cereal brand? Yellow is great as we associate the color with a bright sunny feeling.

Examples of Famous Brands That Use Yellow in Branding

Sometimes the best way to learn about branding is via experience. It can be something other than your brand's experience. You can also learn from the success stories of big shots in your field.

Here are a few examples.

  • Monk-e
Social media brands
Social media brands

Monk-e is an Indian talent management, influencer marketing, and video production company that helps organizations with holistic marketing. From the logo to the website, they make great use of color psychology and yellow dominates the brand. The brand uses yellow to incorporate a friendly and warm feeling. Thus, the website looks bright, welcoming, and cheerful.

  • Bumble
Dating sites 
Dating sites 

The logo represents a hive. The dating company uses the color yellow to reflect the potential in the app. The yellow mirrors the positive vibe showcased in the purpose of the app. You register on the app to find a potential partner and the yellow wishes you a cheerful journey. The messaging is perfect that way,

  • McDonalds
Food chains
Food chains

McDonalds' logo is a single yellow colored letter. It is one of the most famous fast-food chains in the United States. The brand heavily makes use of color psychology and uses yellow to convey the emotions of excitement and happiness. Paired with the cheerful headline “I’m loving it”, McDonalds serves happiness and positivity even with its logo.

  • Nikon
Nikon and yellow
Nikon and yellow

The colors you can spot in a Nikon logo are black and yellow. Yellow in branding is a color that represents a positive, optimistic, energetic, and sunny vibe. Using yellow color psychology, Nikon wants to symbolize passion, expansion, and limitless possibilities of the future. The black compliments well and represents excellent quality and reliability.

  • Veuve Clicquot
Fresh like wine
Fresh like wine

The color yellow in the premium champagne brand Veuve Clicquot helps the product stand out. It cuts through all the colors to serve you a zestful shot of bright yellow.

The design was originally white. But, the brand transitioned to yellow as the color is brighter and not likely to fade away soon. People love to age a bottle of wine before even opening it. And, yellow stays. 

  • JCB
Safety and JCB
Safety and JCB

JCB makes use of very heavy machinery. And it is potentially dangerous. Previously, the brand used white and blue, but it did not work well as people could not spot the machines well. So, the brand turned to color psychology again and switched to yellow as its brand color. Yellow is a very eye-catching color and makes it easy for the people to spot a JCB at an excavated site, even in dark. 

  • Caterpillar

Safety for CAT
Safety for CAT

The construction equipment sector is very conservative. Thus, Caterpillar, a company that manufactures construction equipment, uses a very distinct shade of yellow. Even in the logo, the brand features a small yellow triangle. In this field, the colors can fade over time, and yellow is a bright color that stays for a long time and is easy to spot. It fits right while finding a perfect color is challenging.

How and Where to Use Yellow in Branding - Marsdevs Tips

When you pick a color to represent your business, you decide how to communicate with your customers. To do this, you must understand when and where to apply the color of your choice. 

Here are some tips for incorporating yellow throughout your various branding platforms. 

  • Integrate into your social media pages:

A delicate shade of yellow used to complement your social media posts or emphasize vital elements will greatly impact social media visitors. 

Take a look at this Instagram Feed of Caterpillar.

  • Use yellow in billboards to grab attention:

Colors have a major influence on outdoor advertising. The primary color you select should be visible in broad daylight and the dead of night with minimum illumination. And what's better than yellow?

  • Put in infographics:

When you create content such as an infographic, you want readers to be engaged while they traverse all of the information. Yellow's warm and appealing character is ideal for this. However, because too much yellow can be distracting for an extended period, use it sparingly or in tandem with a balancing color like black.

  • Implement in flyers and posters:

Flyers and posters must get the attention they deserve among the gadget-obsessed younger generations. Thus, you can miss the target of using clichéd colors in your print advertisements. That's when a bright yellow can come in handy.

  • Use in Emails for pop:

Email marketing is an older marketing tactic. However, it’s vital and successful for brands. Customers, on the other hand, receive a large number of emails in their inbox every day. So, a bright yellow hue would do the trick if you want yours to stand out.

Focus on branding while MarsDevs takes care of your development requirements!

As Cecily Kellogg puts it, “If fun, speed & low cost are vital factors to your target audience, you might consider yellow as a principal color in your branding.”

You can not just focus on branding to attract customers and leave a dent in the industry. It is undoubtedly an important tool but first, you need to crack the code to good technology. Technology is the base of every step towards automation and scalability. And, if you don't own up to your position among the tech leaders in your industry, you will lose out on the competitive advantage. 

MarsDevs can help you manage the tech and development issues while bringing you informative articles on scalable options so you can only look up. We are a team of excellent developers who can automate your needs and make them accessible to you. We can discuss expertise over the next virtual call if you don't mind. Let us know when we can connect to discuss possibilities for a better future.

FAQs

What does yellow mean in branding?

For company branding, yellow is associated with joy, energy, youth, and attention. Yellow is a terrific accent color that draws attention and can make people feel hopeful about the main aspects of your message. But too much yellow might make your design unsettling.

How is yellow used in web design?

Yellow can draw attention to crucial features, give your website a lively or creative appearance, or express a feeling of innovation and energy.

What is the color theory of yellow?

Yellow is frequently regarded as the most vibrant and invigorating of the warm hues. It is connected with joy and brightness.

Should you use yellow for brand logos?

In contrast to the relaxing effects of cool-toned blues and greens, yellow is a warm hue with an energizing color family. Yellow may be a wonderful choice for your company logo if you want people to become excited and purchase or act immediately.

What color goes well with yellow?

The effectiveness of color is heavily influenced by the other colors that stand beside it. So, once you have decided on a shade of yellow for your brand, try out combinations like black-yellow, blue-yellow, or white-yellow.


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