Palette cleanse

For anyone who’s ever worked with me, you know I love a very edited color palette.

Is there such a thing as too much color? I think so. It’s everywhere. Loud. Competing. Overwhelming. So when it comes to branding, keeping it simple actually stands out.

Color, to me, is about intention. It’s not just decoration. It’s meaning, mood, identity. And when you try to say everything at once, it all becomes chaotic.

When I started working at Scale, the first thing I noticed was how simple their palette was. Black and green. That’s it. But it’s a really great green. My instinct was to start building out a secondary palette, maybe even a tertiary one. Give them more options. Make it feel well-rounded.

But then I paused.

Why do we need so much color?

Color doesn’t always have to come from the made-up brand guide. Blue doesn’t always need to stand for trust and loyalty. It’s ok to shake things up.

Color comes from other places. And honestly, the best place it comes from is photography.

When you work with photographers like Jody Horton (yes, my favorite, and a wonderful person as well), the color shows up in the food, in the people, in the places. It’s natural. It’s beautiful. It adds depth and personality in ways that swatches never could.

When I worked in magazines and was faced with the daunting task of picking the Pantone color of the masthead, I used to think, Ok, if this magazine were an outfit, what color would my shoes be? What color is the perfect pop? Let’s not go out of the house looking like a mess. Be restrained. Be confident. Just enough to say something.

(Sadly, this didn’t apply to my Marc Jacobs days.)

That’s how I think about color in branding. One great color is usually enough. Maybe two. You don’t have to shout to get noticed. You just have to be interesting.

Also, black is a color. White is a color. Neutrals can carry just as much weight as anything neon. And if you care about accessibility (which you should), contrast matters a whole lot more than 50 shades of teal.

(And for the record, I really hate red and purple. I have no good reason. They just feel weirdly aggressive. Except for Cartier)

So if you’re agonizing over your color system, trying to make it feel accessible and friendly and distinctive and consistent and whatever else, remember:

You don’t need a rainbow.

You just need the right one.

Sometimes less really is more.