Brands are all about storytelling. Right from its logo to the brand ambassador, everything represents the brand’s identity. We are aware that color psychology plays a significant role in designing a brand logo. The color theory is a combination of art and science. Colors are an influential element in graphic designing. Nowadays, users spend most of their time on their mobile phones; therefore, companies are focusing more on App Icons to pick the right color and catch user attention.
In the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, researchers Lauren Labrecque and George Milne found that blue color is used in over 75% of credit card brand logos, and 20% of fast-food brand logos, while red is not used for apparel logos. If you have noticed, renowned brands use a specific set of colors for their icons. That’s what you call brand differentiation!
Scroll down to understand the color pattern of these popular brands!
Blue – Social Media Apps
Open your smartphone home screen; you’ll see that around 60% of the apps are in blue color. The different shades of blue! The reason behind using blue as the primary color is because it is a safe choice for designers. The nature of blue is that it does not just symbolize neutrality or technology, but also signifies life, movement, and expression.
Blue can conjure reliability, loyalty, and tranquillity. Social media apps like Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Truecaller, are based on the factor of connectivity, and blue color illustrates that attribute pretty well.
Red – Dining and Mobile Network Apps
Red is one of the most alluring colors that can help create standalone icons. Most of the food apps are red including Zomato, McDonald’s and many more. The preference for red color is because it evokes youthful energy and excitement. This color carries intrinsic meaning that is central to its brand identity, tempting the viewers.
Apart from food apps, dynamic media apps like Netflix and YouTube, and mobile networks like Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, express their personality through red color.
Yellow – Funky Apps
Yellow can easily make a brand stand out from the crowd. It is gradually emerging as the preferred icon color. If a brand wants to showcase itself as groovy, bubbly, the best choice is a yellow color. Yellow represents cheerfulness and optimism; therefore, apps like Snapchat and Bumble to attract potential users in a single stroke use yellow.
Black – Service-Driven Apps
Black color represents a sense of authority, strength, and sophistication, and that what service-driven companies deliver- quality services. The ridesharing app Uber is probably one of the best examples to justify power and professionalism. UrbanClap’s a one-stop solution for local services like salon, electrician, cleaning, etc. To depict how professional and trustworthy their service experts, they chose to go with black color.
Mostly, the apps are displayed in solid colors to let the human brain register the visual easily, without any confusion. But surprisingly, Instagram does not follow any such rule and has a multitude of colors mixed up in its logo. The key to creating an iconic logo is to understand the needs of the user and the message that the app conveys. Icon color is an attempt to position their business in the minds of the desired customers.
It’s not an easy job to stand out in the smartphone display and make the screen worth looking at!