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Design · May 3, 2024
Color as Character
The most memorable brands don't use color — they own it. A framework for color decisions that actually work.
Color is the fastest communicator in visual design. Before a viewer reads a word, they’ve already formed an emotional position based on palette.
Most brands use multiple colors because they’re afraid to commit to one. This caution produces unmemorable work. The brands that dominate cultural memory — in any category — typically have one or two colors that are so consistently and deliberately applied that the color itself becomes synonymous with the brand.
This is not about minimalism. It’s about ownership.