Have you ever noticed that your logo looks a slightly (or sometimes significantly) different colour on different devices? Maybe your laptop and your phone, or you caught sight of it on a friend or client’s device and it didn’t look the colour you expected?
This occurs for a few reasons:
- The way different devices read and display colour data.
Do you remember art lessons at school? Remember learning that Red, Blue and Yellow are primary colours that all other colours are made up of? The data that makes up digital colour is simplest when the colour is a primary colour. This means if your logo is pure red, blue or yellow is it most likely to look the same across multiple devices. The more complex your brand colour eg green, purple or lighter or darker shades the more data there is for the device to interpret and the more likely it will ‘get it wrong’ and display it differently. - The resolution of different screens.
A brand new imac laptop will have a high resolution screen capable of displaying colour more accurately, whereas a mobile phone screen will be lower resolution and of course the older your device is, the worse the resolution and thus colour display will be. - People’s display settings preferences
Some people prefer a lighter display and others prefer it darker, so even with the simplest colour – red for example an individual’s screen preference can make it look anything from pink to burgundy.
So what can we do about this…..well you can pick a simple colour for your logo, but it is really more important that you pick a colour that reflects your brand’s USPs and communicates with your target audience.
The key thing here is to choose a colour that replicates well across print and most digital formats and try not to get too wrapped up in it!
If you need help with your brand colour or want to chat about any aspect of branding for your business get in touch.