Colourways & Cortecs
7th August 2018
The Importance of Colour
Whatever happened to the days when colours were limited to whatever paint had not run out and the most difficult choice you had to make was whether violet or indigo came first in the rainbow? Anyone who has ever decorated will know you can no longer just walk into the shop and ask for a colour. You have to know your Volcanic Splashes from your Ruby Fountains, your Minted Glories from your Grecian Spas and even your Blacks from your Rich Blacks. How big a difference do all these hues and shades actually make when it comes to your brand; will customers walk away if they sense the slightest discrepancy in your usual colour palette or is everything just black and white?
Whilst it’s highly unlikely a customer’s sole reason for leaving you will be down to you using the wrong shade of their favourite colour, the reality is these subtle changes have impact. Take the colours we see in day-to-day life for example; we would probably still react correctly if we saw a green stop sign or red fire exit light, we would also feel a bit unnerved and maybe even deceived. The harmony between colours – or complete lack of it – has the ability to change an atmosphere, the way we see a product and even a mood or emotion towards a brand.
Colourway implementation was critical in our work with Cortecs, a leadership and management specialist, offering business training with a psychological edge. Their use of the latest psychological research, scientific evidence together with constant innovation, allowed them to provide their customers with the latest techniques in an engaging and memorable format. The company’s main desire was to promote the science and development behind their methodology, with a fun, vibrant aspect to their work to be portrayed secondarily.
As with all our projects, the design process began by carrying out a series of interviews with a cross-section of the Cortecs audience from users to suppliers through to staff. This cross-section was able to identify many traits that made the company who they were, ranging from energy to knowledgeability, from dynamism to professionalism. We’re all for keeping things as simple as possible, however for a brand as multi-faceted as this, it was going to take a bit more; that’s when the vibrant colourway began to take shape. Turquoises and purples reflected the company’s ethos and desire to develop and progress. Yellow embodied their fun and exuberance, whilst red maintained a sense of proactivity. Grayscale elements were added to ensure the scheme didn’t become overcomplicated and the contrast between the colours helped reflect the brand’s ability to adapt and grow.
For Cortecs, colour made all the difference to how people perceived their brand. Through an individual and specialised colourway, we were able to represent every element of the company and establish them as one of the premier leadership and management training providers in Wales. The end result is a brand identity system that is vibrant and dynamic, and will be able to adapt as they grow. Whilst it would be overstated to say that their branding success was down to a particular selection of colours, it is the harmony of those colours, the way they work together as well as separately, that gives Cortec’s a strong, consistent image that truly does their hard work justice.
