Brand Elements
Color and Typography in Brand Identity
How color and type carry brand personality and build recognition
Key Insight
Color is the most immediately recognized brand element — it is processed before shape or text. Typography communicates personality through form: a serif conveys heritage and authority; a geometric sans-serif conveys modernity and precision; a humanist sans-serif conveys approachability. Both color and type must work across digital and print, all sizes, and all contexts — and their combinations must meet accessibility standards.
Key Points
- •Color is processed first — it carries brand recognition before any other element
- •Owning a color in a category is powerful: UPS brown, Tiffany blue, Cadbury purple
- •Typography communicates personality through letterform — type choice is never neutral
- •Primary palette: 1–3 colors for brand consistency; secondary palette for flexibility
- •All color combinations must meet WCAG 4.5:1 contrast ratio for body text
Guidelines
- ✓Define primary brand color with both Pantone and hex values for cross-media consistency
- ✓Test type legibility at small sizes before finalizing brand typeface
- ✓Ensure type licenses cover all required uses: web, app, print, broadcast
- ✓Define a type hierarchy (display, heading, body, caption) within the brand typeface
- ✓Audit color usage for accessibility — beautiful is useless if unreadable
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