Color is often the first thing people notice about a brand—even within the tech space. Here are some ideas to make your design scheme pop.
A decade ago, brand identities for the technology industry were still largely limited to a sea of navy blue and gray. Today technology branding is as diverse as the wide range of apps and products produced by the industry. With an ever-increasing number of tech startups crowding the marketplace, distinctive branding has become an essential asset for businesses looking to stand out.
Here, discover ten color palettes that take their inspiration from the diverse schemes used by leading tech brands, as well as more unconventional sources of inspiration. Once you’ve found the perfect palette for your tech-themed project, pin palettes to a Pinterest board or moodboard, or share them with colleagues.
Serenity takes center stage in 2022’s Color Trends
How to Use Your Tech Branding Palettes
Perhaps you’re creating a logo for a new app or a marketing campaign for a software startup. Careful color choice can make a huge difference in how receptive consumers are towards your brand, and here you’ll find a selection of ten ready-to-use palettes that can help your digital-themed designs break from the pack.
Images via Apisorn, Daniel Chetroni, and Manzetta.
Tech can be a difficult industry to design for because its style language is so rooted in the look adopted by the early tech brands of the 1990s, which often dictated a conservative and masculine palette of blue, black, and gray.
This overwhelming trend for all-blue identities is in some ways surprising because a number of now iconic tech brands opted for radically different color palettes. A prime example is Apple, which broke the mold by introducing a multicolored identity for their logo, created by graphic designer Rob Janoff, in 1977.
Google followed suit in 1998 with a logo featuring a bright and optimistic primary palette, a scheme they still use today in their refined logo design.
The palettes below are based on color trends employed by both global and emerging technology brands, and also incorporate fresh color palette options to help give your tech company a distinctive edge.
Images via Willyam Bradberry, Public House Design, and Eugenia Porechenskaya.
Palette 1: Big Idea
This palette, which balances assertive, go-getting red with stable, cerebral blue, is the perfect combination of hues to convey a sense of complexity, energy, and innovation.
Images via Tom Eversley, KDdesignphoto, and Gabriel Pahontu.
If you’re creating tech branding or a logo for a company that straddles research and technology, such as VR or AI, this palette will help create a balance between innovation and intellectualism.
Image via okeykat.
Palette 2: Engineered Energy
Pale neon green infuses this palette with energy while darker tones of gray and black provide an anchoring undertone.
Images via degulshan, Dario Pena, and Mikhail Leonov.
This masculine scheme would be a nice fit for gaming businesses or tech brands that focus on digital engineering, energy, or industrial manufacture.
Image via Medbrat_23.
Palette 3: Contemplative Tech
With a huge number of smartphone users increasingly turning to meditation or sleep aid apps to help calm the mind and assist with mental health, the trend for wellness-focused apps only looks set to increase.
Images via Apisorn, Daniel Chetroni, and Manzetta.
Give your mindfulness-focused tech brand a contemplative mood with this calm and soothing palette of sunset hues.
Image via MOMO STOCK.
Palette 4: Drawing Board
This crisp and clean palette has a back-to-school freshness that would suit startup tech brands or businesses looking to appear more friendly and open in their branding.
Images via ninoon, Katrinaku, and John_Dakapu.
The vibrancy of mustard yellow and primary blue is balanced by gray, giving this palette an affable but not overly excitable mood.
Image by contributor okeykat.
Palette 5: Opalescence
Ethereal and pastel-tinted, this palette combines iridescent hues for an otherworldly, slightly 1980s effect.
Images via YuriyZhuravov, local_doctor, and nevodka.
The pastel scheme mimics the light effect of metallic finishes on hardware, making it a good fit for branding tech products such as smartphones or laptops.
Image via local_doctor.
Palette 6: Server Room
In this strong scheme, mint green, charcoal, and cornflower blue team up with crisp white for a cool, fresh result. Blue gives a nod to conventional tech branding, while green brings freshness.
Images via Mykolastock, Ievgenii Meyer, and petroo.vi.
If you’re looking for a tech palette that requires a slightly corporate feel, but you’re resistant to lean on blues and grays alone, this palette will balance conservative and trend-forward colors.
Image via lovelypeace.
Palette 7: Eco App
This Californian-inspired scheme lifts its influences from the county where Silicon Valley’s tech boom was born.
Images via Willyam Bradberry, Public House Design, and Eugenia Porechenskaya.
Dark forest green and apricot orange might not be the obvious color choices for a tech brand, but this scheme would actually be a fantastic fit for apps and tech logos themed on sustainability or eco principles.
Image via Predrag Milosevic.
Palette 8: Ethernet
This primary-hued palette pays tribute to the childlike and optimistic brand identities adopted by tech giants such as Apple and Google.
Although Apple has dropped the rainbow-striped palette from its iconic logo (which was intended as a nod towards the brand’s first personal computer—the world’s first to feature a colored display), Google has retained its multicolored logo.
Images via Hristo_Chorbadzhiyski, sirtravelalot, and Nitiphonphat.
This is a joyful and confident palette which would be a good fit for tech brands that want to appear warm and friendly.
Image via sirtravelalot.
Palette 9: Smart Home
In this scheme, violet and dark mint green are given a lighter feel with the addition of rosy pink. Deep navy blue adds a slightly more formal element.
Images via Mykolastock, wanpatsorn, and MasterShopArt.
This quirky palette could be applied to unusual tech branding or lifestyle products.
Image via Iris Mate.
Palette 10: Tech Startup
Red is assertive and hot-headed, but in this scheme, soothing gray brings a more subdued element, creating the perfect balance of considered confidence.
Images via Sam72, Jaroslav Monchak, and Sagrapho.
If you’re creating a logo or brand identity for a tech startup or independent tech business, this palette will ensure they start off on the right foot.
Image via r.classen.
Cover image via contributorEugenia Porechenskaya.
The post 10 Dynamic Palettes for Tech Branding and Logos appeared first on The Shutterstock Blog.
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