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Colour-Brandiing Your Business Card to Communicate The Visual Power-Byte in Your Small Business This article by Donna Dahl was first published in the Marketing Section of the 2005 May/June Issue of Rising Women Magazine. Without a doubt, the business card remains one of the most vital business communication tools. It has withstood the test of time and with the availability of digital colour printing, colour is more readily accessible in print media than ever before. This article gives colour special attention. Show Your Colours! Audience grabber. Attention captivator. Emotional connector. Colour is all of these things and more. Colour is the silent messenger that connects the visual experience with the feeling that is stirred by its vibration. First impression? It counts. You hand someone your business card and a chain of events begins. This chain lasts as little time as it takes to say your name or as much as twenty seconds. You are being sorted. Everything that went into the design and printing of that business card is being measured, weighed, felt and evaluated. Let Your Colour Speak Colour is the silent visual power-byte. No sound byte is necessary. Nothing need be said. Colour travels through time and space and works for you without intervention. Zip those lips and allow the receiver to take the time to let the colour be absorbed and deliver a response. This brief moment in time is sponsored by you and it gives your visitor a chance to begin building a relationship with you and your business. Colour Arouses Emotion Colour impacts our lives every day in many unspoken ways. Colour is observed and the body responds. Some sleep better in a room that is painted blue. Some hire Feng Shui experts to introduce energy-enhancing colours to spaces that have been dormant or characterless. Retail sales persons often inquire as to the colour you are sorting for. Getting the colour “right” increases the possibility of closing the sale. Why not introduce colour to increase your business advantage? Colour Communicates Your Brand. Which company comes to mind when you think of red and white? Blue and orange? What colour is your brand? What does your colour branding communicate about you and your business? If you are not sure, ask your clientele about the message they get when they are treated to a visit with your business card. If you have not yet chosen your colours, ask your clients what colours they might choose to represent your product or service. Colour By Association. This is, perhaps, the most difficult arena in the use of colour. While some colour associations are cultural, some are gender-biased and some are created. Many are simply emotional. You react at some gut level to what feels good and looks good. It is perfectly okay to perform colour choice by instinct. While large corporations may spend thousands of dollars to have a design team develop their ideal corporate image, the extent of your colour research may be completely sufficient with the employment of a good graphic artist combined with your interview campaign. Whether your business is large or small, your business card is your foot in the door … your introductory handshake. It is a reflection of your corporate image and it deserves your caring attention. How Much Colour is Not Enough? Black is not a colour when it is printed on white. Black is the colour of type, not of the business necessarily. A white background alone may be too expressionless when putting your silent foot forward. How Much Colour is Too Much? Myriads of hues are well-suited to selling things that demonstrate a complete range of colours. Three colours is probably the maximum for most businesses and many will work quite well with two-colour branding. Keep in mind that a dark colour like black or navy blue tends to be more readable for the print portion of your message when using a pale backgound. This print is somewhat superficial noise while colour issues are being sorted through but it does eventually become part of the total package. Colour Preferences Change Over Time Take a look around at the colours of the vehicles in a parking lot. Popular colour choices do change over time. Even shades of silver and other neutrals, vary from year to year and from region to region in a global marketplace. Shopping For Colour? Visit a colour palette. A paint store is a good place. Every colour in this year’s rainbow is there. Also places that offer digital printing can help you choose just the right shade of lemon green or lavender blue. Colour choice is no longer limited to the basic colours of ink supplied for offset presses. So Who is The Target? Colour is a highly researched product. Entire books are written about colour and its potential influence. Certain colours tend to appeal more to men than to women. Certain colours are intellectually linked to your business and certain colours are emotionally linked. Would you be more likely to visit a restaurant that had a rich rustic red or a milky muddy brown environment? Would you buy a lime-green limo? What is The Message? What do you want your business card to communicate about you and your business? Take a few minutes now to write down all the words that you would associate with you and your business. Beside each word write the colour that you would associate with each of these descriptors. Perhaps this list of words will help get you started: bold, vibrant, alive, calming, soothing, relaxing, energetic, reliable, creative. Circle the three labels on your list that you believe best represent what you do and start there. This may seem elementary but the clearer you are about your message, the clearer it will be to your client. Donna Dahl is an independent entrepreneur and free-lance writer. Donna may be reached here. |
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