Color is a huge part of design. It’s one of the first things your eye processes when you absorb an object. And when it comes to the defining element of your brand, a logo, color communicates before people absorb the letters, numbers, and shapes. If you feel like you see the same blue and black logos everywhere, you’re not imagining it.
I actually reviewed the logos for the top brands in America and found that most of them use the same colors. For my study, I decided to go through the Fortune Global 500 list as a benchmark for successful, recognizable American companies.
Fortune 500 (2019) Companies
The Fortune Global 500 ranks of the top 500 corporations worldwide each year. They measure according to revenue. See the current list here.
The results were fascinating.
Blue and Black Logos Dominate the Top 100
A quick visual assessment of the top 100 companies reveals that blue, followed by red, and black are the most popular colors for logos. You’ll also notice that the shades of blue and red are very similar.
In fact, there were only a few companies in the Top 100 that deviated from these 3 colors.
This trend holds for the entire Fortune Global 500 list.
The Most Common Logo Colors
If you review all 500 companies, as I did, you’ll find that Blue (37%) and Black (31%) dominate the core colors for logos. Red is an obvious third at 13%.
Similar to the top 100, the tones of red and blue were also very close throughout the logos. Most were close to a pure hue.
Why are Black and Blue the most common colors?
There isn’t one contributing factor for the most common logo colors. However, there are a few chicken-egg reasons that have influenced this direction in design.
- Printing History: Older, established brands began their promotions in the era of print. This meant that 4 color printing was more expensive. So, you would often see brands choose to do their logo in a single color or in two colors to save costs. Often, blue and red were chosen because they stood out against the black print of newspapers (the dominant medium.) These primary colors would print reliably and lend consistency to branding. Then, as the brands continued through the years, they kept their brand equity from using those tones.
- Agency History: Although there are millions of designers and agencies around the globe today, advertising and marketing are fairly new industries. For a long time, only a handful of groups were working with all of the large brands. That led to a certain amount of similarity, especially among more conservative and established brands.
- Color Psychology: Whether you believe in it or not, color psychology has had an outsized influence on how designers choose their tones. The way humans perceive color has been seen in several studies, such as a placebo effect with blue and red pills. These color guides are often taken into consideration when developing a logo.
- The Market: Over time, people have started to associate certain colors with particular industries and brands. This is somewhat linked to the influence from each of the above factors. In market testing, brand research often reveals that people expect certain hues for certain types of brands.
Each of these factors has played a role in how these large companies initially chose and then, adapted their logos over time.
How to Choose a Good Logo Color
You may not like blue and black logos. That’s perfectly fine. If you’re trying to choose a good color palette for your own logo, keep in mind the following considerations.
- Decide if you are mainstream or an outlier. If you want to associate yourself with the big brands in your industry, choosing one of the common colors is a safe choice. It will visually align you with them. If you want to disrupt your industry, try using a tone that is less common.
- Consider the long-term use of your logo. Ideally, your brand will last past visual trends. Think about how your color will look if aesthetics change. If possible, you want to augment your logo with time, keeping the core colors and making small updates.
- Think practically about how you will use your logo. The more colors you add, the higher your cost for any physical materials will be (print, embroidery, etc.). Also, bright or primary hues work well on screens, at a long distance, and sized down.
You can choose the best logo color if you think about how your brand sits in the greater context of the market.
Additional Reading
If you’re interested in learning more about logos, design and colors, check out the following information.
- Emotional Reactions to Color by Kathy Lamencusa
- Are You Selling the Right Colour? A Cross-cultural Review of Colour as a Marketing Cue by Mubeem M. Aslam
- Color Red: Implications for applied psychology and marketing research by Chris Piotrowski
- Aesthetic preference to color combinations: preference, harmony, and similarity by Karen B. Schloss and Stephen E. Palmer
- Color Psychology by AlterSpark
- Do You See What I See from Documentary Mania
Also, don’t forget to follow my blog, Facebook or Instagram to keep up with the conversation.
Methodology
To generate the numbers for my graphs, I started by pulling a list of the current Fortune Global 500 in November 2019. Then, I visually assessed each brand’s official logo. I used whichever version they identified as their main logo in their brand guide or press kit. So, some of them are technically wordmarks.
To select the primary color, I chose the most dominant color. If it was a close split, I chose the color in the wordmark part of the logo. If that was split, I represented the color as a split on the chart. For color choices, I stuck to the basic colors:
- Red
- Orange
- Yellow
- Green
- Blue
- Purple
- Black
- Brown
- Grey
So, for example, if a logo was crimson, I labelled it red. If a logo was lavendar, I labelled it purple. These cases were rare as most of the tones were actually very straight primary colors for red and blue.
I also kept notes on the secondary colors.
Fortune 500 List (November 2019)
- Walmart
- Exxon Mobil
- Apple
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Amazon.com
- United Health Group
- McKesson
- CVS Health
- AT&T
- AmerisourceBergen
- Chevron
- Ford Motor
- General Motors
- Costco Wholesale
- Alphabet
- Cardinal Health
- Walgreens Boots Alliance
- JPMorgan Chase
- Verizon Communications
- Kroger
- General Electric
- Fannie Mae
- Phillips 66
- Valero Energy
- Bank of America
- Microsoft
- Home Depot
- Boeing
- Wells Fargo
- Citigroup
- Marathon Petroleum
- Comcast
- Anthem
- Dell Technologies
- DuPont de Nemours
- State Farm Insurance
- Johnson&Johnson
- IBM
- Target
- Freddie Mac
- United Parcel Service
- Lowe’s
- Intel
- MetLife
- Procter & Gamble
- United Technologies
- FedEx
- PepsiCo
- Archer Daniels Midland
- Prudential Financial
- Centene
- Albertsons
- Walt Disney
- Sysco
- HP
- Humana
- Caterpillar
- Energy Transfer
- Lockheed Martin
- Pfizer
- Goldman Sachs Group
- Morgan Stanley
- Cisco Systems
- Cigna
- AIG
- HCA Healthcare
- American Airlines Group
- Delta Air Lines
- Charter Communications
- New York Life Insurance
- American Express
- Nationwide
- Best Buy
- Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
- Merck
- Honeywell International
- United Continental Holdings
- TIAA
- Tyson Foods
- Oracle
- Allstate
- World Fuel Services
- Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
- TJX
- ConocoPhillips
- Deere
- Tech Data
- Enterprise Products Partners
- Nike
- Publix Super Markets
- General Dynamics
- Exelon
- Plans GP Holdings
- 3M
- AbbVie
- CHS
- Capital One Financial
- Progressive
- Coca-Cola
- USAA
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Abbot Laboratories
- Twenty-First Century Fox
- Micron Technology
- Travelers
- Rite Aid
- Northrop Grumman
- Arrow Electronics
- Philip Morris International
- Northwestern Mutual
- INTL FCStone
- PBF Energy
- Raytheon
- Kraft Heinz
- Mondelez International
- U.S. Bancorp
- Macy’s
- Dollar General
- Nucor
- Starbucks
- DXC Technology
- Eli Lilly
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
- US Foods Holding
- Duke Energy
- Halliburton
- Cummins
- Amgen
- Paccar
- Southern
- CenturyLink
- International Paper
- Union Pacific
- Dollar Tree
- Penske Automotive Group
- Qualcomm
- Bristol-Meyers Squibb
- Gilead Sciences
- Jabil
- ManpowerGroup
- Southwest Airlines
- Aflac
- Tesla
- AutoNation
- CBRE Group
- Lear
- Whirlpool
- McDonald’s
- Broadcom
- Marriot International
- Western Digital
- Visa
- Lennar
- WellCare Health Plans
- Kohl’s
- AECOM
- Synnex
- PNC Financial Services
- Danaher
- Hartford Financial Services
- Altria Group
- Bank of New York Mellon
- Fluor
- Avnet
- Icahn Enterprises
- Occidental Petroleum
- Molina Healthcare
- Genuine Parts
- Freeport-McMoran
- Kimberly Clark
- Tenet Healthcare
- Synchrony Financial
- CarMax
- HollyFrontier
- Performance Food Group
- Sherwin-Williams
- Emerson Electric
- NGL Energy Partners
- XPO Logistics
- EOG Resources
- Applied Materials
- PG&E
- NextEra Energy
- C.H. Robinson Worldwide
- Gap
- Lincoln National
- DaVita
- Jones Lang LaSalle
- WestRock
- CDW
- American Electric Power
- Cognizant Technology Solutions
- D.R. Horton
- Becton Dickinson
- Nordstrom
- Netflix
- Aramark
- Texas Instruments
- General Mills
- Supervalu
- Colgate-Palmolive
- Goodyear Tire & Rubber
- PayPal Holdings
- PPG Industries
- Omnicom Group
- Celgene
- Jacobs Engineering Group
- Ross Stores
- Marsh & McLennan
- Mastercard
- Land O’Lakes
- Waste Management
- Illinois Tool Works
- Ecolab
- Booking Holdings
- CBS
- Parker-Hannifin
- Principle Financial
- DTE Energy
- BlackRock
- United States Steel
- Community Health Systems
- Kinder Morgan
- Qurate Retail
- Loews
- Arconic
- Stanley Black & Decker
- Textron
- Las Vegas Sands
- Estee Lauder
- DISH Network
- Stryker
- Kellogg
- Biogen
- Alcoa
- Anadarko Petroleum
- Dominion Energy
- ADP
- salesforce.com
- L Brands
- Henry Schein
- Newell Brands
- Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America
- BJ’s Wholesale Club
- BB&T Corp.
- State Street Corp.
- Viacom
- Ameriprise Financial
- Core-Mark Holding
- Reinsurance Group of America
- VF
- Discover Financial Services
- Global Partenrs
- Edison International
- Oneok
- Murphy USA
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Consolidated Edison
- CSX
- J.C.Penney
- LKQ
- FirstEnergy
- Steel Dynamics
- Lithia Motors
- MGM Resorts International
- Tenneco
- Nvidia
- Sempra Energy
- Farmers Insurance Exchange
- Ball
- Group 1 Automotive
- Unum Group
- Xcel Energy
- Reliance Steel & Aluminum
- Huntsman
- Norfolk Southern
- Laboratory Corp. of America
- Corning
- Expedia Group
- Autozone
- W.W. Grainger
- Quanta Services
- Crown Holdings
- Office Depot
- Baxter International
- Lam Research
- Entergy
- Charles Schwab
- L3 Technologies
- NRG Energy
- Live Nation Entertainment
- Universal Health Services
- Molson Coors Brewing
- eBay
- AES
- Devon Energy
- Pacific Life
- CenterPoint Energy
- Discovery
- BorgWarner
- Targa Resources
- Ally Financial
- SunTrust Banks
- IQVIA Holdings
- American Family Insurance Group
- Delek US Holdings
- Navistar International
- Chesapeak Energy
- United Natural Foods
- Leidos Holdings
- PulteGroup
- Eastman Chemical
- Republic Services
- Mohawk Industries
- Sonic Automotive
- Owens & Minor
- Xerox
- Boston Scientific
- DCP Midstream
- Autoliv
- Interpublic Group
- Public Service Enterprise Group
- PVH
- Mosaic
- Advance Auto Parts
- Altice USA
- Hormel Foods
- O’Reilly Automotive
- Calpine
- Hertz Global Holdings
- First Data
- Pioneer Natual Resources
- Coty
- AGCO
- Mutual Omaha Insurance
- Vistra Energy
- Avis Budget Group
- Adobe
- Peter Kiewit Sons’
- News Corp.
- Brighthouse Financial
- Voya Financial
- Air Products & Chemicals
- Hilton Worldwide Holdings
- Gamestop
- Veritiv
- Williams
- Campbell Soup
- Rockwell Collins
- Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
- Westlake Chemical
- Univar
- J.B.Hunt Transport Services
- Frontier Communications
- Jones Financial (Edward Jones)
- National Oilwell Varco
- Eversource Energy
- Dicks Sporting Goods
- Genworth Financial
- Fidelity National Information Services
- Yum China Holdings
- Ryder System
- Anixter International
- Caesars Entertainment
- Masco
- Thor Industries
- Alaska Air Group
- Amphenol
- WESCO International
- Huntington Ingalls Industries
- Jefferies Financial Group
- Dana
- Expeditors Intl. of Washington
- EMCOR Group
- Darden Restaurants
- SpartanNash
- Assurant
- United Rentals
- Liberty Media
- Erie Insurance Group
- Auto-Owners Insurance
- Cheniere Energy
- Fifth Third Bancorp
- Foot Locker
- Conagra Brands
- Zimmer Biomet Holdings
- Tractor Supply
- Berry Global Group
- Alliance Data Systems
- Hershey
- PPL
- Dean Foods
- Builders FirstSource
- Oshkosh
- EnLink Midstream
- W.R. Berkley
- WEC Energy Group
- Jetblue Airways
- UGI
- A-Mark Precious Metals
- Fidelity National Financial
- Constellation Brands
- Quest Diagnostics
- Activision Blizzard
- Weyerhaeuser
- Raymond James Financial
- Casey’s General Stores
- Keurig Dr Pepper
- American Tower
- Apache
- Dover
- KeyCorp
- J.M.Smucker
- Citizens Financial Group
- Motorola Solutions
- Magellan Health
- American Axle & Manufacturing
- Newmont Goldcorp
- Spirit AeroSystems Holdings
- Western & Southern Financial Group
- Fortive
- Graybar Electric
- NVR
- Avery Dennison
- Celanese
- American Financial Group
- Toll Brothers
- Sanmina
- Insight Enterprises
- Owens Corning
- Packaging Corp of America
- TravelCenters of America
- Olin
- Arthur J. Gallagher
- MasTec
- Alleghany
- Owens-Illinois
- Asbury Automotive Group
- CMS Energy
- Markel
- Blackstone Group
- AK Steel Holding
- Hanesbrands
- R.R. Donnelley & Sons
- Wayfair
- Regions Financial
- Wynn Resorts
- Ulta Beauty
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
- Burlington Stores
- Rockwell Automation
- Northern Trust
- Chemours
- Seaboard
- Marathon Oil
- Ascena Retail Group
- Dillard’s
- Cintas
- Advanced Micro Devices
- Hess
- M&T Bank Corp.
- ABM Industries
- Beacon Roofing Supply
- NCR
- iHeartMedia
- Franklin Resources
- Ameren
- Intercontinental Exchange
- S&P Global
- Post Holdings
- Analog Devices
- Ralph Lauren
- L3Harris Technolgies
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Polaris Industries
- Clorox
- Realogy Holdings
- HD Supply Holdings
- Graphic Packaging Holding
- Old Republic International
- Intuit
- NetApp
- Tapestry
- ON Semiconductor
- Ingredion
- Zoetis
- Fiserv
- TreeHouse Foods
- Robert Half International
- First American Financial
- Harley Davidson
- Windstream Holdigns
- Yum Brands
- Williams-Sonoma
- Simon Property Group
- Navient
- Western Union
- Peabody Energy
- Levi Strauss
