Blue – a little colour theory

I’m in the process of putting the final touches on my new website and brand and thought I’d share the moodboard I put together for myself and talk a little bit about colour theory .

As a teenager blue was my favourite colour, I grew up in a sunny country, surrounded by the deep blue ocean and sandy beaches. Once I went to art school and learned more about colour theory  I somehow got it stuck in my head that blue is actually a really boring colour and I moved on to bright yellows and oranges and explored various combinations throughout different projects.

It’s always hard designing for yourself, but the key is to treat your own personal brand project just like a client project. Designers put a lot of work and effort into setting up proper processes to ensure that the client walks away with a strong brand.

So, it was time for me to sit down and talk to my client, myself, and evaluate what I want my brand to look and feel like and why and what it means to me and my audience.

I quickly realized that although I had been living in denial for all these years, blue was still my true colour and it was time to embrace it! Going full on beach theme there is a strong colour story of dark and medium ranges of blues, combined with a selection of softer, lighter greys and beiges.

Beyond me just “liking” blue, it also works well with my personality and how my brand has grown over the years. Blue is a colour of confidence, and while I’ve been at it for a few years and faking it till I make it, I can now say, that I do indeed feel confident in the design work and services I provide for my clients. Blue is a colour of trust and reliability, sincere, approachable, friendly and educational, all words that relate to how I want to run my design studio.

The first few years of being self employed come with a lot of anxiety and doubt, you make mistakes and go through lots of trial and error, but you learn from it and improve. While struggles still arise, as I am approaching my fourth year of self employed life, I definitely embrace more of that blue calmness and relaxation when it comes to work and life and everything in between.

While colours can have various interpretations one can’t deny that there is a lot of truth behind what they stand for. I encourage you to think of what your colour is, and how it relates back to you and your business values.