Have you ever looked at certain colours paired together and thought to yourself “those colours remind me of this restaurant [or] that brand”?
Though you’re not entirely sure what it is about that particular pairing of colours, when combined they remind you of a specific brand or business, like how red and gold-yellow make you think of McDonald’s. Or, the same as how you can tell, when different reds are lined up next to each other, which one belongs to CocaCola, which one belongs to McDonald’s, or which one belongs to YouTube without needing to see the logo or brand name.
This type of recognition is important to brands and it speaks volumes to just how important colour is to your brand.
We’ve already done a deep dive into the use of colour in design in one of our previous blogs, but today we focus on some of the world’s most popular and recognized brand colours and the codes behind these famous colours — the Notorious RGB, if you will.
First, let’s take a slight step backwards.
What is RGB?
The acronym R-G-B stands for “red, green, blue” and refers to a system that represents the colours you see on a computer screen.
The RGB colour model is an additive colour model system where red, green, and blue light are mixed together to reproduce a broad array of colours. These colours can be combined in various proportions–each ranging from 0 to 100 percent–to obtain any colour in the spectrum.
Want to learn more about different colour models and how they work? Check out our Designing in Colour blog that takes a deep dive into how colour works and the importance of colour in creative concepts and designs.
Brands
Let’s kick this off with a few famous brands. Here are a few Hex, RGB, and CMYK colour codes from some of the most well-known brands in the world.
Coca Cola
When it comes to food products, red is one of the most useful colours for not only making a cognitive impact on your audience, but to also help entice them to buy, eat, and/or drink. Red is a colour that many designers use for restaurants as it helps spark hunger.
So not only is red eye-catching–to say the least–it triggers a response.
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COKE RED
HEX COLOR: #F40009; RGB: (244,0,0) CMYK: (4,100,95,0) |
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WHITE HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF; RGB: (255,255,255) CMYK: (0,0,0,0) |
McDonald’s
McDonald’s also uses a red, but a more muted one. Though the red is bright, it is playful and inviting when paired with the iconic golden arches. Not only does this logo trigger an action in its audience, with its slightly muted red (compared to Coke) it acts as a welcoming, friendly, hunger-homing beacon.
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RED
HEX COLOR: #DA291C; RGB: (218,41,28) CMYK: (0,30,94,0) |
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YELLOW HEX COLOR: #FFC72C; RGB: (255,199,44) CMYK: (0,100,91,0) |
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WHITE HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF; RGB: (255,255,255) CMYK: (0,0,0,0) |
Pepsi
Though Pepsi uses a red variation, it is not the main focal point to this brand’s image. If you haven’t guessed already, their focal colour is blue which is a much more calming colour for the audience’s eyes, but also one of the most widely-preferred colours for the human eye.
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RED HEX COLOUR: #C9002B RGB: (201 0 44) CMYK: (0, 100, 82, 0) |
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BLUE HEX COLOUR: #004B93 RGB: (39,81,184) CMYK: (100,69,17,3) |
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WHITE HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF; RGB: (255,255,255) CMYK: (0,0,0,0) |
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BLUE BACKGROUND HEX COLOUR: #005CB4 RGB: (0,92,184) CMYK: (100,42,0,0) |
Walmart
For such a chaotic place, Walmart’s logo and brand colours are surprisingly calming. With the blue, this logo feels trustworthy and welcoming, while the yellow adds a little spark of (shopping) inspiration. Though simple, a lot of time and effort was put into making this logo recognizable and appealing.
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MEDIUM BLUE HEX COLOR: #0072CE; RGB: (0,114,206) CMYK: (90,48,0,0) |
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YELLOW
HEX COLOR: #FFB81C; RGB: (253,187,48) CMYK: (0,29,91,0) |
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WHITE HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF; RGB: (255,255,255) CMYK: (0,0,0,0) |
Social Media
SnapChat
SnapChat yellow is nearly-blinding but effective as it really stands out against other platform logos. Seriously, ever had a difficult time finding your SnapChat app on your phone? Probably not because it sticks out like a giant lemon on your phone screen. Though yellow is definitely not a calming colour, like blue, it’s a colour most associated with happiness, optimism and creativity, which makes it the clear choice for a brand link SnapChat.
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YELLOW HEX COLOR: #FFFC00; RGB: (255,252,0) CMYK: (0,0,100,0) |
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BLACK HEX COLOR: #000000; RGB: (0,0,0) CMYK: (0,0,0,100) |
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WHITE HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF; RGB: (255,255,255) CMYK: (0,0,0,0) |
Spotify
I hate to say it but the colour scheme for Spotify reminds us a lot of the Xbox logo, but it’s brighter. Green is a perfect colour for a music brand as it represents, not only creativity but the youthful and playful side of the brand or product. It also helps promote balance, and I don’t know about you, but I often use music to help balance out my life after a long day.
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GREEN HEX COLOR: #1DB954; RGB: (30,215,96) CMYK: (80,0,80,0) |
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BLACK HEX COLOR: #000000; RGB: (0,0,0) CMYK: (0,0,0,100) |
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WHITE HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF; RGB: (255,255,255) CMYK: (0,0,0,0) |
Instagram has gone through a number of logo changes, but this has to be my favourite so far! With such a wide variety of colour (10 in this logo, to be exact), the rainbow logo really portrays the creative and colourful vibe that surrounds this platform.
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HEX COLOR: #405DE6; RGB: (64,93,230) CMYK: (78,67,0,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #5851DB; RGB: (88,81,219) CMYK: (75,72,0,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #833AB4; RGB: (131,58,180) CMYK: (61,85,0,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #C13584; RGB: (193,53,132) CMYK: (24,93,14,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #E1306C;
RGB: (225,48,108) CMYK: (6,95,36,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #FD1D1D; RGB: (253,29,29) CMYK: (0,97,96,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #F56040; RGB: (245,96,64) CMYK: (0,78,79,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #F77737;
RGB: (247,119,55) CMYK: (0,67,86,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #FCAF45; RGB: (252,175,69) CMYK: (0,36,83,0) |
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HEX COLOR: #FFDC80; RGB: (255,220,128) CMYK: (1,12,60,0) |
YouTube
The YouTube red, unlike Coke and McDonald’s, is fierce and abrasive. Red is often looked at as a motivating colour as long as the person working around it can handle the aggressive nature of this colour, and there is no exception here, though, seeing as YouTubers are some of the fiercest-working content creators out there.
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RED HEX COLOR: #FF0000; RGB: (255,0,0) CMYK: (0,95,100,0) |
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ALMOST BLACK HEX COLOR: #282828; RGB: (40,40,40) CMYK: (0,0,0,100) |
TikTok
One of the newer competitors to the social media game, and KILLING IT, I might add. Want to paint your room or studio like a giant TikTok logo? Then here are the colours you’ll need!
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TIKTOK BLACK HEX COLOUR: #010101 RGB: (1, 1, 1) CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 0.996 |
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TIKTOK BLUE (Sea Serpent) HEX COLOUR: #69C9D0 RGB: (105, 201, 208) CMYK: 0.495, 0.033, 0, 0.184 |
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WHITE HEX COLOUR: #FFFFFF RGB: (255, 255, 255) CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 0 |
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TIKTOK RED (Crayola) HEX COLOUR: #EE1D52 RGB: (238, 29, 82) CMYK: 0, 0.878, 0.655, 0.066 |
And to help clear up some of the confusion around the different social media blues (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), here are their colour codes!
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FACEBOOK BLUE HEX COLOR: #4267B2; RGB: (66,103,178) CMYK: (80,62,0,0) |
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LINKEDIN BLUE HEX COLOR: #2867B2; RGB: (40,103,178) CMYK: (87,61,0,0) |
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TWITTER BLUE HEX COLOR: #1DA1F2; RGB: (29,161,242) CMYK: (69,26,0,0) |
As you can see, LinkedIn and Facebook are very similar in colour but differ slightly… especially Facebook and LinkedIn
Then there is Google. Their logo is a combination of all the best brand colours: red – fierce, powerful, eye-catching, creative; blue – trustworthy, conservative, calming but inspiring; yellow – happy, creative, optimistic and busy; green – down-to-earth, playful, youthful, and growth.
It makes sense for Google to have an all-encompassing logo as they themselves encompass the lives of nearly everyone who has access to the internet.
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BLUE
HEX COLOR: #4285F4; RGB: (66,133,244) CMYK: (88,50,0,0) |
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RED HEX COLOR: #DB4437; RGB: (219,68,55) CMYK: (0,78,85,12) |
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YELLOW
HEX COLOR: #F4B400; RGB: (244,160,0) CMYK: (0,20,90,0) |
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GREEN HEX COLOR: #0F9D58; RGB: (15,157,88) CMYK: (82,0,67,11) |
Represent!
Toronto Raptors [current]
Of course, we couldn’t forget about one of the largest rebrand efforts in the history of the Toronto Raptors, and possibly basketball! Here’s a look at the new Toronto Raptors logo colour codes.
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RED
HEX COLOR: #CE1141; RGB: (206,17,65) CMYK: (0,100,65,15) |
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BLACK HEX COLOR: #000000; RGB: (6,25,34) CMYK: (30,0,0,100) |
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SILVER HEX COLOR: #A1A1A4; RGB: (161,161,164) CMYK: (0,1,0,43) |
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WHITE HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF; RGB: (255,255,255) CMYK: (0,0,0,0) |
adHOME Creative
And we could also never forget about ourselves! adHOMEies put a lot of time and effort into choosing exactly the right colours for our logo and it totally paid off. Curious about what goes into our colours? Well, here you go.
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adHOME BLUE
HEX COLOUR: 00788C RGB: 0,120,140 CMYK: 100,36,38,7 |
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adHOME GREEN HEX COLOUR: A7A936 RGB: 167,169,54 CMYK: 38,22,100,2 |
Nothing like breaking your favourite brands down to their most basic components. Tell us, though, did we miss a popular brand that you would have loved to see in this blog? Let us know in the comments below!