As a designer, it's important to stay on top of the latest colour trends, and be aware of how they're being applied today. It's been shown that over 80% of visual information is related to colour, and that can be seen in design trends and traditions. Designs that want to invoke a sense of trust and strength traditionally use blue (see Sears, Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Dell, IBM, etc.) Add in a bit of red to the mix to ramp up the technological and futuristic aspect of the design with purple or magenta tones (think Sony, Nokia, Verizon, and T-Mobile). Green is used to communicate ideas of nature and environmentalism (recycling, BP), while red has always brought with it a sense or energy and immediacy used most prominently in the fast food industry (McDonalds, Wendy's), but brought in whenever ideas of speed, service and sales abound (K-Mart, Johnson and Johnson, Canon, Safeway, Shell, Target). There's a great image here originally from Wired magazine, showing the sheer volume of companies battling for ownership of the blue spectrum - a sense of longevity, trustworthiness and strength is incredibly valuable in the marketplace.

As an increasing number of companies battle over a limited spectrum, an interesting phenomena is developing. People aren't simply seeing colours any longer. What used to be "firetruck red" to many is becoming "Coke red." There's GAP blue, and Starbucks green. T-Mobile is now famous for its ownership of the colour Magenta. Yep, if you use the color magenta around anything to do with phones, communication, digital media, or the internet, prepare to be taken to court. Even the names of colours are becoming property. UPS trademarked the slogan "What can Brown do for you?" Owens-Corning, an insulation company, has registered the term "PINK."

Considering all of this, it's easy to see how colour is an incredibly important aspect of your brand, and yet so many companies tend to ignore it. Back when I worked at a printing company, we'd see hundreds of business people come in to print off signage, letterheads and presentations, all with varying shades of their corporate colour. Do some research into your colours, and make sure you or your designers choose a proper colour palette for your identity. Make sure you get specific CMYK colour values as well as Pantone values for your colours, and follow through by creating a brand strategy guide, outlining the placement, sizing, and colour usage of your logo. Finally, bring your brand across all levels of your business, internal and external, to ensure you have a solid identity.