Color Schemes of Logos

Color Schemes in Famous Logos

This is my first post of the new semester. I've begun the e-Communication class, Graphic Design. For our first project we searched through famous logos for companies to find which ones fit a specific color scheme that was widely used in graphic design. 

Analogous

An analogous color scheme is when three colors are situated right next to each other. 

This is the logo used for NBC. Six colors are present in this logo. Along with a analogous color scheme, it also utilizes both a warm and cool scheme. One side has warm colors right next to each other and the other side features cool colors. However, despite having three different schemes, this logo would be analogous because of how both color sides are situated next to each other. The logo resembles the body and feathers of a peacock. This is most likely a reference to their peacock logo from 1979 to 1986. 

This is the Jamba Juice logo. There are three main colors present in this logo, red (pinkish), orange (yellowish), and green. You could make the argument that this logo could also be considered for a warm color scheme because of the warm colors present but it also has a large amount of cool colors, green. Because of the situation of each of the colors, it would mainly be an analogous color scheme. 

Complementary

Complementary colors are colors on the opposite sides of the color spectrum. 

This is the Walmart Logo. The main two colors included in this logo are blue and orange, which are complementary colors. The orange is supposedly a spark or sunshine. Since around 1981, Walmart had used blue as a text color. Beginning in 1992, Walmart featured a star in their text. In 2008, this star was changed to the spark.

This is the logo for Heineken beer. They use two complementary colors, red and green. Throughout the years, the company used similar logos. This included the iconic red star and green text.

Warm

Warm colors are colors with a warmer tone, including red, orange and yellow. 

This is the McDonalds logo. The logo is called the "Golden Arches". The logo and brand usually use to colors, red and yellow, both of which are part of the warm color schemes. The logo was created in 1952 after the original owners of McDonalds decided that they needed something to catch the eye of their patrons.

This is the logo for Tostitos, a brand chips. Their warm color scheme includes orange and yellow (and bits of red). Their product is tortilla chips, which originated in the Hispanic culture. They used these colors to stay close to this culture and to remind their buyers that this product is of a Hispanic origin. 

Cool

A logo that uses colors like green, blue, and purple.

This is the logo for the soft drink, Sprite. The flavoring of this drink is mainly lemons and limes. It would be natural to used cool colors to convey how this isn't your average lemonade and how it does used the taste of limes. 

This is the logo for the Australian coastal city, Melbourne. This logo also uses cool colors. They may have used cool colors to convey that they are a coastal city and are by the water. Another reason they could have used these scheme was for a more modern look for their logo.

Monochromatic

Different shades of the same color

This is the logo for the car company for Volkswagen. They use a monochromatic scheme. They have several shades of light and dark blues. Since the 1980's, Volkswagen has had a tendency to use blues in their logos. But this is their first monochromatic logo. 

This is the logo for American Express. This logo has changed greatly over the years. It is one of the first monochromatic logos that they've used.

Triad Color

Three colors, all right next to each other.

This is the logo for the 2024 Olympics, which are being held in Paris. They use a Triad color scheme by presenting three main colors. These main colors symbolize the Olympics normal logo.

This is the logo for Pepsi. Pepsi has used the triad color scheme since the 1950's. The three color they use are red, white, and blue.