Your Brand's Colour Blind Spot

Every brand has a colour story — including yours. This canvas asks you to diagnose where that story might be working against you.

Name the real tension

Think of a brand you work for, use, or admire. Write its primary colour and the emotion it is supposed to project — then write the emotion it actually projects to you personally.

Intended emotion

→

Your actual reaction

Sort the forces

Divide the forces that make the colour work into two zones: what supports the intended message, and what undermines it.

Supports the message

Undermines it

How urgent is the problem?

Mark where this colour mismatch sits on the spectrum — is it a minor aesthetic quibble or a genuine barrier to trust and sales? Commit to a position.

Minor quibble

Critical barrier to trust

The obvious answer

Write the solution most marketing consultants would immediately suggest. Be specific — name the colour change or strategy adjustment they would recommend.

Attack the obvious answer

Look back at step 2. What does your obvious answer from step 4 cost or ignore? Name the hidden trade-off — cultural, financial, or emotional — that the quick fix overlooks. Then write one word that captures what the brand actually needs to resolve, and explain why that word.

Why that word?

Discuss Share your step 4 answer with a partner — do they agree it is obvious, or do they see the trade-off differently?

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