By Kv Kurmanath

Copyright thehindubusinessline

What’s in a colour? A lot apparently, as it can make or unmake your business, according to new research. A global survey of logos of thousands of start-ups has revealed that poor colour combinations can deter customers.

An audit of over 14,000 start-ups conducted by generative engine optimisation agency Rebootin across 20 countries, reveals that many of them have logo colours in unappealing combinations. India leads globally, with over 15 per cent of start-ups — 341 of the 2,264 surveyed start-ups — using unfavourable colour pairings.

Visual clutter

The findings found that as many as 43 per cent of start-ups use four or more colours in their logos, creating visual clutter, while one in every 10 start-ups (11.2 per cent) use poor colour combinations. About 13 per cent of start-ups use colours that pose UX accessibility risks.

“While bright palettes can grab attention, too many colours create visual clutter, reducing brand clarity and making logos harder to remember, a problem in today’s fast-scrolling digital world,” the report said.

The retail and marketing sector leads in poor logo colour combinations with flashy designs often outweighing clarity. “Low contrast and red-green clashes can make logos and interfaces unreadable, potentially excluding 1 in 12 men worldwide who are colour blind,” it said.

Sanjay Sarma, Founder of SSARMA Consults, a boutique branding and communication advisory, agrees that colour plays a significant role in a brand’s recall value.

“The report is spot on. Too many colours, poor contrasts, or inaccessible palettes weaken that connection,” he said.

Colour identity

“When we see McDonald’s red and yellow, Facebook’s blue, or Starbucks’ green, we don’t just recognise a company. We connect with the memories, associations, and values those colours have carried over time,” he feels.

He said the deeper problem lies in how many new-age companies approach branding. “They think they are smart enough to do it all in-house. They rely on quick fixes, generic templates, or low-cost expertise. The savings are short-term, but the cost is long-term invisibility,” he said.

“The colour doesn’t just catch your eye, it signals urgency and action. Unfortunately, there are very few examples of Indian brands getting their colour identity right,” he comments.

The firm processed the logos using Python’s Pillow (PIL) library to extract up to five dominant colours, excluding common background/text colours (white, black, grey). Brand palettes were compared against reference maps of “good” and “bad” colour combinations using fuzzy colour matching.

Published on September 18, 2025