What black means in branding

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Surveys in Europe and North America link black with mourning, the end, secrets, magic, force, violence, fear, evil and elegance. Since the Middle Ages it has been the colour of solemnity and authority, which is why judges still wear it.

Four palettes from black

Worked out in OKLCH from the swatch above. Open one to get the light and dark themes, the contrast check and the code.

• Analogous
• Complementary
• Triadic
• Split

History

• Black was one of the first colours used in Neolithic cave paintings.
• In the Roman Empire it became the colour of mourning.
• In the 14th century it was worn by royalty, clergy, judges and officials across much of Europe, and in the 20th century it became a high fashion colour.

Brands known for black

• Chanel

  Coco Chanel published a drawing of a simple black dress in Vogue in 1926.

• Givenchy

  Hubert de Givenchy designed the black dress Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).

Sources

• Wikipedia: Black

The swatch is my own pick of black, not an official value.

Other colours

• Redheat, activity, passion, anger, love, joy
• Orangeamusement, warmth, energy, activity, extroversion
• Yellowamusement, gentleness, humour, happiness, spontaneity
• Greennature, life, health, youth, hope
• Blueharmony, confidence, knowledge, intelligence, calmness
• Purplerarity, royalty, luxury, ambition, mystery
• Pinksweetness, innocence, femininity
• Brownearth, nature, reliability
• Whiteperfection, honesty, cleanliness, the new, neutrality