Tela has been conducting research into the colour usage on the top 50 law firms websites for the last 7 years in order to identify trends in colour use. This year we have decided to broaden our research and take a look more specifically into the logo colours used on the top 50 law firms websites.
To produce this research, we have dynamically formatted each law firm’s logo enabling you to compare the most used and least used colours. You can filter this data to display each law firm’s individual colour approach by selecting ‘filter by law firm’s 2023’ at the top of the page.
RESULTS: 2023
Most Popular Colours
You can see from the research above that blue is currently the most popular logo colour for law firms in the UK, with a higher balance towards dark blue than light. You can see some examples of the blue logos below:
In the last couple of years, law firms have adapted and have opted for a more modernised look for their logos, you can see from Fieldfisher logo below that although they have stuck to the popular blue colour, they have used a gradient to add a purple hue which gives a more modern feel to their logo.
Our research shows that reds, pinks and oranges are also a heavily used area on the colour wheel for law firms’ logos. Here are some examples;
Orange is a less traditional colour for a law firms websites so it stands out well and help to create a memorable brand experience. You can see below that Osborne Clarke have used the most popular blue colour as a background with the bright orange on top. The blue background helps to give the logo depth while the orange gives more prominence to their call to actions (CTAs).
Black and White Logos
Some law firms like Clifford Chance, Mishcon de Reya and Macfarlanes have gone for a magazine style brand look by using black and white in the logo and then adding colour to their CTAs across the website.
Clifford Chance uses light blue as their feature colour on their website as displayed below.
Mishcon de Reya uses a bright orange colour in a very similar way.
Macfarlanes have used bright imagery on their homepage and throughout the site to add in pops of their slightly peachy red feature colour.
While the three sites have logos which are similar in colour, they have taken different approaches to the colour palates used across the rest of the site. Clifford Chance and Mishcon have similarities in their logos by both going for a black background and white text but have different approaches to their websites. Clifford Chance have opted for a light website while Mischon have used darker background colours to match the logo.
Using a dark background and a bright feature colour helps to draw the users attention to the CTA and imagery used on their site as that is where a user is seeing pops of colour.
Similarly to Clifford Chance, Macfarlanes have used a white background to their website with black and peachy red as more of a feature colour. This creates a crisp look and feel to the site and helps the brand focus on the imagery and other elements used. This style website helps Macfarlanes use a variety of styles of imagery while always matching with the brand.
Final Thoughts
The most popular colours currently used in law firms branding are blue and red. Blue is a colour that symbolises confidence and intelligence while red can be associated with power and determination. Both of these perceptions describe a law firm’s service and explain why these colours are the most used.
Orange is another colour we have been seen used, although less than blue and red. Orange is a mixture of red (strength, power and determination) and yellow (which symbolises energy and creativity). Orange is a good balance between being powerful and providing a quality service.
Tela would expect the website colours to match the firm’s brand colours so it will be interesting to see what our top 50 law firms website colours will look like for 2023 and whether they have matched imagery and website colour to their branding.
