Choose Brand Colors

You are helping a startup founder develop their brand color palette. This includes primary colors, secondary colors, neutrals, and accent colors — all with exact specifications and usage guidelines.

Note: Color is one of the most powerful brand tools — research shows 62-90% of snap judgments about products are based on color alone.

Context Loading

Founder Brief (optional): @docs/00-BRAND/00-DISCOVERY/01-founder-brief.md

Audience Research (optional): @docs/00-BRAND/00-DISCOVERY/02-audience-research.md

Competitive Audit (required): @docs/00-BRAND/00-DISCOVERY/03-competitive-audit.md

Brand Name (required): @docs/00-BRAND/00-DISCOVERY/04-brand-name.md

Purpose/Mission/Vision (optional): @docs/00-BRAND/01-STRATEGY/01-purpose-mission-vision.md

Core Values (optional): @docs/00-BRAND/01-STRATEGY/02-core-values.md

Positioning (optional): @docs/00-BRAND/01-STRATEGY/03-positioning.md

Archetype (required): @docs/00-BRAND/01-STRATEGY/04-archetype.md

Brand Personality/Voice (required): @docs/00-BRAND/01-STRATEGY/05-brand-personality-voice.md

Visual Direction (required): @docs/00-BRAND/03-VISUAL/01-visual-direction.md

Check above: If brand name, competitive audit, archetype, brand personality, or visual direction content is missing, STOP and tell the user to complete prerequisites first.

Optional color preferences: $ARGUMENTS

Your Role

CRITICAL: ALWAYS use the AskUserQuestion tool for ANY question to the user. Never ask questions as plain text output. The AskUserQuestion tool ensures a guided, interactive experience with structured options. Every single user question must go through this tool.

CRITICAL: You MUST use the Task tool to launch the brand-color-strategist agent. Do not create color palettes yourself — that's what the specialized agent is for.

Your job is to:

1. Verify prerequisites exist
2. Extract key context from loaded documents
3. Prepare a comprehensive, structured prompt for the agent
4. Launch the agent
5. Help founder review and validate
6. Save and review the results

Interactive Experience (CRITICAL)

ALWAYS use the AskUserQuestion tool when interacting with the user. This ensures a guided, interactive experience where the founder feels engaged and consulted throughout the branding process.

Use AskUserQuestion to:

• Gather preferences before launching agents
• Present options with clear tradeoffs
• Validate agent outputs before saving
• Get feedback and iterate on results

Never save final outputs without user approval.

Human-Sounding Writing Protocol

BEFORE launching the brand-color-strategist agent, you MUST:

1. Use the Skill tool to invoke claude-vibes:ai-writing-detection

   • This loads expert-level knowledge of AI writing patterns to avoid

2. Use the Sequential Thinking MCP tool (ultrathink) to prepare AI-aware instructions:

   • Review vocabulary patterns to avoid: "delve", "tapestry", "multifaceted", "leverage", "crucial", "comprehensive", "foster", "harness", "navigate", "landscape", "realm", "beacon", "pivotal"
   • Review phrases to avoid: "It's important to note", "In today's fast-paced world", "At its core", "Let me explain"
   • Review structural patterns to avoid: uniform sentence lengths, excessive tricolons, em dash overuse (LLMs use em dashes formulaically to create "punched up" sales rhythms—swapping to commas doesn't help; vary your structures instead)

3. Include AI-aware instructions in the agent prompt so output is human-sounding from the start

Launch the Agent

Use Task tool with subagent_type: "claude-vibes:BRANDING:brand-color-strategist" and this prompt:

Develop the brand color palette. ultrathink

## BRAND CONTEXT

**Brand Name**: [From brand name document]
**Purpose (WHY)**: [From purpose-mission-vision.md]
**Mission (HOW)**: [From purpose-mission-vision.md]
**Vision (WHERE)**: [From purpose-mission-vision.md]
**Core Values**: [From core-values.md]
**Positioning**: [From positioning.md — the territory we claim]
**Onlyness Statement**: [From positioning.md]

## BRAND PERSONALITY

**Archetype**: [From archetype.md — primary and secondary]
**Personality Traits**: [From brand-personality-voice.md — the 5 traits]
**Brand Essence**: [From brand-personality-voice.md — 2-3 words]

## VISUAL DIRECTION

**Visual Adjectives**: [From visual-direction.md — the 3-5 visual words]
**Mood Board Direction**: [From visual-direction.md — overall aesthetic]
**Visual SMP**: [From visual-direction.md — single-minded proposition]

## AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

**Who They Serve**: [From audience research — primary customer segment]
**Audience Demographics**: [From audience research — age, location, etc.]
**Color Expectations**: [From audience research — what they expect visually]
**Aspirational Brands**: [From audience research — brands they admire]

## COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

**Competitor Colors**: [From competitive audit — what colors competitors use]
**Dominant Category Colors**: [From competitive audit — industry patterns]
**Color White Space**: [From competitive audit — opportunities to differentiate]

## PRACTICAL CONSTRAINTS

**Design Budget**: [From founder brief — budget for design]
**Existing Elements**: [From founder brief — any existing colors/visuals]
**Color Preferences/Avoids**: [From founder brief or $ARGUMENTS — constraints]
**Target Markets**: [From founder brief — cultural considerations needed]

## CRITICAL: INTERACTIVE DISCOVERY

**ALWAYS use the AskUserQuestion tool to ensure an interactive, guided experience:**
- Gather preferences and opinions before making recommendations
- Present options with clear tradeoffs for the user to choose from
- Validate findings and get feedback before proceeding
- Confirm final outputs resonate before saving

Never make significant decisions without user input. The brand identity belongs to them.

## DISCOVERY APPROACH

### Phase 1: Analyze Brand Strategy
Extract from inputs:
- Archetype → What colors align with this emotional territory
- Personality → How traits translate to color qualities
- Positioning → Color territory to claim or avoid
- Audience → Color preferences of target segment
- Industry → Conventions to follow or intentionally break

### Phase 2: Audit Competitive Color Landscape
Apply Blue Ocean Color Strategy:
1. Identify dominant colors in category
2. Find underutilized colors (white space)
3. Identify colors to avoid (owned by competitors)
4. Assess: Can we own alternative territory credibly?

### Phase 3: Apply Color Psychology
For each potential color:
- Check Appropriateness Principle (fit over preference)
- Apply Color-in-Context Theory (context determines meaning)
- Verify cultural implications for target markets
- Connect to archetype color framework

### Phase 4: Build the Palette
Using color harmony systems:
- Select primary color based on strategy
- Add secondaries using harmony schemes (complementary, analogous, etc.)
- Add neutrals for balance
- Add accent/CTA color for action
- Apply 60-30-10 Rule for proportions
- Keep total to 3-5 core colors

### Phase 5: Validate Accessibility
- Test WCAG contrast ratios (4.5:1 normal text, 3:1 large)
- Simulate colorblindness (protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia)
- Ensure color is never the only indicator
- Document accessible alternatives

### Phase 6: Document Completely
Specify every color in:
- HEX (web)
- RGB (digital)
- CMYK (print)
- Pantone (brand consistency)

## TOOLS TO USE

- **Sequential Thinking MCP**: Build palette from brand psychology through to specific values systematically
- **AskUserQuestion**: Understand color preferences/constraints, validate primary color direction, get feedback on palette options
- **WebSearch**: Discover competitor brand colors, research color psychology, find brand color case studies, check industry color patterns
- **WebFetch**: Read color psychology articles, study brand color case studies, understand research behind color associations

## OUTPUT REQUIREMENTS

Deliver the complete color palette using the Color Palette Documentation Template from the `brand-color-psychology` skill. Must include:

1. **Executive Summary** (2-3 sentences on palette and rationale)
2. **Strategic Foundation** (brand inputs, psychology alignment, appropriateness analysis)
3. **Competitive Color Landscape** (audit, Blue Ocean analysis, differentiation strategy)
4. **Primary Colors** (1-2 with all values, rationale, usage guidelines)
5. **Secondary Colors** (2-3 with harmony relationship, role in palette)
6. **Neutral Colors** (dark, medium, light with usage)
7. **Accent Colors** (CTA, success, warning, error)
8. **Color Combinations** (approved, avoided, 60-30-10 proportions)
9. **Accessibility** (contrast ratios, colorblindness testing, non-color indicators)
10. **Quick Reference** (core palette table, CSS custom properties)

After Agent Returns

Use AskUserQuestion to help founder review and validate:

"Here's your brand color palette. How would you like to proceed?"

• This palette feels right — let's proceed
• I'd like to explore different primary color options
• I want to refine specific colors (primary, secondary, accent)
• I have questions about the color choices
• Let's test the accessibility more thoroughly
• I need to discuss with my team before finalizing

Guidelines

• Colors must differentiate from competitors — Blue Ocean thinking
• Include accessibility considerations — WCAG compliance is non-negotiable
• Provide exact values — no "blue-ish" vagueness; HEX, RGB, CMYK, Pantone
• Consider how colors work across digital and print — test CMYK conversion
• Account for culture — research color meanings in target markets
• Appropriateness over preference — color must "fit" the brand context
• Keep it simple — 3-5 core colors maximum; simplicity scales
• Connect every choice to strategy — rationale for each color

Output

After the founder approves the palette:

1. Ensure docs/00-BRAND/03-VISUAL/ directory exists

2. Save to docs/00-BRAND/03-VISUAL/02-color-palette.md with:

   • Executive summary
   • Strategic foundation
   • Competitive landscape
   • Complete color specifications
   • Accessibility validation
   • Quick reference

3. Next step: "Run /00-BRAND:03-visual/03-select-typography to develop your brand typography."