When you are a student working on a brand identity project, colour and typography feel like the fun part. They are also the part most likely to create problems later if you choose them without a clear reason.
The project context
A classmate and I redesigned the website for a local tutoring service as part of a course assignment. The client had no existing brand guidelines — just a preference for something that felt trustworthy and approachable.
Decisions that held up
- Choosing a navy and warm white combination gave the site credibility without feeling cold or corporate
- Pairing a serif for headings with a readable sans-serif for body text created clear visual hierarchy without extra effort
- Sticking to two typefaces forced us to be more deliberate with sizing and weight instead of adding variety through more fonts
Decisions that caused problems
- The accent colour we picked — a muted terracotta — looked warm on desktop but turned muddy on older phone screens
- We chose fonts before finalising the content tone, so the type felt slightly too formal once the copy was written in a friendly voice
- No contrast ratio check early on meant we had to redo several buttons for accessibility compliance
The lesson is not that you need to get everything right the first time. You need to document your reasoning so you can revise specific decisions without unravelling the whole identity. A simple brand rationale doc saved us in client reviews.