The Colors of Instagram

A color analysis of brands on Instagram

Some of the most recognized brands have built their visual identity on just one color.

Starbucks Green

UPS BrownTarget Red

These brands create this fundamental association by including the color everywhere—from commercials and logo to packaging and websites.

But does this color-centric identity carry over to Instagram?

We analyzed thousands of Instagram photos and reduced each account into a color pinwheel.

1. Find the photos

2. Extract each photo’s most dominant color

3. Generate a color pinwheel

Can you guess the high-end jewelry retailer this pinwheel belongs to?

Answer? Tiffany, with their iconic blue.

Ready for the next one? Hint: it’s a luxury shoe brand.

Christian Louboutin, famous for their signature red soles.

Next up: a beer brand known for their icy cold brews.

For Coors Light, silver bullet is more than a moniker. It informs the color palette of nearly every photo on their Instagram.

Here’s another beer brand.

Guinness’s color palette matches their rich, black stout.

This one’s a coffee brand.

Surprise! It’s Starbucks. Their photos focus on a rustic, artisan lifestyle, not their signature green.

Similarly, Panera is focused creating a warm, homey feel.

McDonald’s pinwheel is brightly colored, but without much emphasis on their iconic red. They’re telling a fun, energetic story.

Gendered marketing carries over to Instagram. Compare Barbie’s pastels with Hot Wheels’ dark shades.

And we don’t outgrow gendered marketing. Check out the stark contrast between Degree’s men’s and women’s divisions.

Same thing with Dove.

This deck includes just a few of the accounts we analyzed. Want to see more? • Explore the dataset on Mode• Read the blog post

Mode is a collaborative analytics platform built by analysts, for analysts. To learn more about how Mode helps companies like Lyft, TuneIn, and Everlane analyze data more effectively, visit modeanalytics.com