How Grading Is Shaping Brand Identity in 2025

Colour is one of the fastest ways to make an audience feel something, and in 2025, brands are treating it as a strategic asset rather than just an aesthetic flourish. From the dreamy pastels of lifestyle campaigns to the gritty, desaturated palettes of purpose-led storytelling, colour grading has moved far beyond simply “making footage look nice.” It’s now a tool to signal brand values, evoke emotion, and create visual signatures that are as recognisable as a logo.

The shift is partly driven by the way audiences consume media today. In a world where attention is measured in seconds, brands often have only a few frames to hook someone scrolling on a phone, often in less-than-ideal lighting, without sound, and surrounded by competing visuals. In that environment, grading becomes more than a finishing touch; it’s a means of instantly signalling mood, tone, and even narrative before a single line of copy is read. The colour story has to be as intentional as the tagline.

But this evolution isn’t just about digital-first realities. It’s also a response to a growing appetite for authenticity, craft, and emotion in brand communication. From Apple’s cool precision to Patagonia’s grounded naturalism, the brands winning on visual identity are those using grading to amplify their promise and set themselves apart.

Whether it’s a subtle warmth that makes an ad feel inviting, or a high-contrast grit that brings sport to life, every shade now carries strategic weight. These industry insiders share their thoughts on the power of colour.

​

Janet Falcon, senior colorist at ​Alkemy X

As a colorist who has been grading since the early 1990’s I feel that attention to grading choices, including brand identity and emotional tones is not a new concept. When I used to grade film on a Rank Cintel and later on a Spirit, I would sit in a room filled with creatives: director, DP, agency creatives, even brand clients. We would spend countless hours experimenting and trying out looks that would enhance the overall identity of the piece. We would address each person’s concerns, from lighting, gels, film stock, style, palette, emotion and "wow factor” to specific brand colours… Most importantly, matching the colour to the vibe of the cut and music to create a cohesive polished product. For a while, when digital capture first arrived, many assumed creative colour grading was no longer necessary, since you could just use a camera LUT to get the look that was intended on the set. Recently I have noticed people are returning to the idea that working closely with a professional colorist and establishing a colour palette and vibe can take their piece to the next level and get it noticed at a time when there is so much competition as people are constantly bombarded with media, particularly on social media and other online platforms.

Andi Chu, colourist at Electric Theatre Collective

I can feel our role quietly transforming, from polishing shots to bridging storytelling forms. Grading references are garnered from films, series, photography, installations, graphic design - all things audiovisual. Audiences, shaped by fast-paced and mixed-media editing, have developed a certain visual appetite.

In this evolving landscape, I think colour grading is an anchor point for highlighting brand essence, while embracing extended references. Film emulation and subtle texture work allow brands the richness and depth of cinema when resources are limited. I try to balance influences with something new each time, weaving echoes into the spot so it reflects the care, coherence, and intention of the creative.

The latest spot for Booking.com x Netflix feat. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams was a fun one: Tim Burton on a major platform, keeping an eye on blue and red, of course.

Alex O’Brien, colourist at OkayStudio

As brands continue to evolve, they’re recognising the power of colour not just as a visual tool, but as a strategic asset that can shape consumer perception, emotion, and behaviour; a distinctive colour becomes a shorthand for the brand itself. It goes beyond just looking “good”, it's a key component in building a brand's identity and communicating its essence without words. Grading has become such a vital role within branded work because of this and as brands compete more and more, our role as colourists is to find and push that brands true identity. The emotional resonance of colour grading is why it’s not just about technical proficiency but also artistic intention.

Dan Kreeger, colour EP at Time Based Arts

Reinforcing brand identity with colour grading shouldn't just be making everything blue because the product comes wrapped in blue or making things orange, because your brand is called Orange. Colour grading has many ways of influencing an audience; be it emotionally, narratively or in terms of visual style.

Amplifying a director and DOP's work to create feelings of emotion, a colourist can make an audience feel imagery in a different way. Some brands know they want empathy, some brands want excitement and some brands concentrate less on this and more on how they look.

At this more surface level, a colourist can imbue a film with a style that leads audiences towards cultural touchstones that in turn make them more interested and involved. Over the years advertising has turned to art, photography and music for their visual styles. Brands have leapt forwards after leaning-into the latest trends in videos and pop culture. Colourists are often at the heart of that, naturally working across moving image in all areas and bringing that to their projects.

Technically, there are examples of advancements in grading tools playing a part in this influence and a good one is the use of film emulation. In the past advertising would either be made on film or on digital for different effects on their audiences. Colourists can now employ sophisticated digital toolsets that bring the best elements of film to digital shoots. This can give audiences levels of nostalgia, an association with movies or a sense of physicality or craft in the image making.

One of the most powerful things about colour grading is the forum in which it's carried out. A colourist is at the heart of so many discussions that will influence how the work is received. They work in a specialist environment into which they invite all parties to come and contribute to that process. They are able to show these collaborators the effects of changes live in the room, so that everyone can understand the process and feel its influence in a fluid and experimental way. I believe that's why so many people enjoy grading sessions and get so much out of them. We put the onus on bringing our collaborators into the grade suites and we believe that giving the process time and focus, allows the colourists to be the most creative. Grading the image with respect and using the colourist's taste and expertise gives the final product the most incredible platform to be a useful tool for clients. When a film is created in this way, the grade and the influence of the colourist can truly transform the identity of a brand and how it is experienced by audiences out in the real world.

Olha Korzhynska, colorist at Covert

In 2025, with AI-generated content flooding the space and phones becoming the primary screen, brands have just seconds to make a connection - on a tiny surface, often in unfavourable lighting, and without sound. This puts extra pressure on visual clarity. Colour grading, I believe, is now a core branding tool - helping to build recognisable worlds that cut through the noise.

Brands are finally treating colour grading as more than a finishing touch - it’s becoming part of the brand book, a signature visual style reinforcing brand memory. Colour is more than aesthetics - it’s emotional engineering.

Tom Hume, creative director, M+C Saatchi Consulting

Selling the mood, frame by frame.

I just saw the new ‘Formula 1’ film in the cinema. Muted steel, blurred lines and strips of colour instantly gave me a sense of speed and power. It was kinetic. Months earlier, I’d seen ‘Wicked’. Its warm glow and candy colours instantly lifted me into another world. Two totally different films doing the exact same thing: using colour to spark emotions. ‘Formula 1’ led with adrenaline; ‘Wicked’ offered wonder.

Just as films hook us with colour, brands hook us the same way. Feel first. Think later. In a world of endless scrolling, emotion lands before meaning. Colour signals your promise before a single word is spoken, and smart grading makes that emotion stick.

Some brands get it. Apple delivers cool, engineered visuals that feel precise. Burger King uses warm, earthy tones for flame-grilled flavour and nostalgic comfort. Patagonia leans on natural light and real colours, showing it’s made for people and the planet.

If Wicked’s emerald magic or ‘Formula 1’’s steel speed taught us anything, it’s this: your colour choices should echo your promise. Make every shade count.

Camille Chu, group creative director at BUCK

Brands are definitely establishing a stronger POV on colour signatures and how they play out across all assets and touchpoints, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to overt, heavy-handed colour stories and filters. It’s about defining colour spaces and signatures through choices and nuanced placements throughout the brand build process.

When it comes to branded photography, color through lines should be established in visioning and production — not just in post production. Throwing a color grade and filter onto photography in post isn’t enough to capture a brand’s color story. Color might be the most subjective thing on the planet, and can help define a brand’s overall tone, how it is perceived, and how people will react to it.

Lighting and temperature are a huge part of letting colour be defined naturally when it comes to photography. Grading is another tool to enhance and add range and depth, as is noise and texture. Brands are harkening back to the beauty of analog mediums like film to counterbalance the digital and artificial syntax of technology.