Competitive color audit: how not to blend in with competitors
Color audit in 7 steps: practical protocol
A classic audit looks like a presentation with screenshots of logos arranged on a color wheel, and a caption like «seems too similar». This is a visual estimate that is easy to dispute in negotiations. A working protocol is built as a data table with specific tools at each step.
- Collect 20-30 logos and color systems of direct and indirect competitors in the category — not screenshots from search, but from official websites and brandbooks.
- Extract exact HEX/RGB codes via a color picker (ColorZilla, DevTools, or the built-in picker in Figma) from CSS variables of the website or a PDF brandbook — low-resolution images can cause color inaccuracies of up to 5-10%.
- Convert all codes to CIELAB (L, a, b) using any online converter or a library like chroma.js — this is a space where the distance between points corresponds to how the difference is perceived by the eye.
- Calculate ΔE 2000 between your candidate color and each competitor’s color using a delta-E calculator or a Python script (colormath, colour-science).
- Check contrast according to WCAG 2.2 in the WebAIM Contrast Checker — separately for light and dark themes, and separately for regular and large text.
- Run the palette through simulations of color blindness Coblis or Color Oracle — protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia.
- Condense everything into a matrix: competitor → HEX → LAB → ΔE to our color → contrast → risk.
The matrix is not a checklist report, but a tool that reveals patterns: where in the category there is a dense cluster of similar shades, and where there is a real void that can be filled.
Delta E and CIELAB: how color distance is calculated
CIELAB describes color with three numbers: L — lightness, a — green-red axis, b — blue-yellow axis. Delta E — the distance between two points in this space. The formula ΔE 2000 is more accurate than the outdated ΔE76, because it takes into account the uneven sensitivity of the eye to different spectral zones, and it is precisely this that is used as an industry standard, including in the Pantone Formula Guide.
Example of calculation. The brand chooses coral #FF6B57, which in LAB is approximately L=61, a=54, b=40. The competitor in the same category has coral #FF7A66 — LAB L=63, a=50, b=38. ΔE 2000 between them comes out to about 2,3 — this is the Just Noticeable Difference zone, the difference is noticeable, but at a glance the colors get mixed up. In such a situation, the decision is not to 'change the color entirely', but to shift a/b by 6-8 units or add contrast through the shape of the logo.
| Value of ΔE | What a person sees | What this means for the brand |
|---|---|---|
| < 1 | Imperceptible — the difference is imperceptible | Practically identical color, maximum risk |
| 1–2 | Just Noticeable Difference (JND) | Border zone, requires additional differentiation through tone and form |
| 2–4 | Perceptible but acceptable | Noticeable, but at a glance brands can be confused |
| > 4 | Clearly different | Safe zone, colors are perceived as different |
Practical benchmark for a brief: minimum ΔE 4-5 from the nearest direct competitor in the same contact format — packaging to packaging, app icon to app icon. For indirect competitors, the threshold can be lowered to 3, but not below.
Color verification in real conditions
Color that looks perfect in Figma on a white background often fails in four other scenarios, which most briefs do not even check.
- Store shelf. Adjacent competitor SKUs create visual noise, so color must be viewed not in isolation, but in composition with 5-10 packaging nearby, under lighting similar to that of the sales floor (usually 3000-4000K, not studio lighting from a photo shoot).
- Digital channels. The same HEX on an iPhone display (with extended color gamut P3) and on a standard monitor in sRGB produces a noticeably different shade — verification is needed on real devices, not just in a designer's color proof.
- Monochrome printing. Receipt, fax, black-and-white copy of a brochure — the color should differ in lightness L, not just in hue. If two competitors have the same
Color audit in 7 steps: practical protocol
A classic audit looks like a presentation with screenshots of logos arranged on a color wheel, and a caption like «seems too similar». This is a visual estimate that is easy to dispute in negotiations. A working protocol is built as a data table with specific tools at each step.
- Collect 20-30 logos and color systems of direct and indirect competitors in the category — not screenshots from search, but from official websites and brandbooks.
- Extract exact HEX/RGB codes via a color picker (ColorZilla, DevTools, or the built-in picker in Figma) from CSS variables of the website or a PDF brandbook — low-resolution images can cause color inaccuracies of up to 5-10%.
- Convert all codes to CIELAB (L, a, b) using any online converter or a library like chroma.js — this is a space where the distance between points corresponds to how the difference is perceived by the eye.
- Calculate ΔE 2000 between your candidate color and each competitor’s color using a delta-E calculator or a Python script (colormath, colour-science).
- Check contrast according to WCAG 2.2 in the WebAIM Contrast Checker — separately for light and dark themes, and separately for regular and large text.
- Run the palette through simulations of color blindness Coblis or Color Oracle — protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia.
- Condense everything into a matrix: competitor → HEX → LAB → ΔE to our color → contrast → risk.
The matrix is not a checklist report, but a tool that reveals patterns: where in the category there is a dense cluster of similar shades, and where there is a real void that can be filled.
Delta E and CIELAB: how color distance is calculated
CIELAB describes color with three numbers: L — lightness, a — green-red axis, b — blue-yellow axis. Delta E — the distance between two points in this space. The formula ΔE 2000 is more accurate than the outdated ΔE76, because it takes into account the uneven sensitivity of the eye to different spectral zones, and it is precisely this that is used as an industry standard, including in the Pantone Formula Guide.
Example of calculation. The brand chooses coral #FF6B57, which in LAB is approximately L=61, a=54, b=40. The competitor in the same category has coral #FF7A66 — LAB L=63, a=50, b=38. ΔE 2000 between them comes out to about 2,3 — this is the Just Noticeable Difference zone, the difference is noticeable, but at a glance the colors get mixed up. In such a situation, the decision is not to 'change the color entirely', but to shift a/b by 6-8 units or add contrast through the shape of the logo.
| Value of ΔE | What a person sees | What this means for the brand |
|---|---|---|
| < 1 | Imperceptible — the difference is imperceptible | Practically identical color, maximum risk |
| 1–2 | Just Noticeable Difference (JND) | Border zone, requires additional differentiation through tone and form |
| 2–4 | Perceptible but acceptable | Noticeable, but at a glance brands can be confused |
| > 4 | Clearly different | Safe zone, colors are perceived as different |
Practical benchmark for a brief: minimum ΔE 4-5 from the nearest direct competitor in the same contact format — packaging to packaging, app icon to app icon. For indirect competitors, the threshold can be lowered to 3, but not below.
Color verification in real conditions
Color that looks perfect in Figma on a white background often fails in four other scenarios, which most briefs do not even check.
- Store shelf. Adjacent competitor SKUs create visual noise, so color must be viewed not in isolation, but in composition with 5-10 packaging nearby, under lighting similar to that of the sales floor (usually 3000-4000K, not studio lighting from a photo shoot).
- Digital channels. The same HEX on an iPhone display (with extended color gamut P3) and on a standard monitor in sRGB produces a noticeably different shade — verification is needed on real devices, not just in a designer's color proof.
- Monochrome printing. Receipt, fax, black-and-white copy of a brochure — the color should differ in lightness L, not just in hue. If two competitors have the same
Recent articles
MegaFon, BMW, VTB and more 240+ companies. See how it looks in the showcase reel:
Our branding agency is approached to order:
Branding agency services
