When designing for men, there’s an unspoken rule when people are in doubt or don’t want to risk: just go dark. This has made the color palette for men quite predictable: black, grey, dark navy, and forest green.
Designing for Men: What Brands Get Wrong About ‘Masculine’ Colors
It’s been like that for decades, and it goes beyond fashion to websites and even toothbrushes. Yet, when you actually connect with real users, the answers don’t always fit that mold.
Today, designers need to go beyond assumptions and create for the real world. Just like women, men’s designs are influenced by different factors like context, culture, and identity. And considering the modern design tools available, like a color palette generator, clinging to the same tired hues can feel lazy.
Today, we’ll look at what brands get wrong and a smarter way to design color for men.
Why the “Masculine Color” Formula Feels Outdated
Many brands like to stay “safe” when it comes to designing colors for men, but that is an outdated notion today.
Men’s Color Preferences Are More Varied Than Brands Assume
When you ask a designer for anything meant for men besides black, they’ll reach out to the same set of defaults. These are things like charcoal, navy, forest green, and maybe burgundy. But when you take time to look at the colors men actually engage with, you’ll start to see a different picture.
Take a look at things like their grooming kits and personalization in apps. You’ll find different color palettes like crisp teal, a muted sand tone, and even soft pastels – long dismissed as “feminine.” You’ll realize that it’s not that men don’t respond to these colors, brands just don’t offer them.
Culture Shapes Color – Masculinity Isn’t Universal
Color isn’t about taste, but more about the context. What one culture might see as bold or powerful, another might see it as informal or feminine. This means that when you try to define what masculinity means through a fixed palette, you’ll fall short.
For example, let’s take pink. Today, it’s the color that’s mostly associated with femininity, but that was not always the case. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, pink was actually considered a masculine color since it was a softer version of red, which was associated with strength and energy.
Things only changed after World War II when brands started marketing it for women, which ended up reversing the color’s gender.
When you look across the world, you’ll also find that grooms wear different colors in weddings, most of which are brighter-looking.
The One-Dimensional Man Is a Marketing Myth
Brands often reduce men to a small selection of muted and dark colors. However, that only reduces men to the stereotypes of practicality and people who just don’t care about aesthetics.
The problem is that man doesn’t really exist – at least not in the way brands think he does.
This is because nobody is one-dimensional. People want to show their creativity and sentimentality. They care about how things look and feel, as well as how they complement the many dark colors already in their shelves and closets.
This means that when a brand sticks to a narrow idea of masculinity, it alienates a huge segment of men or simply denies loyal customers emotional connections.
Where Brands Still Get It Wrong
Brands still get color wrong for different reasons.
Defaulting to Gender Instead of Function
One of the biggest mistakes brands make is to start thinking of color in terms of gender before even considering the functionality. For example, deep blue might work beautifully for a financial management app. Not because it’s for men, but because it gives out a feeling of trust and stability. And in the same way, burnt orange might give an energy of creativity in a productivity tool, regardless of gender. But when a brand starts thinking of color in terms of “this is for men,” it limits itself.
Before thinking about gender, does the color serve the designer’s purpose? Does it show warmth, calm a person, or build trust?
Assuming Men Want to Blend In
There’s a long-standing assumption that men prefer to stay under the radar. That’s why you see that most men’s products are based on more neutral palettes, as if visibility equals vulnerability. But that’s just that – an assumption.
You only need to look at how sneakers have adopted more bold colors to debunk the myth. In fashion, more men now want to express their confidence and style, which has led to the adoption of brighter colors. So, when you only offer dark and muted colors, you are not reflecting preference, you are just taking part in shaping it.
Prioritizing Utility, Ignoring Aesthetics
In an effort to become appealing to men, many brands tend to emphasize functionality since men aren’t really known for shopping. This has resulted in most men’s designs being minimalistic with utilitarian colors. But when you are a designer and use function as the priority, the result can feel cold or just like any other design.
The truth is that aesthetics matter. Not just for beauty, but because they also communicate. They show care, they show identity, and they show taste. When you design an interface and use thoughtful colors, you make the user feel something. That emotion is just as important as practicality.
A Smarter Way to Design Color for Men
So what does designing smarter for men actually look like for brands? There are a few key shifts that can help them move in a better direction.
Expand the Palette Without Losing Meaning
The idea is not dropping the “masculine” colors, but building on them. When every product is black, charcoal, navy blue, or brown, it starts to feel stale. While these colors are the staples because they convey strength and simplicity, brands can expand the visual image by adding more colors.
You can throw in different shades like burnt sienna, ochre, deep teal, or even desaturated rose to bring in some warmth and individuality. These aren’t what are traditionally referred to as “feminine” colors, but they are a great way to add an extra layer to products.
Design for Identity, Not Gender Roles
You aren’t just designing for men; you are designing for a person. The traditional male roles of “provider” and “protector” still shape how most masculine products are designed. However, for some people, these are outdated ideas, and you are designing for all types of customers.
So, instead of thinking about gender, think about identity, which is naturally more fluid and multi-faceted. Each individual has their own needs, habits, and emotional cues. So, when you choose your colors for men, you shouldn’t be affirming who they should be, but designing for who they are.
Give Men the Freedom to Choose and Personalize
Want to help men move beyond outdated design norms? Put choice back in their hands.
When you give men a choice to customize an app’s interface, you’ll find all sorts of colors, some that defy stereotypes by far. That’s the idea – not what brands assume, but a product that reflects them.
Even if a product can’t be customized, you can still create it in different varieties, or at least come up with a design that fits the product, not just the gender.
Masculinity Is Evolving – Your Palette Should Too
Expanding your color palette doesn’t mean “feminizing” men’s products or abandoning what works. It’s about recognizing that color is more than just gender and more about identity, context, and emotion. Masculinity today is quite layered, and your design should reflect that.
Color can be bold, minimal, and rugged, and still be warm, expressive, or playful. These aren’t contradictions, but possibilities. It’s time to move beyond defaults and design with intention!
