How to find a good background color for a 2-color logo

I'm putting together a small flier for my company. I am adjusting a template that I purchased on the web to suit my needs.

My logo has 2 colors: blue #263B79, which is the main one, and orange #EF3520, which is the "accent" color. The flier comes with a header that has a solid color background (currently #3EC7B8).

How can I choose a good background color for this logo? Are there any rules (of thumb) I should follow?

Thanks in advance.

Answer

There are lots of rules of thumb you could follow when picking colors! Here is a great post if you'd like a crash course in color theory and color relationships.

The main takeaway:

Color relationships are set methods of choosing colors that relate in some way to each other and look good together... There are seven color relationships: monochrome, analogous, complementary, triad, tetrad, neutral, and random.

I think your main two color values fall most closely into the clashing or random color relationship.

This is when your color scheme isn’t methodically chosen; there’s no direct relationship to the colors, and no set way of picking them.

Why it works: These can feel intimidating, but they don’t need to be. Think of red and blue; those two colors aren’t next to each other, or directly across from each other. They have no real relationship to each other that makes sense, but they still look good together. There’s nothing clashing about them – our eyes still find them pleasing. That’s the very definition of a random relationship that works.

When to use them: I’ve found that a lot of random color schemes that I’ve used were happy accidents. Because they don’t fit into a pattern like the other color relationships do, there’s going to be a lot of visual interest and contrast with random colors, simply because our brains want to classify or puzzle out a relationship that isn’t there. So, use these when you want a more complex color scheme that is inherently interesting or a lot of contrast.

Bottom line: Even with color theory rules and guidelines, color choice can be a pretty subjective process. You can educate yourself on some of the theories behind why colors work well together to better make your own informed decision.