Wonderful World of Color

When used without purpose, color has the power of breaking even the best designs before the viewer even has a chance to consciously interpret the meaning of a message. However, when used with purpose, it can subconsciously tap into the viewer’s psyche and project feelings that (hopefully) reinforce your message.

Often times, color can say things that words cannot. Or at least, they can be more effective at doing so. For example, one of the best-known examples of color psychology in corporate branding is the UPS logo. Their use of the same dull brown shade for the past who-knows-how-many years isn’t an accident. It’s not a sign of a company needing to catch up with the times. It is, in fact, an intentional use of the color – they’re using the power of color psychology, knowing that brown projects feelings of reliability and stability.

Without even using statistics, customer feedback or anything else to sell themselves, simply by using the power of color they have already subconsciously positioned themselves as a reliable company that you can trust. Definitely not by accident.

UPS is by far not the only company to tap into this psychology. Warm colors have been associated with stimulating hunger. Now think about Campbell’s soup. McDonald’s. Or most Italian restaurants. Now think about day spas. Blues and greens, known as calming colors, dominate here.

Below are more feelings associated with color, some more subconsciously rooted than others:
(Blue) Sky, Sea, Water, Religious feeling, Peace, Faith, Stability, Melancholy, Trust, Loyalty, Wisdom, Tranquility, Integrity (Red) Fire, Love, Passion, Energy, Revolution, Anger, Power, Debt, Danger, Heat, Warning (Green) Money, Growth, Environmentally Friendly, Fertility, Envy, Spring, Freshness, Stability, Loyal, Healing (Yellow) Energy, Sun, Happiness, Cheery, Creativity (Orange) Joy, Sunshine, Creativity, Determination, Success, Encouragement, Energy, Autumn, Construction (Purple) Royalty, Power, Nobility, Luxury, Spirituality (Brown) Conservative, Stable, Outdoors, Fall, Earth, Organic
(Courtesy of Judy Litt, Visual Accents Design)

There are several tools available online to help designers use these ideas to their benefit. One of my favorites is COLOURLovers. There are TONS of examples of great (and some not so great) color combinations in their palettes section. Often times I am inspired just by browsing some of the examples found here. I have had varying degrees of success with their color match tool, but most often what I use is the text search. Try typing in some keywords associated with the feeling you want to convey and you are sure to come up with something that suits your needs. Since it calls on user created names, it will miss some of the more obscurely named palettes, but it is often helpful in at least generating ideas if nothing else. Think of what you would expect for the following, and then try it out to see what it comes up with: technology, winter, organic.