One thing’s for sure: color matters. this is often why it’s important to familiarize yourself with the basics of color psychology before you begin defining your brand’s best hues. Once you understand why a color evokes specific emotions you'll harness color power in your branding to speak at a subconscious level.

What is color psychology?

—

Color psychology is that the study of how the colours we perceive impact our thoughts and feelings.

But before we dive into color psychology, we'd like to define what color is, exactly.

We see it as different hues and shades, yet technically, colors are how your eyes and brain perceive light waves of differing lengths. Become a professional designer through The best graphic designing institute in Delhi All light exists on the spectrum , the spectrum from longest to shortest light waves. Radio waves, microwaves, infrared , gamma rays and x-rays are all at different length segments on this spectrum. Right within the middle may be a small spectrum of sunshine waves measuring from 400 nanometers to 700 nanometers, including all the sunshine that’s visible to the human eye. the various wavelengths within this segment structure the variability of colours humans can perceive.

Researchers who add the sector of color psychology study our primal and cultural associations with specific colors and the way exposure to those colors impact our biases and behaviors.

Let’s check out a true life example. Evidence from Scotland and Japan has shown that when a neighborhood’s street lights emit blue light, the crime and suicide rates therein neighborhood decrease. Color psychology researchers attempt to answer why phenomena like this happens .

It might be because blue is an unusual color for streetlights, which makes would-be criminals desire something’s “off” and drive them to abandon their plans. Or it might be because blue lights is usually related to a police presence—think the blue light emergency phone boxes on college campuses—and that drives people to be more cautious. Or it might be because blue is an almost universally recognized calming color, and walking under a soothing blue light puts people during a less agitated state of mind than they’d be in under more red- or yellow-toned streetlights.

Humanity’s colorful history: how language influences color psychology

—

Ancient people didn’t see an equivalent colors you see. In fact, people in other parts of the planet don’t see colors the way you see them. It are often a touch of a visit to believe , but it’s true—research has shown that language influences how we perceive color.

A 2006 study found that members of the Himba tribe, a culture from Namibia that doesn’t have a word for the colour “blue,” couldn’t detect the one blue square within a circle of green squares when presented with the image on a display screen . To English speakers, the blue square is clear , but to the study participants, it had been just another one among the green squares within the circle.

Interestingly, when presented with a circle of green squares that to English speakers, seemed to be very draw in shade, Himba tribe members could immediately detect the one square that wasn’t an equivalent color because the others. That’s because the language they speak, Otjihimba, has words for several of the distinct hues we group as “green.”

Now believe how the ocean and therefore the color blue feel inextricable to us. To an English speaker, the ocean just is blue.

Yet that’s not how Homer saw it. within the Odyssey, the ocean is described as “wine-dark.” Honey is described as green and sheep are described as violet. Homer wasn’t the sole ancient author whose world didn’t include blue, either—intrigued by the shortage of “blue” as a color descriptor in Homer’s work, nineteenth century British scholar Gladstone , followed by German philosopher Lazarus Geiger, closely studied ancient texts from cultures round the world and located that just one , the Egyptians, had a word for the colour blue. They were also the sole culture that produced blue dye.Further, Gladstone and Geiger’s work found an equivalent pattern in ancient languages spanning from India to Iceland: the primary recorded “color words” were words for black and white.

Next, references to the colour red were found in texts, with later texts introducing words for yellow and green. In each of those languages, blue was the last color officially recognized.

For Russian speakers, blue doesn’t stop there. Where English speakers see light and navy , Russian speakers see two distinct colors: goluboj and siniy, respectively.

The psychology behind color associations: how did we get here?

—

Researchers have determined that after white and black, red was subsequent color identified by nearly all cultures with written communication . Why?

This may be because red is one among the foremost important colors in nature. Red is nature’s stop sign. It’s the colour of an angry rival’s flushed red skin that says “back off or you’ll get your butt kicked.” having the ability to spot red—and not even as a warning label, but also because the color of ripe, ready-to-eat fruit—was so critical to our survival that our primate ancestors evolved the retinal cells necessary to ascertain it many years ago.

Not every animal needed to ascertain red the way primates got to anger . in order that they didn’t develop the attention structure necessary to ascertain the range of colours we see. You’ve probably heard that dogs are colorblind. That doesn’t mean they see in black and white. Dogs, and lots of other mammals, see a more blurred, lower-contrast world than we see:

Other animals evolved eye structures to ascertain the colours they have to ascertain to survive. for instance , birds can see UV light. We can’t. Here’s an example of how the planet looks to a bird:

Some animals, like mantis crab , evolved to ascertain the planet in ways we could never imagine. Not only can mantis crab , the species with the foremost complex eyes we’ve identified thus far , see UV light like birds, they see different colors of UV light. inspect how the planet looks from a mantis shrimp’s point of view:

Just like our ability to ascertain colors in specific ways evolved as a survival mechanism, so did many of the associations we make with specific colors. Blue is that the color of a transparent sky so it makes us feel calm and relaxed, but there are only a few foods that are blue, so it doesn’t have an appetizing effect. Green, on the opposite hand, is that the color of vitality and freshness because it’s the colour of fresh, healthy vegetation.

Color psychology and culture

—

Some color associations, like red, green and brown, are often explained by watching where they seem in nature and what they meant for early humans. But that doesn’t explain why black feels luxurious or why yellow feels fun.

Some associations come from culture, instead of nature. That’s why color associations aren’t all universal and color meanings can vary widely in several countries and cultures. In China and India, the colour white is related to death and worn to funerals. within the west, black is. Similarly, yellow is that the fun, happy color the us , but in Japan, it’s the colour of courage.

A color’s cultural associations also can change over time. Green, the colour of rebirth and new life, changed to the colour of death in Europe during the 18th century. Why? Because the era’s green dye contained arsenic and prolonged exposure to the dye literally killed people. Today, remnants of this association remain. Green remains sometimes related to toxicity—ever feel “green” after a roller coaster ride or long, winding road trip? Now you recognize why.

Using color psychology to attach

—

There’s a reason why plant-based products nearly always have green packaging. It’s an equivalent reason why cleaning products are so frequently packaged in white. It’s color psychology; brands maximize our subconscious associations with specific colors to speak their products’ values.

Brown may be a natural color, which makes it seem reliable and authentic. UPS chose to form brown the focus of their branding to stress that they’re trustworthy and dependable—exactly the type of company you would like handling your packages.

Whole Foods is another famous brand that uses color psychology to form a subconscious statement about their values. the brand may be a medium green, an equivalent color as a fresh spinach leaf or leek stalk. By going with a green logo, the corporate primes shoppers to look at their store because the fresh, healthy choice.

Then there’s Target. The mega-store taps into our primal attraction to red. Target’s logo is bold; it causes you to look and holds onto your attention.

A color cheat-sheet: the associations we make with popular hues

—

As you start your color journey, considering what shades best support your logo, website or other branding initiatives it’s helpful to stay our commonest color associations in mind.

Red

Red is all about passion, action, energy and danger. Think stop signs, flames, the Target logo and roses.

Orange

Orange is about creativity, enthusiasm, energy, creativity and youth. Think traffic cones, high-visibility clothing and a juicy orange bursting with vitamin C .

Yellow

Yellow is about joy, hope, playfulness, spontaneity and positivity. Think sunshine and smiley faces.

Blue

Blue is about calm and trustworthiness. Think financial institutions (Visa, Paypal, American Express) and major corporations (General Electric, Lowe’s, Boeing).

Green

Green is about nature, growth and wealth. Think trees and money.

Brown

Brown may be a down-to-earth color that stands for warmth, nature, honesty and wholesomeness.

Purple

Purple may be a mysterious color that stands for creativity, luxury, spirituality and wealth.

Pink

Pink may be a youthful color that stands for love , playfulness and femininity.

Color goes hand-in-hand with branding!

—

When you’re designing your logo, product packaging, website and everything else related to your brand, make certain to stay color psychology and color theory in mind. Colors are powerful tools, and you'll make a strong statement, or send the completely wrong message, with the colour palette you select .

Need help deciding which colors represent your brand best? Work with one among the knowledgeable designers on our platform to develop the right palette.