All of us would have a colour which we prefer. For example, if you open your wardrobe, maybe you can see a rack of clothes in shades of black because that's what catches your attention every time you shop. Sometimes you look at the blue sky because it's calming and that's how colour psychology works.
What is colour psychology?
Colour psychology is the study of colours in relation to human behaviour. It aims to determine how colour affects our day-to-day decisions while choosing a product or a brand.
The meaning behind each colour affects our selection of colours. The choice can also vary depending on our geographical location, upbringing, cultural differences and more.
Importance of colour psychology in marketing
Each colour has a meaning behind it. It evokes feelings among the people. A brand is all about connecting with its customers. So the brand colour plays a major role in customer attention.
As a creator, it is important to know colour psychology. It helps you to design the exact brand colour that helps to convey your brand message.
If the design has no meaningful backstory, it will be hard to acquire customers as they won't understand the purpose. The right choice of colours can help a customer decide what they want.
The meaning behind each colour
Different colours have different meanings. Warm colours like red, orange, yellow evoke emotions that range from warmth to anger. While, cool colours like green, blue, purple can bring calmness and also a sense of dignity to the picture.
Red
In colour psychology, red is the most intense colour. The colour stands for energy, love, passion and danger. Visually, the colour improves metabolism, respiration rate, and raises blood pressure.
You can notice how most of the call-to-action buttons are in red. The motive behind the logo colour of Youtube and Netflix is mainly to bring excitement to the viewers. This strategy makes them want to use the app.
Orange
Orange represents creativity, self-confidence and youth. The colour radiates warmth and happiness. It is a colour that can guide the mind and vitality, given its obvious link to oranges and vitamin C.
The logo of the Nickelodeon channel for children is orange which promotes creativity and energy. The colour is used in the logos to create a friendly environment.
Yellow
Yellow revolves around happiness, positivity and hope. Sun, smiley faces and sunflowers are all yellow in colour. But too much yellow can pose as a warning sign and also create anxiety.
IKEA, one of the best home furniture companies in the world has yellow in its logo. The whole idea of IKEA is to make their customers happy with the furniture they sell. A new house or moving homes can be a milestone for a customer. Thus, buying new furniture can bring a new change to their lives.
Green
Green is associated with nature, balance and growth. Dark green represents money which symbolizes prosperity and stability.
Green creates a visual balance hence creating a soothing effect on the viewers. Popular brands like Spotify and Starbucks use green in their logo. Also, greenlight in traffic is a symbol of going ahead in our journey.
Blue
This colour represents serenity and professionalism. Blue ties with sea and sky that are calming in nature. But at the same time, it is the go-to colour for most of the top companies.
Companies like LinkedIn, HP, Visa use blue in their logo for the professional touch. Another social media networking site like Facebook has blue in its logo too. There is an interesting fact behind this - Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colour blind and blue is the most vivid colour he can see.
Purple
Purple defines imagination, mystery and spirituality. It is also an introspective tone, that helps us to connect with deeper thoughts. Purple can be related to fantasy and easily attract highly creative people.
Adding too much purple can knock off the visual balance. Hence adding its hints to the logo and website will help tone down the dominant factor.
Yahoo has a purple logo which is designed with a matching font so that it doesn't overpower the whole design.
Black
Black is the all-time classic colour. It defines sophistication and elegance. A touch of black colour can make the design look bold, mysterious and powerful. It can also depict sadness and anger.
Black is a popular colour for text which helps in enhancing readability. Most of the luxurious brands prefer black and white logos as it makes them intimidating and expensive.
White
White represents simplicity, goodness and minimalism. It also symbolizes sterility and cold. Using white in design and building interiors can visually bring a minimalistic aesthetic look.
Using white space in designs can tell us a lot about the design. It can create a modern and classic touch. Apple is a huge example when it comes to advertising and packaging. It shows us how a white can be simple and minimalistic yet powerful.
So, while designing your brand, choose the colours which you think represent you and how it will affect your customers.
Remember how you perceive the meaning of colour can depend on your personal experience and background. Therefore it can differ from others.
