You might think that colour is one of the easiest decisions to make when it comes to your design efforts, but in actual fact not only can colour be hard to get right, it can have more of an impact then you realise.
The psychology of colour usage is probably much deeper than you realise and, as someone who wants to design the very best branding and marketing visuals possible, you are going to need to know more.
To help you to understand the key approaches, we have put together our guide to the psychology of colour usage in design.
Why is colour important?
The thing to remember about colour is that it is known to promote or surpress particular thoughts, emotions and feelings in people. Of course, not everyone has the same reaction to colours as others, especially when you look across different cultures. However, in the most part you can usually ascertain that particular shades are going to have a certain reaction.
So, which colours mean what?
If you want to create a feeling of warmth, of cheerfulness and a truly friendly vibe, then orange or a rich yellow is definitely a go to colour for your brand. Great examples of this have to be Fanta and also those famous arches of McDonalds too.
A brand that wants to be seen as bold, confident and exciting – they are going to want to use red for their logos and branding. Coca Cola is possibly one of the most obvious red themed brands out there, however, Lego and Kellogg’s are also those to take note of.
For brands that are to appear as wise, as creative and imaginative, purple is a go to colour purple is seen on Aussie the hair brand and also in the Cadbury logo too.
Blue is a colour that is often seen in brands that want to breed a feeling of strength, of being dependable and of being a name that people can trust in. American Express, Dell and JP Morgan all rely on trust and security in what they offer, which is perhaps why their branding features blue quite heavily.
If you see a brand that uses green in their colour scheme, then they are usually trying to create a feeling of health and wellbeing, they may even be there to show that they are taking a view on the environment and how to protect it. Something that is obvious when you think of Animal Planet, but perhaps not so much so when you see the greens used in the BP logo.
Finally, you have grey, grey isn’t always seen as the most exciting of shades, which is why it is often used in brands that want to achieve balance, that are neutral and that are calm in their approach. Apple, are probably one of the biggest examples of that.
As you can see, colour has a much bigger impact on how a brand is seen and the emotions that they portray than you may realise. So, if you are putting your colour scheme together, then you definitely need to give some careful thought about the message you want to relay and whether your colour palette will work.
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