interesting bits and bobs about design, web and social media, the useful, the useless and everything in between.

Colour and its impact.

Colour is a crucial design element. It can be used for emphasis, directing the eye, identifying recurring themes, differentiation or to trigger emotions and associations. It has been proven that colour improves memory and in the case of brands, colour has been shown to improve brand recognition by as much as 85% (source: Practical eCommerce). There are a lot of considerations when choosing colours and colour palettes for your brand and communication collateral. It’s important to consider your audience rather than looking at colours based only on personal preferences.

Colour psychology.

We all have emotional responses to colours. These are affected by our emotional and cultural experiences but there are also some common associations that you should be aware of and can use to your advantage. Context also plays an important role in the way we read colours. For example red is associated with love on Valentine's Day, but is associated with anger and violence in the context of war. Here are some of the most common colour associations in western culture.

• Black. Power, authority, elegance, prestige, stability and strength. Can also be associated with grieving and represent evil.
• White. Purity, cleanliness and neutrality. White is also associated with brides in western cultures and mourning in eastern cultures.
• Grey. Practical, timeless, neutral and conservative.
• Red. Energy, excitement, strength, passion, love, urgency, anger, violence, danger and debt. Red is the most emotionally intense colour – it can increase heart rates, respiration and metabolism.
• Blue. Calmness, trustworthiness, success, seriousness, reliability, security, authority and friendliness. Blue causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming and is the most popular colour.
• Green. Nature, growth, money, health, harmony, freshness, tranquillity and jealousy. Green is the easiest colour on the eye.
• Yellow. Happiness, optimism, sunshine, hope, energy and playfulness. Yellow causes the brain to release Serotonin but is the most difficult colour for the eye to take in.
• Orange. Joy, fun, creativity, ambition, aggression, excitement and strength.
• Purple. Royalty, wealth, prosperity, justice, luxury, sophistication and spirituality. Purple stimulates the brain activity used in problem solving.
• Pink. Feminine, love, romance, sweetness, innocence and gentleness.
• Brown. Reliability, stability, friendship, earth, nature and effectiveness.

The effect of colour.

Simple colour changes can have a big impact! Here are some interesting examples of the effect of colour:

• When the background hue on Barrelhead Sugar-Free Root Beer cans was changed to beige from blue, people swore it tasted more like old–fashioned root beer served in frosty mugs (despite no change to the beverage itself).
• Berni Corp claims that when it changed Canada Dry’s sugar-free ginger ale can from red to green and white, sales shot up more than 25%. The red can had sent a misleading cola message to consumers.
• Studies have shown that reds and oranges encourage diners to eat quickly and leave which is why many food outlets use these colours in their branding (source: June Campbell).
• People will gamble more and make riskier bets when seated under a red light as opposed to a blue light. That's why Las Vegas is the city
• In 2000, Glasgow installed blue street lighting in certain neighbourhoods and subsequently reported the anecdotal finding of reduced crime in these areas (source: Wikipedia).

Quick fire colour glossary.

• Hue. What colour something is e.g. blue or red
• Chroma. The purity of a colour (the lack of white, black or grey added to it)
• Saturation. The strength or weakness of a colour
• Value. How light or dark a colour is
• Tone. Created by adding grey to a pure hue
• Shade. Created by adding black to a pure hue
• Tint. Created by adding white to a hue

Summary.

In short, don’t underestimate the impact of colour! Colour use should be carefully considered and can make all the difference to a design.

Steph
The Creative Type