What is the psychology of colour?
It’s all about the meanings of colours; how they can have an impact on us, emotionally; how they can influence behaviour and the factors that impact on our preference.
Most of us have favourite colours and probably wear your ‘colour’ or even have a lot of that colour in your house.
Do you also include your favourite colour in your business brand?
I do happen to have one of mine in my branding; purple. In fact, the two main colours of my brand are purple and orange, as I’m sure those of you who follow me will have noticed.
There has been a lot of research about how colours can influence consumer perceptions, behaviours and buying decisions. However, many believe that how people react is too dependent on personal experiences to be universal.
4 things to think about when choosing brand colours:
- Make sure you choose a colour that you actually like, because once you’ve chosen your brand colours you need to use them consistently and constantly across your business, both online and in print.
- Don’t use too many colours, because the message can disappear. Generally, two colours are good, and two contrasting colours are best.
- Check that your competitors don’t have the same colours you choose; be unique.
- The most important factor when it comes to the perceived appropriateness of colour is – does the colour fit with what is being sold?
There are two main colour spectrums – warm colours and cool colours.
Red, orange, yellow and pink are warm colours, and the cool colours are blue, purple and green. Interestingly, most memorable brands only use between one or three colours at the most.
Consider famous and iconic brands and how they use colour:
McDonalds uses red and yellow; two colours that stand out well from each other and their sign is well known worldwide.
Amazon and Etsy both use orange – a colour of friendliness and cheerfulness. Amazon has an orange arrow shaped in a smile and Etsy written in white on the orange background stands out well.
Most of us are familiar with Cadbury purple. The company even played on that recognition with the famous ape playing the drum kit commercial– with no wording whatsoever; yet it was instantly recognisable as a Cadbury’s advert.
Blue has been used by many IT companies, such as Dell, IBM, Intel, HP – where they’re all using just one blue. However, Apple broke the ‘rules’ with their rainbow apple. They were unique among a whole crowd of IT blues! Plus, they also broke the rule of having more than 2 or 3 colours – however, the apple shape made it iconic.
Some colours have become linked with certain business sectors: green obviously for environmental related brands, but also often for finance; feminine related goods are often branded ‘pink; black suggests sophistication and power, and is used by several fashion houses – Louise Vuitton, Prada and Chanel. And white, considered pure and clean often looks amazing against a colourful background – think Apple, Mercedes and MAC Cosmetics.
Florists more than most, understand the language of colour as they are asked to provide flowers for specific occasions, where the choice of colour is paramount.
When it comes to their own branding many choose earthy neutrals, delicate pinks, purples and whites.
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