Today, we will use this space to learn about this influence of colors, the psychological connotations of different colors, and most importantly, understand how they convey or influence certain moods.<\/p>\n
Emotive Psychology Of Colors<\/h2>\n
Color psychology is not an exact science. You add emotions into the mix and it becomes even more complicated. The emotive side of psychology deals with how we feel emotions and express them, and how different colors and hues impact our subconscious and affect our moods, feelings, and actions.<\/p>\n
There is sufficient research that helps us establish certain meanings that people universally associate with certain colors. For example, red is considered a color of excitement, intensity, and passion. Black is considered a somber and mysterious color in most cultures. And people usually associate green with earth, growth, and development.<\/p>\n
These universal meanings help artists and advertisers put a lot of responsibility regarding a brand identity\u2019s initial success to its brand colors.<\/p>\n
Importance Of Color In Consumer Marketing<\/h2>\n
According to a consumer research report<\/a>, 93% of consumers rate the visual appearance of the product as the most important factor when it comes to purchase-decisions; 85% admitted to being heavily influenced by the color of a product.<\/p>\n As you can see, colors play an important part in influencing consumer\u2019s purchase decisions. But there\u2019s a segment of the market that is immune to this influence. About 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women are color vision deficient; meaning, they cannot correctly detect certain colors, and therefore, any marketing effort be it through careful logo design, an advertising campaign, or anything else that is completely or heavily dependent on colors alone will be incomplete and not comprehensively effective.<\/p>\n So, as you learn the importance of colors in logo design and marketing, keep in mind that while colors are important in influencing mood and behavior, you cannot depend on colors alone to achieve comprehensive results.<\/p>\n That being said, strategic use of colors in your marketing and design efforts can certainly have a decided effect. To master this strategic use, it\u2019s crucial to learn what feelings and moods different colors represent.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start.<\/p>\n Different colors represent different moods. When we merge colors, we also mesh the representations of emotions that are inherent to them. In this section, we will talk about colors, their meanings, and their emotive moods.<\/p>\n Using this knowledge, you can be better equipped to know which color is most suitable to present your message to the public.<\/p>\n \u201cCrying bloody murder.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cTurning red in embarrassment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAs hot as lava.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n What all of these have in common is color red. Red is the color of danger and warfare, of emotion and passion, of intensity and fire. It is one of those colors from the spectrum that hold a wealth of meaning and mood within its hues.<\/p>\n Depending on its changing tones and saturations, designers can opt to use it to signify love and passion or choose to represent danger and fright through its shades. It is a color common in love and violence. Both cupid and devil use it as their primary color, don\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n Since it\u2019s one of the most attention-grabbing colors and can overpower other colors quite easily, graphic designers rarely use it as the dominant color in their work \u2013 well, unless the intention is to be dominant and overpowering. In most cases, you\u2019ll see it complemented and contrasted by other colors to enhance its mood or merge it with another emotion.<\/p>\n For example, McDonald\u2019s, one of the most prominent brands with red in its logo, uses yellow arches to add a bit of cheer (and mustard!) to its otherwise completely red branding.<\/p>\n Entertainment Logos<\/a> Let\u2019s look at a few other examples to understand in more detail how different emotions are captured in graphic design with the help of red.<\/p>\n The poster of this horror flick uses various shades of red in quite a brilliant subtlety to arouse your emotion. The poster is darker from the corners and brighter in the middle, drawing your eyes in. People who have watched its prequel \u2018The Shining\u2019 may also recall the bloody hallway scene when looking at this poster.<\/p>\n Mark Lawrence, an accomplished web designer, uses various shades of red as accent colors for his own website to show off his daring approach to design. If you\u2019re looking for adventure, of inspiration, and in the mood to try new things, the red accent of this website tells you this is the place to trust.<\/p>\n This business card design<\/a> combines gradient of reds on the front, and on the back uses black to make the red even more powerful and exclusive.<\/p>\n Red is also a warm and primary color from the spectrum, just like red. However, it isn\u2019t as in-your-face as its red neighbor. While yellow is considered a cheery color and is often used to signal emotions like happiness, warmth, and new beginnings, it is also a color that depicts caution. Example: yellow warning signs, yellow hazard signs, and yellow crime scene tape!<\/p>\n But the reason yellow is used for such signals is due to its hard-to-miss hue than any inherent emotional properties.<\/p>\n In fact, when it comes to emotions and moods, yellow is predominantly a happy and peaceful color. Let\u2019s see how graphic designers use yellow to portray different emotions.<\/p>\n Working on Nascar\u2019s mobile app, the design studio, Studio JQ<\/a>, uses a bright and inviting yellow. The color immediately makes you think of speed and zooming cars. The black stripes drive home the message even further.<\/p>\n This book cover of a YA novel is a coming of age story of two girls who used to be best friends. As a light read, set in sunny Spain, the cover makes you think of lazy summer days, of sunflower fields, and feeling absent-minded as you tear the petals away of a flower.<\/p>\n Orange is what you\u2019ll get when you mix red and yellow, and accordingly, the color combines (and offsets) qualities of both the primary colors. It gains your attention but in a subtle and warmer way. It makes you think of cheerful times and puts you in a good mood without carrying the burden of being a cautionary color.<\/p>\n In graphic design, orange is used by brands to stimulate emotions, add intensity, hype up the focus, and boost the confidence. People, who may distance themselves away from bright reds and yellows, may seem more comforted by a cheerful orange.<\/p>\n This orange wallpaper, coupled with a green neon font, grabs and holds your attention without being loud. The stark message of the poster is in brilliant contrast with the mellow shade of orange which is still zesty enough to convey enthusiasm and courage.<\/p>\n The website design sports a linear gradient of orange color for its main color palette. As a site that promotes fun learning activities on day trips for children, orange is the most perfect color they could go with. It puts you in the mood to expect awesome things to come,\u00a0 of a day spent under the sun, and running around in fields.<\/p>\n As a cool color, both in temperature and temperament, blue color is everyone\u2019s favorite. It often comes up in polls and surveys as the most popular color<\/a>, irrespective of gender or cultures. If you want to invoke trust in your brand, put your audience at ease, and introduce an environment of calm and tranquility, blue is the color to go with.<\/p>\n It is also usually associated with feelings of trust, reliability, and solidarity. You\u2019ll often see pharmaceuticals, tech brands, and consumer health brands using blue in their logo and creative product packaging<\/a> color scheme.<\/p>\n This clothing brand used a monochrome application of blue to announce its new season collection. The blue paired with white looks extremely chic and makes you think of calm waters. The color is acutely soothing and immediately puts you at ease.<\/p>\n This book cover design is so calming and refreshing at the same time that you want to not only open the book and start reading but may want to start packing your swimming gear, too.<\/p>\n White is a universal sign of purity, freshness, and peace. In western cultures, especially, white is used to represent fresh starts, youth, neutrality, and purity. Brides wear white to celebrate their unions; a crisp white shirt invokes feelings of freshness and new beginnings, and white space is often used in design to add neutrality and vastness in the work.<\/p>\n As an accent color, you can\u2019t go wrong with white. It beautifully offsets bright shades without hurting their original meaning. Let\u2019s take a look at a few of the white examples in design.<\/p>\n As a neutral color, white gives you the perfect canvas to paint your picture in whatever shades you like. It highlights all the other colors you want to use without taking anything away from them.<\/p>\n Black is the universal color of mystery and allure. It signifies mourning but also used to showcase wealth, exclusivity, and finer taste. It stirs emotions of mystique, elegance, and power.<\/p>\n Industries that use black in their logo design are usually aiming for that same exclusive feeling to be associated with their products and brands. Luxury fashion brands such as Chanel and YSL etc. therefore, use the mystery and devil-may-care aspects of black to further elevate their brand worth.<\/p>\n This bold and dazzling design is not only authoritative in mood but combines sophistication and design aesthetics, too.\u00a0The gray background gives the perfect neutral background on which black is present in all its elegance.<\/p>\n Green is a sign of fertility, life, and development. It promotes emotions that are associated with growth and nature. It is a color that brings hope, clarity, good judgment, and feelings of generosity and abundance.<\/p>\n In graphic design, green is used to signal being right, and choosing the correct course, etc. That\u2019s why you\u2019ll usually see green used for \u2018safe\u2019 buttons on website designs.<\/p>\n As a cool and calming color, it is one of the most popular colors for brands and industries that want to promote their organic approach, a connection to nature, or eco-friendly business practices.<\/p>\n This vintage matchbox and bottle cap package design uses different shades of green and all convey a single message of feeling fresh. The green splash on top of \u2018I\u2019 makes the letter look like a tree, further emphasizing the feelings of being a part of nature.<\/p>\n It makes you think of feeling refreshed, quenching thirst, and feeling energized again.<\/p>\n Purple is the color of royalty. It is said that in olden times, the dye to achieve purple hue was used to so expensive that only the super-wealthy could afford it. Perhaps that is why we still see purple featured so prominently in official royal functions of the UK, for example.<\/p>\n But these feelings of richness and wealth are only associated with a deep bright purple. In lighter tones, the color suggests femininity and delicacy. Lavender, for example, is considered a very romantic color.<\/p>\n To see these different moods represented through graphic design, let\u2019s take a look at few examples.<\/p>\n This rich purple is the height of sophistication. The color makes you think of expensive things, grand mansions, and carpeted staircases. It immediately puts you in the mood to expect finer and exclusive things to come.<\/p>\n The web designers have chosen a gradient of different shades of purple to achieve this beautifully mesmerizing shade. It makes you think of delicate crystals but the product itself is powerful, providing you with an attractive mixture of opposites.<\/p>\n Pink is associated with feelings and emotions that are softer than red-hot passion. Care, romance, excitement, affection and thoughtfulness, are all represented through pink.<\/p>\n If you want to add insight and hope to your graphic design, pink will be the perfect color to go with. It invokes feelings of empowerment, quiet strength, and gentle love.<\/p>\n Pink is used by brands to present softer, mellow but still exciting visual identities. Let\u2019s see how graphic design uses the power of pink to achieve its goals.<\/p>\nColors & Their Moods<\/h2>\n
\u2022 Red<\/h3>\n
![\"red\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/red.png\" "\\"red\\"")
<\/p>\n
\nFast Food Restaurant Logos<\/a>
\nPopcorn Logos<\/a>
\nActor Logos<\/a>
\nTheatre Company Logos<\/a><\/p>\n– Danger And Thrill<\/h3>\n
– Vibrant And Inspired<\/h3>\n
– Successful And Powerful<\/h3>\n
\u2022 Yellow<\/h2>\n
![\"yellow\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/yellow.png\" "\\"yellow\\"")
<\/p>\n– Upbeat And Optimistic<\/h3>\n
– Sunflower, Sunshine, And Summer<\/h3>\n
\u2022 Orange<\/h2>\n
![\"orange\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/orange.png\" "\\"orange\\"")
<\/p>\n– Daring And Enthusiastic<\/h3>\n
– Warm And Fun<\/h3>\n
\u2022 Blue<\/h2>\n
![\"blue\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/blue.png\" "\\"blue\\"")
<\/p>\n– Cool And Cultured<\/h3>\n
![\"Cool](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cool-and-Cultured.jpg\" "\\"Cool")
\nImage Source<\/a><\/p>\n– Serene As The Sea<\/h3>\n
![\"Serene](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Serene-as-the-Sea.jpg\" "\\"Serene")
\nImage Source<\/a><\/p>\n\u2022 White<\/h2>\n
![\"white\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/white.png\" "\\"white\\"")
<\/p>\n– The Perfect Background Color To Tell Your Story<\/h3>\n
![\"Nike\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nike.jpg\" "\\"Nike\\"")
\nImage Source: Nike<\/a><\/p>\n\u2022 Black<\/h2>\n
![\"black\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/black.png\" "\\"black\\"")
<\/p>\n– Sophisticated And Authoritative<\/h3>\n
\u2022 Green<\/h2>\n
![\"green\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/green.png\" "\\"green\\"")
<\/p>\n– Fresh Spirits<\/h3>\n
![\"Fresh](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fresh-Spirits.jpg\" "\\"Fresh")
\nImage Source: Inspiration Feed<\/a><\/p>\n\u2022 Purple<\/h2>\n
![\"purple\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/purple.png\" "\\"purple\\"")
<\/p>\n– Rich And Sophisticated<\/h3>\n
– Creative, Delicate, And Inspiring<\/h3>\n
![\"Creative,](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Creative-delicate-and-inspiring.jpg\" "\\"Creative,")
\nImage Source: Translate WF<\/a><\/p>\n\u2022 Pink<\/h2>\n
![\"pink\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pink-1.png\" "\\"pink\\"")
<\/p>\n– Feminine Power<\/h3>\n
![\"Feminine](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feminine-Power.jpg\" "\\"Feminine")
![\"grey\"](\"https:\/\/www.zilliondesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/grey.png\" "\\"grey\\"")
<\/p>\n