Have 5 Minutes? Here’s What The Colors Around You Mean
You know that colors occupy everything you do and use in your daily life. But there’s something that you might not know. Colors, affect our moods and feelings as well. When we view different colors, there’s a psychological change that happens. For instance, we’re always relaxed when we are around and see nature.
Colors also play a vital role in marketing.
For example, when we go to a supermarket, when we select a product, we also choose from the color of the package. Apple launched gold and rose gold iPhones. These are colors that are associated with luxury items.
Colors can easily convey a message. We can look at the back label of a food product, and see a green or red circle, which denotes “Veg” or “Non-Veg”. There is no need to express this verbally.
You’re probably wondering why we use colors. What’s the point?
What is Color?
The perception of color is a sensory experience. The color of an object is seen by the eye. When white light shines on the surface of an object, that surface reflects some colors and absorbs some others.
Your computer screen is a backlit RGB color as it is created by light projected through the display. Another one is CMYK. This color scheme is created by inks using in printing.
Color psychology is distinguished by two categories of colors: Warm and Cool.
Warm colors include red, orange, yellow, and variations of these three colors. These colors evoke emotions of passion, happiness, enthusiasm, and energy.
For example, we see most restaurant walls are either red or shades of red. This is meant to promote a feeling of hunger in customers.
Cool colors will feel calm and relaxing. These colors are mainly green, blue, purple, and their respective shades.
Power of colors
Here’s an example of how different colors evoke different emotions.
Don’t believe me? Here are some real world examples.
Zara, one of the world’s biggest fashion brands, uses black in their logo. That is meant to show their sophistication.
McDonald’s, a global fast food chain, has a logo that’s pure yellow. This is meant to signify friendliness, warmth, and happiness.
Samsung, a worldwide electronics giant that needs no introduction, has a blue logo. This is meant to inspire users and make them believe in the integrity and sincerity of the company, and make people believe in the reliability of their products.
Understanding Color
For New years celebrations, most advertisements are black and gold. This is because that celebrations are often done in the night, and they want to signify the sophistication and vibrancy of the event.
Pink is the English word for a color often called Rosa in Italian, German, and Spanish. This is a color named after the most romantic flower. This means that there’s GOT to be something to do with Valentine’s Day! That’s why we mostly use red for Valentine’s cards, chocolates, and gifts.
Mother’s Day recognizes mothers by using soft colors that define the characteristics of women.
In many cultures around the world, the egg is a symbol of new life, fertility, and rebirth. Easter eggs are symbolic of the birth of Jesus Christ. It also happens to come in the spring season as well. That’s why they’re in light pastel shades.
Father’s day is celebrated to honor fathers. This is why the color blue is used, to denote that they are reliable. Also, they use black and blue for daily use products like watches, suits, and ties.
The Colors of Christmas are red, green, and blue. It comes from the story of Santa Claus, with wreaths for summer and snow for winter.
Why Kids Like Bright Colors
Color perception takes time to develop, and infants can’t see most colors in toys. They start off being able to perceive red and yellow, and the rest comes later. This is why you’ll see a lot of toys colored brightly.
Colors for Branding and Marketing
In general, marketers understand the need for consistency in color and design. Branding plays a vital role to move beyond the standard logo. This includes the website and tagline.
You want to take a holistic approach to evoke emotions among potential customers across all of your marketing channels. If you are a designer, the colors in your design need to be purposeful and have meaning in their use.
This should give you a basic understanding of color theory. It’s important to understand this. It’ll give you a understanding of how colors are used to shape and define the world around you. All the colors you see are not random. They have a fixed and clearly defined purpose, and it helps to know what those purposes are.
Hope this helps!
