Last Updated: 1st April 2020
You and I, we all associate colors with traits like trust, power, excitement, and so on. The moment we see a color, it triggers a reaction. Colors influence people, plain and simple. After a lot of research on how colors influence people, I have crafted the color guide below. I use this as a reference in both my image consulting as well as digital marketing projects.
BLUE
Generally associated with security and trust, most banks like SBI, HDFC, etc. use this color to gain customers.
Even Facebook and Twitter have blue designs for the same reason.
GREEN
This color has a calming effect. So mostly environment, finance, entertainment and leisure related websites use it.
TheYearofGreta is a good example for this.
RED
You want to grab someone’s attention. Do it in red. It triggers our impulsive nature, so now you can understand why the sale signs are always in red color.
YELLOW
The moment you see this color, you feel happy. McDonalds, anyone? ;)
PINK
Mostly used to attract female buyers and customers, even patrons, because the moment you see pink, you know it’s related to females.
For example, the pink ribbon to signify the fight against breast cancer.
On a more commercial note, pink is generally used for products designed for girls and women.
A high quality brand like Victoria’s Secret (where one sees almost the entire range of shades of pink) takes this color influence one step further – they actually incorporate an entire product line called PINK that caters to young women and girls. And every product is a winner. Genius, isn’t it?
ORANGE
This color is most extensively used in kids’ stuff.
I remember my first website project was to design something cool for the family center in our county and my boss wanted everything in different shades of orange so that the kids could also get onto it. At that time, I thought it was a crazy design idea, but now I understand why she gave me such a design brief.
BLACK
This is power. Exclusivity is the name of the game.
If you’re using black, people know your products or services are expensive. People won’t loiter around your store, they will be too scared to even set foot into it. Usually high end clubs, jewelry shops, limited editions sport this color.
WHITE
A bride looking virginal in a white gown to hospitals in white colored buildings and white corridors, all scream simplicity and purity. There’s nothing more truer than this. This is the reason most medicines (or at least their packaging) are white in color.
Over to you..
So now you have a certain idea on how colors influence you and everyone around you. These were just the basic popular colors that I listed above. In color analysis, every shade of each color counts. As a business owner, try to find the right colors to attract and retain customers. As a customer, don’t let yourself to be misled by colors from the get-go. Learn to look beyond the colors to get the right service or product for you.
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