Color Psychology

Color psychology is the science of how colors impact moods, feelings, and behaviors. It is actually a branch of the broader field of behavioral psychology.

Color can indeed influence a person, but it is important to remember that these effects differ between people as factors such as gender, age and culture can influence how an individual perceives color.

The Color Wheel

A color circle, based on red, yellow and blue, is traditional in the field of art.

Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666. Since then, scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept.

Primary Colors: Red, yellow and blue
In traditional color theory, primary colors are the 3 pigment colors that cannot be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. All other colors are derived from these 3 hues. 

Secondary Colors: Green, orange and purple
These are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors.

Tertiary Colors: Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green & yellow-green
These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color.

The color wheel is divided into Warm & Cool colors. Blues, greens are categorize as cool colors and Reds, Yellows, Orange are categorize as warm colors.

Warm colors give a feeling of closeness and provide very cozy environments. These colors can make large rooms appear closer.
Warm colors often remind sunlight, sand, fire, and heat. Therefore, they usually attract attention and are generally perceived as an energetic or exciting.

Cool color is used to describe any color that is calm or soothing in nature.
Cool colors are perfect for areas where we like to relax such as bedroom. They have a tendency to “recede” or “expand” a room by making space larger with comfort.

Colors Summary

• Orange, Helpful, Burning, Cozy, Abundant, warning, flavorful, festive, active, exciting, communicative, inspiring
• Blue, technical, deep, free, educated, protective, peaceful, cold, clean, authoritative, formal
• Yellow, Creative, young, visible, bright, cheerful, light weight, curious, coward, playful, nutritious, ill, expanding
• Green, natural, adventurous, relaxed, athletic, unfortunate, lucky, balanced, safe, sharing
• Purple, intelligent, artistic, aloof, luxurious, royal, vain, fantastic, melancholic, feminine, fragrant, solemn
• Red, Dynamics, vital, romantic, commanding, alert, rebellious, contemporary, visible, hot, fun
• Grey, Suppressive, depressing, dampening effect, lack of confidence, fear of exposure
• Black, Sophistication, uncompromising excellence, seriousness
• White, Purity, clean, hygienic, sterile, perception of space.

Color & Marketing

• Brands and color are inextricably linked because color offers an instantaneous method for conveying meaning and message without words.
• In other words, a brand communicates the “idea” of company or product. This is what forms the connection with consumers.
• Brands communicate meanings with the language of color and shape
• Color is the visual component people remember most about a brand followed closely by shapes/symbols then numbers and finally words.
• Color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent.
• Most recognizable brands in the world rely on color as a key factor in their instant recognition

Conclusion

Color psychology is a must-study field for leaders, office managers, architects, gardeners, chefs, product designers, packaging designers, web designers, Graphic designer, store owners, and even expectant parents painting the nursery for the new arrival!

Color is critical.

Our success depends upon how we use color. As stated at the onset, colors impact moods, feelings, and behaviors

By Parija Malvankar.
She has 7 years of experience in Web design and development.