Do you think really there’s no discernible difference between your logo in salmon pink as opposed to rose pink? Think again. Colour determines 60 to 90% of how a buyer will react and feel about your brand. Colour theory is knowing the effects colour has on people, it’s an incredibly valuable expertise that designers can master and offer to their clients.
Here’s our take on five popular colours and what they say about a brand:

RED

We all associate red with anger, right? But what’s really going on with red? Red is an active colour which attracts attention. It encourages us to take action and can change our mood from calm to very not calm! The colour red stimulates our nervous system and even slightly increases our blood pressure. It is often used to indicate danger, fire or other very stressful things.
However, depending on the shade or tone of red used, it could also indicate strawberry fields, summer or most commonly love. If used correctly it can portray your brand as a strong leader.

> Red works well for brands in the field of:

Security
Food/Drinks
Sport
Transport
Property
Shipping/Delivery

BLUE

When someone says they’re feeling blue, we take it to mean they’re feeling down. But blue is often associated with calmness and reliability. Blue makes us feel creative, peaceful and when used in branding blue instills trust. Unlike red’s ability to draw a physical reaction, blue induces a mental reaction that allows us to destress, calm down, and put things into place. It’s a universal colour which works for almost everything and is one of the most liked colours in the world. It is often used in health, wellbeing and sometimes ecology.

> Blue works well for brands in the field of:

Logistics
Finance/Business
IT/Digital
Property
Health
Wellbeing
Tourism
Kids/Family

YELLOW

They call me mellow yellow, quite rightly? Quite wrongly. In fact yellow is the most energetic colour and is associated with joy, happiness, cheerfulness and optimism. Yellow lifts spirits, increases confidence and provides inspiration. It’s the first colour infants respond to and stimulates brain activity and improves focus. Yellow is often used to convey childhood and humour. If used in a golden palette, it’s associated with status and money. It is often used by travel agencies for its association with the sun.

> Yellow works well for brands in the field of:

Clothing
Sports
Entertainment
Tourism
Family/Kids
Arts
Education
Animals

GREEN

Are you green with envy or maybe you’re going green for our planet? Green is the colour of nature, freshness, calmness and is associated with our Emerald Isle. Green is often used for its calming effect – take for example the “green room” where performers wait before they’re brought onstage or onscreen. Green is one of the most-seen colours in nature and in fact it is the colour the human eye can see best. If you want to portray health, rest and to relieve stress, green is the colour for your brand. Green is associated with ecology, sustainability and doing good. It is correlated with Ireland and is often used in government agencies or semi-public bodies. Green is also related to money and works for the finance industry.

> Green works well for brands in the field of:

Food/Beverages
Education
IT/Digital
Property
Health/Wellbeing
Tourism
Family/Kids
Animals
Finance/Business

BLACK

Black gets a bad rap in our language: blacking out, black Monday, black plague, black magic, black sheep, blackmail, black market…need we go on? But black is also associated with clarity, sophistication and minimalism. Black is in fact an absence of all the colours and is a great colour for high contrast and easy legibility. So what does it say about a brand? Black oozes high end – think Chanel, Brown Thomas, and A-class cars. It’s also a great colour for minimalist branding in anything from beauty and fashion to finance and banking. What it does is sets your brand apart from the competition.

> Black works well for brands in the field of:

Beauty
Arts
Finance/Banking
Fashion
Property
Education
Sport

At Design Clinic we are experts in colour theory – we could nerd on about it all day. We love working with brands to establish themselves with the right colour palette – whether that’s rainbows and sunshine yellow or give me your credit card now black.
> Get in touch with us today!

Photo by davisuko on Unsplash