Color is a powerful psychological tool that affects how we feel. Properly utilizing how color evokes emotions can produce significant results in marketing your brand.
This is the second in our three-part series on Color Psychology, focusing on how color evokes emotions. Color use can cause us to react, shift our mood and even create measurable effects in our brain and nervous system! Are the colors you’re using communicating what you intend?
How Color Evokes Emotion
You’ve heard that hospitals use calming colors like blues and greens on walls, art, in fabrics and even lighting to calm patient anxiety and fears and help them to rest. Because of the qualities they evoke, those colors also play a part in healing. How powerful is that? It also helps concerned visitors relax too. This is only one example of color psychology that is at work all around us.
Tap into Color’s Super Powers
We’ve said many times that picking colors for your brand or marketing campaigns go beyond what looks good. How about relying on what’s trending for guidance? Color trends can inform the shade you use but keep in mind that they have no influence over the emotions color evokes. So it’s smart to be very deliberate in choosing hues based on what they communicate to the audience you want to reach! Here are the basics:
Color Combinations Count
Subtle shifts in feeling can occur based on how colors are used, or when combined with other colors. For example, visualize a bright yellow combined with black. Now visualize the same yellow paired with light pink. Just the mention of the combinations likely causes different effects in your minds eye. The graphic above reveals how picking the wrong colors and combinations can communicate an unintended message — or worse, harm your brand! So it’s imperative to understand how color evokes emotions and the role that plays in properly persuading your consumers.
Reaching your customer emotionally is a driver to action and that is where we have expertise. Whether your brand is established, just forming, or if you’re considering a rebrand, it’s well worth having a strategy session with us to assess your color profile and especially to determine how combining colors can be sure to support and be consistent with your brand.
If you want to be assured that your current choices — or what you are considering — work together CONTACT US to discuss it. We’re here to help you succeed!
Every year, we put out a new color trends guidebook inspired by Pantone’s color of the year. To dive deeper, download our 2020 Color Trends Guidebook for FREE!
Coming Next Month: Color does evoke emotion, but the cultural context can also play a surprisingly big part. Look for the next in our Color Psychology Series on How Culture Affects the Meaning of Color.
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I appreciate that you touched on international application. This is a good reminder to be consistent and intentional in all we do! Can’t wait for the next blog about culture. I have been focused this last year on mentoring graduate students in the development and support of learning design for nonprofits and leadership coaches. It has been a joy! But my next step is to release an aligned podcast. Finally, I feel right about this one being true to my passions and skillset. I already have the support in place to release transcripts (and over time more) in Spanish, French and Portuguese. The friends who are helping me with that piece are professional foreign language translators and learning designers. Mario lives in Haiti, Monica in Guatemala and Elza from Portugal living in the States. So much fun ahead! Thanks for the powerful example you set for others, Nicte! You are simply amazing!