Colour Psychology

 

 A Brief Treatise On How Colour Influences The Human Consciousness

 

Introduction Colour Is A Very Powerful Tool!  Anyone who has ever purchased anything realizes that colour often played a pivotal role in their choice. Our colour proclivity subtilely persuaded us, as it implied   and organized information from which we made our final decision. This underlying colour bias is driven by our cultures, personalities, sex, space and  time.  As we look around, colour is everywhere, informing us, changing our moods, organizing our thoughts and guiding us to make decisions. It is therefore highly   imperative that Graphic Design students understand the effects of this very powerful tool, and how to best implement its attributes. By selectively integrating elements of colour, graphics and typography, the Graphic Designer ultimately adds a perceived value and appeal to consummable  goods — undeniably the central impetus for Graphic Design. This document introduces some of the basic concepts of how colour affects our  thinking. I'm sure that you will find it interesting and informative as it makes you  aware of the psychological facet to being a Graphic Designer.

Colour & Psychology — A Brief Treatise On How Colour Influences The Human Consciousness Edited by Carlo Mostacci  September, 2002

Pantone, Inc., developer of the globally accepted PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® and the PANTONE TEXTILE Colour System®, is the leading source of products for the selection and accurate communication of colour around the world. With over 30 years' experience in the development of colour systems, the company is recognized as the global leader in electronic colour technology, traditional graphics colour systems, and specific colour reference products for textiles, coatings and plastics. Wherever  colour is spoken, Pantone is the definitive authority. Pantone, Inc. is headquartered in Carlstadt, New   Jersey  Jer sey..

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The Many Moods Of Colour  On Childhood Infants as young as two months prefer colourful objects over non-colour. Young children are colour-dominant and are more attracted by colour than shape. As they mature, they will often become more form-dominant; however, creative peo ple often remain colour-dominant colour-dominant all of their lives. Eye-tracking studies that record infants' attention spans indicate that, regardless of sex, red and blue are the most preferred colours. As we grow older, habituation or learning patterns, and doing what adults tell us is "appropriate," colours our  thinking. Childhood memories are so involved with colour that they are indelibly stamped   in our psyches forever.

On Culture Our cultural backgrounds and traditions influence our learned response and reaction to colour. For example, in many Middle Eastern countries, blue is viewed as  a very protective colour. colour. Front doors are painted blue to ward off evil spirits.  Anyone raised with a deeply rooted sense of that hue would feel very safe in a  blue environment. It is interesting to note that colour can have the same meaning cross-culturally.. In some communities of the Southeast, front porch ceilings were cross-culturally  painted blue to to keep ghosts from entering entering and haunting haunting the premises, premises, while in the Southwest, many Native Americans paint their doors blue to keep the bad spirits  away..  away Each culture has its own unique heritage of colour symbolism and each of us is a  product of our our early environment environment and so are our clients clients or customers. customers. It behooves us to do some homework on the background and perception of colour in a given culture. As people move from place to place, they often carry their colour bag gage with them. However However,, with shrinking territorial barriers and increased com munication, there will be a greater homogenization of colour exchanges throughout the world and regional colour concepts will ultimately expand and change. Out of this cross-cultural exchange, a new collective colour consciousness will  emerge. We are all well aware of the European influence on our sense of colour   and design; however however,, there is an increasing awareness of typically American colours in foreign markets, largely because of American films and TV. 2

 

Georgio Armani did his home on the Mediterranean in what he calls "i colouri de Sante Fe." "The American look sells in Europe," said a recent L.A. Times article. "the American popular culture is more dominant than ever . . . nowhere is this new   influence more obvious than in interiors and furnishings." The New York Times calls people of one region who dress like people of another region "cultural transvestites!"

On Specific Colours Warm colours are referred to as high arousal hues. Red creates the highest arous al threshold. So, from from nighties to sportscars, sportscars, it is true that that red literally can turn you on! Any design done in red takes on a red persona. The person buying the red sportscar subliminally believes that he or she will be  magically transformed transformed into a sexy sexy,, dynamic and daring daring person. As to red cars getting more speeding tickets - there is no real statistical evidence to support that  claim! Coloured lighting can also effect behavior. behavior. Studies show that people will gamble more and make riskier bets when under a  red light as opposed to a blue light. Does pink make strong men weak? Studies conducted several years ago showed that pink had a subduing effect on violent   prison inmates. inmates. More recent recent studies show show that when men were told they would be weaker in a pink environment, they were - but, when women were told they'd be weaker, they actually got stronger! The findings indicate that women resisted stereotyping and men were more  swayed by the power of suggestion. Research shows that most colours (with a few exceptions) have far more positive  and pleasant associations than negative. Our research also indicates that peach  is one of the colours having the most pleasant associations for the consumer;  among other qualities, it is a nurturing and approachable colour colour.. Teal, sky blue  and bright red also rate high, while chartreuse is least preferred. Olive does not rate well with the consumer unless it is combined in an interesting, complex way and then it will appeal to the up-scale buyer. Just don't call it olive or avocado; the consumer resists those names because they remember an avalanche of avocado from the 60's and early 70's (a classic case of colour overkill). It's important to remember that the human eye sees white as a brilliant colour and   it can cause headaches and eyestrain in the workplace. Several years ago, I was asked to develop a new line of colours and corporate ID  package for a cosmetic company company.. Just prior to my assignment, the lab and offices offices  had been renovated. The president of the company had expected that the 3

 

employees and staff would all be energized and excited by the changes and the clean, fresh, all white and shiny textured new look. Instead, absenteeism was ram pant, employees were complaining complaining of not feeling well and, even even worse for a beauty-based company, company, not looking well, and productivity was down. From the moment I walked into the sterile, pristine environment, I knew exactly  what the problem was. In the cosmetics industry, red is the over-riding colour . . . lipsticks, blushers, nail polishes, etc. As anyone who has ever taken a Colour  Theory class knows, the complement to red is green. After viewing all of those variations of red, when the employees looked at the glistening white work stations or walls (and each other's complexions) everything had a decided greenish tinge. I solved the problem by recommending a soft teal on the walls and a pearl gray  on the work stations. The blue-green teal neutralized the greenish after-image. Within a few days of redecorating, absenteeism was no longer a problem, and  within six months productivity and sales doubled. For the colour stylist/consultant/designer/marketer tant/designer/mar keter,, continuing colour education literally pays off.

By Leatrice Eiseman, Colour Consultant, Director of the Pantone Colour Institute, Author of the PANTONE® Book of Colour and Director of the Eiseman Center for Colour Information and Training. PANTONE® is Pantone, Inc.'s check-standard trademark for colour reproduction and colour reproduction materials.

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How Does Colour Affect Us? Colour Psychology Our personal and cultural associations affect our experience of colour. Colours  are seen as warm or cool mainly mainly because of long-held (and often universal) universal) associations. Yellow Yellow, orange and red are associated with the heat of sun and fire; blue,  green and violet with the coolness of leaves, sea and the sky. sky. Warm colours colours seem closer to the viewer than cool colours, but vivid cool colours can overwhelm light   and subtle warm warm colours. Using Using warm colours colours for foreground and cool colours for   background enhances the perception of depth.  Although red, yellow and orange are in general considered high-arousal colours  and blue, green and most violets are low-arousal hues, the brilliance, darkness  and lightness of a colour can alter the psychological message. While a light light blue green appears to be tranquil, wet and cool, a brilliant turquoise, often associated  with a lush tropical ocean setting, will be more exciting to the eye. The psychological association of a colour is often more meaningful than the visual experience.

Physiological Effects Of Colour  Colours act upon the body as well as the mind. Red has been shown to stimulate the senses and raise the blood pressure, while blue has the opposite effect and  calms the mind. People will actually gamble more and make riskier bets when seated under a red  light as opposed to a blue light. That's why Las Vegas is the city of red neon. For most people, one of the first decisions of the day concerns colour harmony. What am I going to wear? This question is answered not only by choosing a style  and fabric appropriate appropriate to the season, but by making the right colour choices. And   it goes on from there. Whether you're designing a new kitchen, wrapping a present or creating a bar chart, the colours you choose greatly affect your final results. How often have you caught your breath at the sight of a flowerbed in full bloom? Most likely the gardener has arranged the flowers according to their colour for  extra vibrancy. vibrancy. Have you ever seen a movie in which a coordinated colour scheme  helps the film create a world unto itself? With a little knowledge of good colour   relationships, you can make colours work better for you in your business graph ics and other applications. 5

 

Colour is light and light is energy. Scientists have found that actual physiological  changes take place in human beings when they are exposed to certain colours. Colours depress,

can

stimulate,

tranquilize,

excite, increase

 appetite and create a feeling of  warmth or coolness. This is known  as chromodynamics.  An executive for a paint company   received complaints complaints from workers workers in

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 a blue office that the office was too cold. When the offices were painted a warm  peach, the sweaters came off off even though the temperature temperature had not changed (figure 1). The illusions discussed below will show you that sometimes combinations of  colours can deceive the viewer, sometimes in ways that work to your advantage. They can also cause unfortunate effects in your graphics, so be sure to watch out  for these little traps.

Relationships Of Colours To Each Other  Sometimes colours affect each other in unexpected ways. For example, most  colours, when placed next to their complements, produce vibrating, electric effects. Other colours, in the right combinations, seem quite different from what   you'd expect. The most striking colour illusions are those where identical colours, when sur rounded by different backgrounds, appear to be different from each other other.. In a  related effect, different colours can appear to be the same colour when sur rounded by certain backgrounds. When you look at a coloured object, your brain determines its colour in the context of the surrounding colours. In figure 2, the two bows are the same colour, colour, but because the surrounding areas  are strikingly different in contrast, it seems to our eyes that that they are are different. Keep this effect in mind when creating graphics where colour matching is critical. If you

Figure 2

 attempt to match your corporation's official colours, you may find that even if you  achieve an exact match, it may look wrong in context. In the same way that one colour can appear different in different surroundings, two similar colours may appear to be identical under some conditions. Even though the two symbols are actually slightly different tones, the contrasting back grounds cause our brains to think that they are the same colour colour.. This effect is

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 harder to control, but be aware of it because it can affect your graph ics in hidden ways. The feeling you get when looking at bright complementary colours  next to each other is a vibrating or pulsing effect. It seems that the colours are pulling away from each other. It's caused by an effect  called colour fatiguing. When one colour strikes a portion of the retina long enough, the optic nerve begins sending confused signals to the  brain. This confusion is intensified by the complementaries. Mixing brilliant complementary colours gets attention, but it should be used with restraint. The effect is disconcerting and can make your  eyes feel like they've been shaken around (figure 3). If you want to use complementary colours without causing discomfort,  you can outline each of the colours with a thin neutral white, gray or 

Figure 3

 black line. As is illustrated in figure 3, outlines separate the two colours, which helps your brain keep them separated. When two very similar colours touch in an image, both colours appear  to wash out and become indistinct. This is because the borders  between the colours are are difficult to distinguish distinguish and your brain brain blurs the colours together (figure 4). If you outline each of the colours with a thin neutral white, gray or   black line, as depicted in figure 4, the colours become easier to distinguish. This is called the stained glass technique and is a way to  reduce this blurring of the colours.

By Leatrice Eiseman, Colour Consultant, Director of the Pantone Colour Institute, Author  of the PANTONE® Book of Colour and Director of the Eiseman Center for Colour  Information and Training. PANTONE® is Pantone, Inc.'s check-standard trademark for colour reproduction and  colour reproduction materials.

Figure 4

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Consumer Colour Preferences Results Of The Roper/Pantone® Consumer Colour Preference Study  Study reveals that Americans are either feeling blue or keen on green, and that a penchant for purple rivals red 1.

The Roper/ Roper/Panton Pantone e Consume Consumerr Colour Colour Prefe Preference rence Study has reveal revealed ed that  that   blue is the country's most popular colour. Whether a sign of national depres sion or a quest for calm, 35% of those polled chose it as their favorite colour  overall in a study conducted by colour communication company Pantone, Inc. and marketing consultants Roper Starch, Worldwide. "It comes as no surprise that Americans overwhelmingly chose the colour that   best evokes a soothing, calming tranquility tranquility in a frantically fast, often insecure world," says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour  Institute®. "It may seem a stretch to equate colour and design directions with our state of mind and body, but these trends have always reflected society's concerns and interests, and surviving stress is a key issue in today's world."

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Spectrum Spect rum Blue Blue was was the leadi leading ng choice choice for for men, men, especial especially ly among among trends trendsetetting 18 - 29 year olds, while the more serene Sky Blue was the favorite choice of women.

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Second Sec ond to blue blue was was green green,, chosen chosen by by 16% 16% of cons consume umers. rs. "As ecology and the preservation of nature has grown as the overriding social   issue of the 90s, so has the popularity of green," says Eiseman. "Consumers describe it as fresh, clean and revitalizing."

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Green is especially favored by a demographic group called the influentials. "These are the opinion leaders, the kind of people others go to for advice,  says Eiseman. "They are the very vocal 10% of the population who embrace  newness and spread the word. They are the trendsetters."

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Interestin Inter estingly gly,, purple purple came up as the the third third favorite favorite colour colour,, nudging nudging red out out by   just 1%. "Purple is, after all, the bridge from warm to cool, a blend of quiet   blue and raucous red" says Eiseman, describing it as a complex and intrigu ing shade of mixed messages.

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Red is still viewe viewed d as the the most excit exciting ing colour colour,, however however,, and black black is consid consid-ered to be the most mysterious, but both are followed closely by purple.

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The 18 to 29 year olds olds are are especiall especiallyy partial partial to to purple purple because because they they consider  consider   it sexy sexy," ," says Eiseman. "And the influentials see it as powerful and sophisticated." The findings are derived from nationwide interviews of over 2,000 men and  women 18 years and older. The participants were asked to select their  colours from a broad spectrum included in the PANTONE TEXTILE Colour  System®, and the responses were categorized by age, sex, occupation, education, household income, geographic area, and market size.

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"Colour "Col our prefe preferenc rence e often often reflect reflects s specific specific demog demograph raphic ic groups groups," ," says says Eiseman. "A preference for red is directly linked to the most secure within a  society,, with the most economically stable segment, or achievers, such as  society  high-powered active women who are unafraid to take risks."

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In regard regard to fashio fashion n and appar apparel, el, blues blues were also chose chosen n as Ameri America's ca's favorite colour for casual clothing, taking 37% of the vote, while grays and   black were deemed the number one choice for business suits, with 35% of  those polled indicating it as their favorite colour c olour..

10. Black remains remains the most mysterio mysterious, us, powerful, powerful, and sophisticate sophisticated d shade, especially with wealthy, achievement-oriented women. That opinion is not   shared by blue collar or middle-aged men and women, however however,, who still   associate black with mourning. 11. Grays and black black were also also chosen as the second second favorite favorite colour colour for casual  casual  clothing by 13%, while blues were chosen as the second favorite colour for   business suits by 23%. 12. The two colours colours that are seen as the warmest warmest as well as the the most cheerful are  pink and yellow, with pink being the most popular of the two.  According to Eiseman, soft pinks tend to elicit simple, uncomplicated emotions, while fluorescent pinks are the least liked of that particular colour fam ily.  ily. 13. "In general, fluorescents fluorescents in every colour family are the least preferred preferred for the  age group tested," says Eiseman. 14. It should come come as no surprise then that bright orange is the the least favorite favorite colour overall, although two popular colours chosen by the influentials were Orange Crush and Firewater. 15. "The influentials are the strongest advocates of of orange, partly because they   are more secure in indulging in off-beat tastes, and because orange has  become a colour embraced by haute couture," says Eiseman.

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16. Oran Orange ge also has its highest highest acceptance acceptance in the youth market, market, especially especially with with  adolescents. "It's the in-your-face colour, look-at-me reaction to the overwhelming attention  paid to the preceding baby boomer generation," says Eiseman. 17. Similarly Similarly,, the second most disliked colour among among adults is a strong, strong, sulfuric  yellow-green, while at the same time the youth youth market describes describes their favorite favorite colour as "slime green." 18. As for the home, brown brown finds its niche in rich earthtones of Tobacco Tobacco and  Carobe Brown, and neutrals, such as Angora and Cream Pearl. "Comfort is the most important word in today's consumer vocabulary," says Eiseman. "People want to feel comfortable whether in their clothing or their   homes, and their colour preferences are a reflection of that."

By Leatrice Eiseman, Colour Consultant, Director of the Pantone Colour Institute, Author of the PANTONE® Book of Colour and Director of the Eiseman Center for Colour Information and Training. PANTONE® is Pantone, Inc.'s check-standard trademark for colour reproduction and colour reproduction materials.

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Colour Interpretation Proclivities  of Western Cultures Purple

Blue

This colour has long been associated with royalty   and dignity. dignity. Purple is identified with sweetness.

Blue is the colour of sky and water; it imparts a feeling of serenity and stability.

In Western cultures, tints of purple (lavender) are considered feminine colours.

Bright blues are suggestive of youth, vibrancy, coolness and positive energy. energy.

 Yellow   Ye llow  Bright yellows imply happiness, optimism and   positive energy. energy. Yellow is associated with the sun, warmth and   summer; it is also considered the universal sign of  caution in western cultures.

Orange Bright orange conveys similar feelings imbued by  the colour red.

Western cultures consider blue a masculine colour.

Red  An extremely bright and exciting colour, colour, red is the colour of passion, violence, supreme confidence  and danger. danger. Red begets attention. Dark reds imbue thoughts of violence and of the  macabre while bright reds are indicative of festivities. Associated with fire and warmth. Pink is a tint of red and is considered a feminine colour in Western cultures.

Rust-coloured oranges have an earthy autumnal  feeling.

Silver  Traditional Tr aditional colour of fall and fall fashions.

Green The colour of foliage, imbues the sense of  nature, coolness, stability, stability, calmness, freshness. In certain connotations it also implies spoilage,  biological impurities, and ill health.

Silver implies high technology and futuristic qualities and it imbues a feeling of luxury and wealth  and coolness. Highly reflective and excellent for emphasis.

Gold

In western cultures, green is universally recog nized as indicating good system status, or that a

 Associated with luxury and wealth, it imbues a feeling of sophistication, warmth, comfort and  value to items.

 process is operating correctly. correctly.

Highly reflective and excellent for emphasis.

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