09 Jan, 2019
Have you ever felt calmed by the serene blue of the ocean? Or dreary when the city is immersed in a grey fog? Has the yellow of the sun brightened your day? Or have you felt overwhelmed in the darkness of the night? Colour is known to have an impact on the way people feel. It is a powerful tool in persuasion and changing a person’s perception. We have become accustomed to associating certain colours to specific meanings, which are often universal. Today, we’ll take a look at what emotions and feelings different colours invoke in a person! Red Red is vibrant and many associate the colour with passion. Depending on the shade of red, it can create a sense of urgency and grab attention, which is why it’s used on traffic signs. It is also a colour used to convey love. However, since red is such a powerful colour, how people react to it will certainly depend on past experiences with the colour. Yellow Yellow is a bright colour, often associated with cheerfulness and warmth. When people think about the colour yellow, they think about the sun. The colour is capable of persuading a person to be optimistic, but too much can be tiring. Too much yellow tends to cause feelings of stress and tiredness due to the high amount of light that’s reflected. Blue For many, blue is a calming colour. It is the colour of the sky during the day and often viewed as the colour of the ocean. It is a colour people associate with nature and tranquility. However, since blue is a cool colour, it can also represent the cold. This feeling of coldness will depend on the shade of blue used, much like the colour’s association with sadness. Despite the loneliness one may feel when looking at the colour, it is still the colour most preferred by men and women. Green Like the colour blue, green is also frequently associated with nature and the world. It is the colour of the lush forests on Earth, as well as the colour of grass that surrounds us in the summer. Since it’s so closely linked to nature, people see green as another calming colour. However, green is also associated with negative feelings, such as greed or jealousy. Some nutrition-related businesses use the colour green to promote their product, as green represents healing. Purple Purple represents royalty and has been closely linked to it for a long time. As dyes were hard to create, it was difficult to obtain fabric of certain colours. Those who could afford purple fabric were members of the upper class, and thus the colour became associated with wealth and royalty. It is also a colour linked to mystery and unknown, due to its rarity as a colour. White Depending on the culture, white can have different meanings. For Western cultures, white is associated with weddings and hospitals. It is considered to be a clean and innocent colour, but in Eastern cultures, it is closely linked to completely different emotions. In Eastern cultures, white represents death. It is often used for funerals, evoking feelings of despair and sadness. However, white is an extremely popular colour to use for marketing tactics as it implies simplicity and freshness. Black Black represents darkness, the complete absence of light. It has become closely linked to evil and often creates an unforgiving feeling. In many cultures, black is associated with death and mourning. During funerals, people often wear black clothes as a representation of their grief and sadness. Despite black being closely associated with negative feelings, it has also become a popular colour to use to show sophistication and formality. Many businesses use black to create a unified style to their brand, as it is complementary to all other colours. Of course, there are many other colours that evoke certain emotions and feelings. Orange is often associated with autumn and warmth, while pink is closely linked to love, romance, and softness. The next time you’re designing a sign or decal, keep in mind the feeling you want your audience to experience! Once you find the colour that is closely linked to that feeling, you might find that people respond differently to your product. For more information on what colours are the most persuasive, contact JLS Decals & Signs. We’ll be happy to help you.