Importance of color

Can you imagine a world without colors?

Color is the first thing we register making an immediate response to it before anything else. Our mind builds color relations and forms, changing emotions and causing reactions.

Color is one of the most effective tools to cause an impact. Psychologists say that color impression can account for 60% of the acceptence or rejection of a product or service.

We all act on instinct to color and in many instances our responses can help us survive in the real world.

So we should use the influence of colors to our advantage and to create a good impression. The most important thing you need to know now is to understand what different colors mean to other people and how to use these colors to enhance your image will help you gain more from your life.

Meanings of colors

Keep in mind that different colors have different importance in different communities. The psychology of colors will also differ from one community to another.

So before you start your coloring you need to identify your target audience and do an intense research about their taste choice and preferences.

Here are some examples of colors and their meanings:

RED: Excitement, Power, Agressive, Danger, Desire, Love

_{It's a very emotionally intense color with very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red. You can also find in many national flags, cause in some cultures means courage. It stimulates people to make quick decisions and that's why it's perfect for some buttons like "buy now" or "click here" on websites. In advertising, red is often used to evoke erotic feelings.}

BLUE: Honesty, Calm, Security, Wisdom, Heaven, Faith

_{Color of the sky and sea, it is often associated with depth and stability. It's considered beneficial to the mind and body, strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness, air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (mineral water). Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products. Avoid using blue when promoting food and cooking, because blue suppresses appetite.}

GREEN: Peaceful, Harmony, Money, Health, Food, Nature

_{Color of nature with some healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye and it can improve vision. Use green to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products. since it's related to nature you can use it to promote 'green' products.}

YELLOW: Cheerful, Optimistic, Joy, Intellect, Energy

_{Produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. But when overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect. Yellow is seen before other colors when placed against black, that's why it's often used to issue a warning. Use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings, like to promote children's products and items related to leisure. Yellow is an unstable and spontaneous color, so avoid using yellow if you want to suggest stability and safety.}

PURPLE: Beauty, Inspiration, Royalty, Religious, Mystery, Magic

_{Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. According to surveys, almost 75% of pre-adolescent children prefer purple to all other colors. Light purple is a good choice for a feminine design, promoting romantic and nostalgic feelings. On the other hand, dark purple evokes gloom and sad feelings, causing sometimes frustration.}

ORANGE: Creativity, Confidence, Happiness, Determination

_{Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. To the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of heat, but not so aggressive as red. You can use it to catch attention and highlight the most important elements of your design. Orange is very effective for promoting food products and toys. It's highly accepted among young people.}

WHITE: Light, Innocence, Purity, Peace, Perfection, Clean


_{In advertising, white is associated with coolness and cleanliness because it's the color of snow. You can use white to suggest simplicity in high-tech products. White is an appropriate color for charitable organizations. Since it's associated with hospitals, doctors, and sterility, you can use it to suggest safety when promoting medical products. Also associated with low weight, low-fat food, and dairy products.}

BLACK: Elegance, Formality, Death, Drama, Classic

_{Black is a mysterious color associated with the unknown, but it's considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color. In some cultures black is the symbol of grief. When designing for a gallery of art or photography, you can use a black or gray background to make the other colors stand out. Black contrasts well with bright colors.}

Colors and Culture

Like I said before, colors have different meanings in different cultures. It's important that you study with careful what the colors mean to your target audience.



Western Culture
The colors of purple and orange are often associated with royalty, wealth and opulance.
Red, white and blue - being the colors of the American flag - immediately convey notions of patriotism and to some people means conservatism.
Green represents ecology and concern for the environment, however, it also conveys meanings associated with money.
Colors like Red, Orange, Yellow and Brown are clearly expressive of Thanksgiving. Like Halloween with Orange and Black and Christmas with Red and Green. Purple and Yellow, like other pastels colors represent Easter.


African: The Bead Code of the Zulus
Each colour has two meanings, one positive and one negative, except white. White means purity and spiritual love. When another colour is used over white, it takes its positive meaning. Blue, white and black are a standard combination to show marriage.

Positive Black: Marriage and rebirth / Negative Black: Death, sadness
Positive Blue: Faithfulness, Request / Negative Blue: Hostility, Dislike
Positive Yellow: Wealth, Garden / Negative Yellow: Badness, Thrist
Positive Green: Contentment / Negative Green: Discord, Illness
Positive Pink: Promise, High Status / Negative Pink: Poverty, Laziness
Positive Red: Love, Strong Emotion / Negative Red: Anger, Heartache


Native American
Colors in Native American culture often symbolize different things from culture to culture. Colors are associated with the four directions.
Blue represents North which means cold, defeat and trouble.
White is South representing warmth, peace and happiness.
Red means East, the color of the Sacred Fire, blood, and success.
West is black, meaning problems and death.
Other colors also have special meanings, like:

Red: Faith, Communication
Yellow: Unconditional love
Blue: Intuition
Green: Will
Pink: Creativity
White: Magnetism
Purple: Wisdom, Gratitude/healing
Black: Harmony, Listening


Asian

Red: Happiness, Marriage, Prosperity
Yellow: Against evil, Blessings
Green: Eternity, Family, Harmony, Health, Peace
Blue: Self-cultivation, Wealth
White: Children, Helpful people, Marriage, Peace, Purity, Travel
Black: Career, Evil influences, Knowledge, mourning, Self-cultivation


Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, color was an integral part of the substance and being of everything in life. The Egyptian artist had at his disposal six colors, including black and white. Each of these colors had their own intrinsic symbolic meaning.

Green was the color of vegetation and new life.
Red was the color of life and victory.
White suggested omnipotence and purity.
Black was a symbol of death and night.
Yellow represented the sun and gold, meaning imperishable, eternal and indestructible.
Blue was symbolic of the sky and of water.


Color Symbolism in the Bibble
Religious works can be difficult if you're not into that religion.
Some studies reveal some curious things about the Bible and the color references.

Amber is found in Ezekiel book and it's used to demonstrate God's overbearingly bright and immediate presence.
Black is primarily associated with the negative aspects of human experience - including death, disease, famine and sorrow.
Blue describes the various hangings in the holy places and it's also used as a symbol of wealth and corruptions, but purple is used far more frequently for such distinctions.
Red is used to describe fine materials and sin. Also some associations are blood and war.
Green is a symbol of natural growth and life.
White symbolizes purity and righteousness.
Purple is used to describe hangings and fine materials.

Useful Resources

Here's a list of some of the most useful links about color wheels, color importance and theory.


Color Wheel Pro: an amazing software that you can download. Gives you the best color schemes and how they will look on your design. You can save your palettes to Photoshop, Fireworks, Flash, etc. It also gives you some nice information about color theory.

Color Calculator: It's free and everyone can use it! You can try different kinds of harmonys, choose your saturation and lightness. And you can also check what colours work best in your design.

Color, Contrast and Dimension by Pegie Stark Adam: Amazing guide of color theory and how to use it in your design with some nice examples. It's like going to a class.

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