3 thoughts for the week of May 13 (just a splash of color)

Spring is in the air, even if it is a little chilly, and our once gray New England setting is now starting to fill with color: the range of green in the trees that we can never match with PMS chips, the vibrancy of the ocean, and the rainbow of blossoms in every front yard. And that got us thinking…

1. Blue is king. There is no disputing it. Google it. Every color site will tell you it is the most popular and the #1 choice for “favorite color.” It is always the safe choice for just about any application. Blue colors promote calm and trustworthiness. They appeal equally to men and women. In short, Blue is everywhere. Now, don’t get us wrong, we’re blue fans, too. But when branding your business, is Blue the message you want to send? Perhaps, if you are projecting a stable, conservative, comfortable company. But if you want to stand out from the crowd – to illustrate you are innovative in your field – then perhaps it’s time for another spin on the color wheel.To prove the point, Check out this graphic from Wired to see the colors of Corporate America.
2. Marketing research indicates that more than 80% of visual information is related to color (via @myPANTONE). Color literally makes up the fabric of our environment. We interact with it nearly every moment of every day. Beyond our conscious opinion of the colors around us, color effects us unconsciously.
   • Blue has a calming effect on our body chemistry, but did you know it can also inhibit appetite?
   • Warm colors, like Red and Orange, stimulate our nervous system and can actually make us feel warmer without ever adjusting temperature.
   • While White generally makes things feel fresh and clean, an all White environment can cause feelings of anxiety and depression.

   Color context, application and culture need to feed into every color choice that you make.

3. Speaking of picking a color, anyone who has ever gone through a color selection process for any reason knows that color perception varies from person to person. Both physical and psychological factors can affect how a person perceives a color. Humans have 3 types of “cone cells” in our eyes that perceive the various wavelengths of light that our brains then interpret as color. Improper genetic coding of these cells results in various forms of color blindness. On the other end of the scale, some studies suggest that a portion of women actually have a fourth type of cone, and this results in tetrachromatic vision. So, while normal human retinas can see about a million different colors, these special ladies can see up to 100 million different colors. So the next time your wife insists there is a difference between burgundy and maroon that you just don’t see, maybe there actually is.

Further Reading:

• What Color is Your Business? (via About.com)
• Color Psychology (via ThinkQuest)
• Color Psychology of Logos (via LogoBlog)
• Color Psychology in Logo Design (via Logo Critiques)

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