Red

The color red has a reputation for stimulating adrenaline and blood pressure. Along with those physiological effects, red is also known to increase human metabolism. It is an exciting, dramatic, and rich color; after all, red is also a color of passion. Nothing says “love” like painting a wall bright red on Saint Valentine’s Day for your sweetheart, as someone’s done in Figure 2.1. The darker shades of red, such as burgundy and maroon, have a rich, indulgent feeling about them—in fact, they can be quite hoity-toity. Think about these colors when designing anything for wine enthusiasts or connoisseurs of fine living. The more earthy, brownish shades of red are associated with the fall season and harvest.

Figure 2 1: Red, the color of passion (two gallons of it!)

Orange

Like red, orange is a very active and energetic color, though it doesn’t evoke the anger that red sometimes does. Instead, orange is thought to promote happiness and represents sunshine, enthusiasm, and creativity. Orange is a more informal and less corporate-feeling color, which is perhaps the reason the marketing gurus behind companies such as Cingular in the US and Orange in Europe decided to create brands with it. Since orange also stimulates metabolism and appetite, it’s a great color for promoting food and cooking. That’s probably why the picture of a tangerine in Figure 2.2 is making you hungry, even if you don’t like citrus fruits.

Figure 2.2: Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?

Red

The color red has a reputation for stimulating adrenaline and blood pressure. Along with those physiological effects, red is also known to increase human metabolism. It is an exciting, dramatic, and rich color; after all, red is also a color of passion. Nothing says “love” like painting a wall bright red on Saint Valentine’s Day for your sweetheart, as someone’s done in Figure 2.1. The darker shades of red, such as burgundy and maroon, have a rich, indulgent feeling about them—in fact, they can be quite hoity-toity. Think about these colors when designing anything for wine enthusiasts or connoisseurs of fine living. The more earthy, brownish shades of red are associated with the fall season and harvest.

Figure 2 1: Red, the color of passion (two gallons of it!)

The Psychology of Color

Color psychology is a field of study that’s devoted to analyzing the emotional and behavioral effects produced by colors and color combinations. Ecommerce web site owners want to know which color will make their web site visitors spend more money. Home decorators want to know which color will transform a bedroom into a tranquil Zen retreat. Fast food restaurant owners are dying to know which color combinations will make you want to super-size your meal. As you can imagine, color psychology is big business.

Although it’s important to know how your color choices might affect the masses, the idea that there is a single, unified, psychological response to specific colors is spurious. Many of the responses that color psychologists accredit to certain colors are rooted in individual experience. It’s also interesting to note that many cultures have completely different Color associations with, and interpretations of, colors. With those caveats in mind, let’s explore some general psychological associations that the majority of people in Western culture have in response to specific colors.

Color Associations

Describing the emotional connections that people may have with colors can be a very “hippy-esque” topic. If you don’t believe me, just head over to your favorite online music store and sample some tracks from Colors by Ken Nor dine. Although most designers don’t rely solely on the supposed meanings, characteristics, and personalities of specific colors, it’s still handy to have an understanding of the emotional attributes of some of the main color groups.