Intro to Color Theory

In the branding world, designers and clients alike love to talk about the psychology of color and how it relates to consumers’ purchasing habits. But because most conversations around color theory rely primarily on anecdotal evidence and “hunches,” it is also an incredibly controversial topic.

Why don’t we have quantifiable, scientific data to back up what most of us inherently “know” about the unique powers of certain colors?

It is our humanity itself that muddies the waters.

The wide variety of personal experiences, cultural upbringings, preferences, biases, and contexts we all experience as unique human beings can have profound effect on how each individual will perceive certain colors.

For example, even though we know there’s a reason nearly every clearance rack on planet earth is a blood-pumping bright red, it might not produce the same reaction in a customer who spent her childhood in a bedroom unwittingly painted the same shade by her colorblind parents.

So, what does this mean for your brand, which desperately needs to pull the trigger on a color palette before entering the market?

Luckily, despite the anomalies caused by our individual experiences of this crazy, colorful trip called life, broader patterns do exist in humanity’s collective perception of color.

However, recent studies suggest that the color decisions we make to represent our brand should be chosen to reflect the actual function and characteristics of the product or service rather than to convince consumers that the brand embodies one personality trait or another.

In extreme cases, this principle of authenticity is fairly self-evident.

For example, The Home Depot might want to come across as a fun brand that people of all genders, ages, and background could find value in. Pink is a bright, fun color, and historically, it has been used to attract consumers of the fairer sex. But The Home Depot doesn’t use pink as their primary brand color, and they never will, because it just wouldn’t make sense in the context of what their brand offers.

The friendly, somewhat earthy orange color The Home Depot uses is a more authentic and logical choice. Orange isn’t a distinctively masculine color, nor is it exclusively feminine. What it does communicate, however, is the brand’s approachable, down-to-earth personality that has empowered DIYers everywhere with the confidence, the materials, and the tools they need to replace a doorknob, repair a pipe, or build a treehouse.

We’ve put together an introductory level course on color theory that we hope can help the decision makers at your company find alignment on a color palette that will both authentically represent your brand and resonate with your target audience. In each section, we’ll explain the broad ideas, emotional & behavioral triggers, and character traits that are most commonly associated with each color, along with some real world examples of brands that followed these unspoken “rules” to find success on the market.

As with most things in life, these “rules” or guidelines are not set in stone, and many brands have deviated from the most common associations to own a color that may not be the most obvious choice. However, breaking the rules is usually more successful when it is done with a clear and strategic purpose, and to do that, you have to have a clear understanding of what those rules are.

Red:
Red is an emotionally-intense, highly visible primary color that is commonly associated with energy, strength, power, and even danger. This color has a visceral effect on human beings, raising our metabolism, our blood pressure, and our heart rate, which is why we see it used so frequently to create a sense of urgency to “Buy Now!” during a sale or in a call to action on a website.

Companies like Coca Cola, Target, and Netflix have fully embraced this bold color to confidently represent their industry-leading brands.

Because it is also known to increase appetite, red is also commonly used in the branding and marketing efforts of fast food companies, including McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr, Kentucky Fried Chicken, among countless others.

Orange:
Combining the boldness of red and the cheerfulness of yellow, orange is a color typically associated with enthusiasm, friendliness, creativity, and stimulation. While it is not as aggressive as red, orange is still a warm, somewhat provocative color that increases oxygen flow to the brain and, in turn, produces an invigorating sensation.

Brands like Nickelodeon, Fanta, and Hooters, who specialize in fun, off-kilter, or impulsive products & services have had success with orange as the primary color in their palettes. Brands that cater to rebellious and/or creative types, like The Home Depot and Harley-Davidson, have also adopted this shade.

Yellow:
Commonly associated with joy, warmth, and intellect, yellow often brings an upbeat energy and cheerfulness to brands who cloak themselves in this color. Similar to red and orange, yellow grabs attention and stimulates mental activity. It has also been linked to loyalty and trust in the past, and brands like UPS, Sprint, and Hertz have taken advantage of those associations by using yellow as their primary brand color.

Due to the youthful optimism yellow exudes, it is also common to see yellow used by children’s brands, as well as those that don’t take themselves too seriously, like McDonald’s, Subway, and Denny’s.

Green:
Green is the easiest color for the human eye to process, and it is most commonly associated with nature, growth, wealth, freshness, and fertility. Financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and all-natural or organic products often choose green as their primary color to subtly emphasize the safety, profitability, and hope their products or services promise to provide.

John Deere, Whole Foods, and Starbucks all adopted various shades of green to represent their now iconic brands.

Blue:
Representative of depth, sincerity, wisdom, and intelligence, blue is the most-preferred color among both men and women. Blue is beneficial to the mind and body, slowing our metabolism and producing an effect of serenity or calmness.

Because it suppresses appetite, blue isn’t the best choice for culinary-focused brands (though Blue Apron seems to be doing just fine in the D2C market).

More commonly, blue has been adopted by huge brands whose success requires an immense amount of trust from their consumers, such as Oral B, Pfizer, NASA, and Facebook.

Purple/ Pink:
Bringing together the stability of blue and the energy of red, purple exudes an air of creativity, power, luxury, and ambition. Because it is not commonly found in nature, purple also evokes mystery and magic.

Outliers in their industries, brands like Yahoo, T Mobile, and Taco Bell have used variations of purple in their identities.

Typically associated with romance and femininity, pink is most commonly used to represent brands with a primarily female audience, including Barbie, Cosmopolitan, and Victoria’s Secret.

Neutrals-Black & White:
Black has positive associations, such as power, elegance, and prestige, but it is also associated with evil and death.

Black commands authority, evokes mystery, and often denotes a level of formality.

Media and fashion companies have often used black to command respect and build legitimacy for their brands within their fields. Prada, Gucci, Michael Kors, The New York Times, and Wikipedia are all examples of this principle at work.

Associated with innocence, purity, and cleanliness, the use of white by a brand can evoke safety, sterility, and simplicity.

Technology companies, most notably Apple, have used white to emphasize the ease with which their products integrate into the lives of their customers.

So, now that you know what the basics of color theory, feel free to use these guidelines however your brand sees fit. If you have any questions, or if you just wanna talk about colors some more, drop us a line at hello@herman-scheer.com!