The Psychology of Colors

The Psychology of Color- A Color Guide for Designer

Red
Emotions: Love, Anger, Aggression, Passion, Sensuality, Intensity

Red is the most used color in logos as it has such a wide range of different emotions but carries them all intensely. Red can serve to intensify or evoke the passion of whatever niche you’re in. One thing red is not is known to be is relaxing or calm. Many restaurants can get away with a lighter shade of red as they are feeding off a potential customer’s intense desire to eat that kind of food or that get immediate service. Notice how many fast food logos have red in them.

If you’re opening a therapeutic business or place of knowledgeable healing, it might be best to leave red out of your logo. You see that most doctor’s offices don’t use red in their logos but hospitals do. Hospitals get away with it because at times there is no more serious place in the world.

Orange
Emotions: Pleasure, Boldness, Distrust, Enthusiasm

The shades of orange can cover a wide variety of emotions but one that stands out among them all is boldness. Orange is not quite powerful enough to evoke the passion of red nor is it dark enough to be clam or subtle. Orange would be a good color for a business that is bold but supplies innocent services such as toys, daycare, vacations, etc.

Orange is very easy to contrast however and if coupled with colors like black or even just darker shades of blue, and purple, can carry a more serious tone.

Yellow
Emotions: Cheer, Joy, Energy, Caution, Sickness

Yellow is naturally a bright color so you will usually find it evokes more of the happy emotions than any others. However, like orange, yellow finds itself powerless to change its meaning even with darker shades. Even the darkest yellow can only make people think of mild sickness or decay. It’s for this reason it’s deemed a simpler, more childish color.

As such it is generally more appropriate for family friendly businesses such as water parks, family restaurants, toy, shops, etc.

Green
Emotions: Harmony, Fresh, Ambition, Greed

Green is a color commonly associated with finance, safety, and nature. Many outdoor recreation companies use green their logo to really push the raw, harmonious nature that comes with experiencing their products. Camping equipment, yard care, finance, and health food establishments could very effectively utilize green in their logos.

Blue
Emotions: Calm, Trust, Confidence, Seriousness

Blue is a color most associated with business because it evokes a sense of balance as well as calm intelligence. Like the water blue can adapt to anything and look as if it had no problem doing so. It’s for this reason that blue tends to be the color of many businesses with niches like pediatrics, physical therapy, and other serious problem solving services.

A lighter blue evokes more trustworthiness where a darker blue evokes presence of intelligence. Both are good to have but it’s important to decide which one is more likely to get the customer through the door. Think light blue=safe, dark blue=professional (waterpark vs police uniforms).

Purple
Emotions: Ambition, Dignity, Mystery, Independence

You rarely see many logos full of purple because it tends to evoke very specific emotions that we tend to feel less often than we should. Purple is not the color that will appeal to everybody but it still attracts a certain clientele that is looking to differentiate itself as unique. Businesses who deal with more vanity or high-class niches such as jewelry, luxury cars, or beauty could have some success with purple.

Brown
Emotions: Comfort, Strength, Laziness, Isolation

Possibly the most modest color of all, brown seems to limit’s logo presence to the more masculine, outdoor businesses. The most prevalent of brown’s emotions seems to be isolation as it’s just light enough to let us know it’s there but keeps to itself. Camping equipment, hunting, and other businesses that allow people to do things themselves tend to fall under the brown banner.

Black
Emotions: Power, Mysterious, Grieving, Elegance

Any logo meant to give the customer a sense of power holds a little bit of black in it. Black is the ultimate dominance and ultimate finality. The more power that the services deal in, the more black that is used in the logo. Think of athletic symbols like Under Armor and Nike sports gear relies on making the customer feel more powerful for wearing their clothes. Similarly, formal wear helps the individual feel powerful in celebration instead of performance.

White

Emotions: Innocence, Purity, Cleanliness

Not many businesses can pull off a lot white in their logos. Those who have abundance of white have to be in the business of something that is as absolute as a starting point. Bread dough, weddings, paper, and things everyone at some point in their lives at least considers using.

Like black however, white is used in moderation in almost all logos. If nothing else black and white can help tell customers if your services are serious or happy.

By- Owen Oliver