Cues to hues: what colors say about your business

Take a moment to consider your logo, brochures and other marketing materials. If someone unfamiliar with your company has your card in hand while perusing your Web site, will it be crystal clear to them that they’re researching the same business? Put another way, is there visual consistency between your business’ various types of marketing collateral?


There are many ways to tie marketing pieces together, but the most obvious—and immediate—way is with color.


Codes of color

When a designer works on an identity project (logo development, branding, etc.), quite a bit of thought is put into determining what color(s) will be used. Psychology plays an important role in color interpretation, so it’s necessary to have an understanding of how hues might cause the people (think possible customers) who view them to react.


Determining dominant colors that communicate your business’ personality and goals is key. It’s helpful for the person working closely with the designer to have a basic understanding of what colors tend to represent. Here’s a short list of colors and the impressions they often give:


Black – seriousness, quality

Blue – loyalty, truth, safety

Green – conservative, growth, nature

Orange – reliability, stability

Purple – royalty, sophistication

Red – power, passion, strength

White – innocence, purity

Yellow – cheerfulness, warmth


International impressions

Looking to go global? (Remember, if you have a Web site, you already have global presence!) It’s a good idea to check into cultural perceptions of color before deciding which will represent your business. Here are a few examples of how colors can vary depending on one’s background:


• White is traditionally worn for weddings in Western culture, but Eastern inhabitants associate white with funerals.


• Yellow is somewhat contradictory. In our culture it not only symbolizes joyfulness but also cowardice. Interestingly, in Japan yellow is the color of courage.


• Red in India stands for purity and goodness. In Russia it is associated with communism.


What’s hot, what’s not

Another consideration worth taking into account is trends. While some businesses and their products won’t necessarily want to be viewed as trendy (e.g., conservative companies like investment firms or banks), others may benefit from using today’s “hip” colors (e.g., those marketing to a younger audience).


Many current color trends are inspired by technology. The surge of nifty iPods and sleek, cool phones have had an impact, elevating the popularity of metallic inks and papers to evoke a high-tech image.


And don’t forget the green movement! Eco-awareness is a big issue right now. An assortment of earth tones and natural colors—greens, browns, yellows, muted grays—represent organics and sustainability. A business emphasizing green products or services (organic lawn care, healthy foods/beverages, sustainable product design) will do well to reflect its values by using appropriate colors in marketing collateral.


Now that you’re armed with knowledge about the power of color, we’d love to hear your thoughts. How does your business’ color palette stack up? Do the colors represent your company the way you think they ought to? Or do you think color psychology is nonsense? We’d like to hear your views, from all sides.