Color is a meaningful constant for sighted people and it’s a powerful psychological tool. By using color psychology, you can send a positive or negative message, encourage sales, calm a crowd, or make an athlete pump iron harder.
Employ the latest color psychology in all facets of marketing and particularly in logo design, web site design, the cover of a book, or the package of a product.
The field of industrial psychology has a sub-field that studies only the psychology of color. It is no accident that Campbell’s soup has used the same four colors on their labels for years and years. When I mentioned that product, I’ll bet an image of that label popped into your head.
Below is a quick overview of the meaning of basic colors in the Western Hemisphere. This information will help you decided what colors to use in your marketing projects. The psychology of color changes with lighter or darker shades of the colors below, which are often associated with much different meanings. Also remember for the World Wide Web, that different cultures have differing views on the meaning of color.
Psychology of Color: Red
If you want to draw attention, use red. It is often where the eye looks first. Red is the color of energy. It’s associated with movement and excitement. People surrounded by red find their heart beating a little faster and often report feeling a bit out of breath. It’s the absolute wrong color for a baby’s room but perfect to get people excited. Wearing red clothes will make you appear a bit heavier and certainly more noticeable (some studies show red cars get more tickets but that may be because the red car owners drive faster or the ticket giver notices the movement of the red car more prominently). Red is not a good color to over use but using a spot of red in just the right place is smart in some cases (one red accent in an otherwise neutral room draws the eye; a red tie with a navy blue suit and a white shirt adds just the right amount of energy to draw the eye (no wonder it’s the «uniform of the day» at the seats of government). Red is the symbol of life (red blooded life!) and, for this reason, it’s the color worn by brides in China. Red is used at holidays that are about love and giving (red roses, Valentines hearts, Christmas, etc.) but the true color of love is pink. Pink is the most calming of all colors — often our most dangerous criminals are housed in pink cells as studies show that the color drains energy and calms aggression. Think of pink as the color of romance, love, and gentle feelings, to be in the pink is to be soothed.
Industrial Design 