As a designer, website owner, or marketer it is important to know how color affects your target audience. There are many factors that contributes to how someone perceives color. While some of these factors are uncontrollable as they are mentally controlled, there are some that we can control as designers.
Some of the outside factors that can affect color and how people perceive it are:
- Culture
- Religion
- Environment (where the color is being used)
- Time Period
- Trends
When designing projects such as websites you need to keep the above in mind. Especially keep in mind the culture and religious meaning of color. Colors have different meaning in different cultures and religions, so knowing your target audience can be one of the key factors in the success or failure of your site.
Example:
The color green is usually tied to safety or money. However in France the color green is associated with criminality, it is also not a good color to use for product packaging.
Colors have different meaning in different parts of the world, while some have universal meanings, some do not. Investing a little time and research into your target market can give your site a major boost for very little work.
In this article I have provided some incite into colors. I have given examples to their
- Common Association
- Positive and Negative Aspects of Usage
- Cultural and Religious Meaning
- Interesting Information About the Color
Primary Colors
Red
Red is the most dominant color and will always draw your attention when it is present. This makes red a good color to use if you want to draw the attention of the viewer to or away from a design element.
Examples:
- You want to highlight something on a website such as a price or buy button, a little well placed red will make it stand out.
- You designed a room and there is a small flaw you can not hide, you can use some strategically placed red elements to draw the attention away from the flaw.
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Fire | Power | Aggressive |
| Blood | Attention Getting | Anger |
| Sex | Love | Immorality |
| Danger | Excitement | Violent |
| Love | Sexy | Antagonistic |
| Passion | Enthusiasm |
Cultural Association
France – Masculinity
Most of Asia – Happiness, Prosperity, and Luck
India – Soldier’s Symbol
South Africa – Color of Mourning
Australia Aborigines – Ceremonial Color
Interesting Information about the Color Red
- In Russian red means beautiful.
- Red suggests speed.
- Red cars have a higher rate of being pulled over for speeding.
- Red cars have a higher theft rate than any other color.
- Red stimulates the heart rate, breathing and appetite. This is why red is used in many restaurant and fast food branding/logos. Here are some examples.
- McDonalds
- Burger King
- Carls Jr/ Hardys
- In and Out Burger
- Sonics
- Red Rooster
- Red clothing makes you look heavier.
Yellow
Yellow is the first color the human eye can recognize.
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Sunshine | Intellect | Jealousy |
| Desert | Wisdom | Cowardice |
| Brightness | Radiance | Deceit |
| Warning/Caution | Joy | Hazard |
| Idealism | ||
| Friendship | ||
| Innovative | ||
| Awareness | ||
| Caution |
Cultural Association
Buddhist – Priests wear saffron yellow robes
Burma – Color of mourning
Egypt – Color of mourning
India – Color for merchants and farmers
Hindu – Worn to celebrate the Festival of Spring
Middle East – Happiness and prosperity
Greece – Sadness
Interesting Information about the Color Yellow
- Yellow is brighter than white.
- Yellow speeds up the metabolism.
- Pale yellow can enhance concentration.
- Bright yellow causes more eye fatigue than any other color.
- Painting a baby’s room yellow makes them cry more.
Blue
Blue is the most used color in advertising and branding.
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Sea | Knowledge | Depression |
| Water | Trust | Coolness |
| Sky | Peace | Detachment |
| Trust | Masculinity | Apathy |
| Loyalty | ||
| Justice | ||
| Intelligence |
Cultural Association
Most of the World – Sees blue as a masculine color
China – Color for little girls
Iran – Color of mourning
Eastern Cultures – Immortality
Korea – Color of mourning
Mexico – Color of mourning
Interesting Information about the Color Blue
- Blue is the most used color in branding and advertising. This is because the subconscious meaning of blue is linked to trust and loyalty.
- Blue suppresses hunger as blue is an unappetizing color.
- People are more productive in blue rooms.
- In southern US states front doors and porch ceiling are often painted blue to keep the evil spirits away.
Secondary Colors
Green
Green is the easiest color on the eye.
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Nature | Money | Greed |
| Environment | Fertility | Envy |
| Mould | Growth | Nausea |
| Healing | Poison | |
| Success | ||
| Nature | ||
| Harmony | ||
| Honesty | ||
| Fresh/Renewal |
Cultural Association
Islam – Green is associated with paradise and is symbolic of Islam
Most Western Cultures – Green is considered the color of luck
China – Fertility
Japan – Youthfulness
Ireland – Country color
South America – Color of death
Interesting Information about the Color Green
- Green is known to calm and relax you.
- Painting your bedroom green can give you a better nights sleep.
- Green is said to aide digestion and reduces stomachaches.
- Green is the most widely used color for environmental marketing and branding.
Purple
Purple is said to enhance the imagination (commonly used to paint kids rooms to stimulate the imagination).
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Royalty/Nobility | Luxury | Excess |
| Magic | Wisdom | Madness |
| Spirituality | Imagination | Cruelty |
| Wealth | Sophistication | |
| Wealth | ||
| Nobility | ||
| Mysticism | ||
| Meditative | ||
| Prestigious |
Cultural Association
Latin America – Indicates death
Thailand – Worn by widows mourning a husbands death
India – Sorrow
Brazil – Death and mourning
Catholicism – Mourning
Interesting Information about the Color Purple
- Purple is associated with wealth, royalty and nobility because the ingredients to make purple dye was very expensive. Only the wealthy such as royalty could afford them.
- Rare in nature purple is seen as artificial.
Orange
Orange is known as the come back color, as it has came back in style and popularity recently.
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Autumn | Creativity | Crassness |
| Citrus | Invigoration | Loudness |
| Warm | Uniqueness | Raucous |
| Tropical | Energy | Frivolous |
| Halloween | Health |
Cultural Association
Native American – Orange is linked to learning.
Netherlands – Orange is the national color. This is because the Dutch monarchs came from Orange-Nassau.
Western Cultures – This color is associated with affordable, inexpensive items.
Interesting Information about the Color Orange
- Orange is and appetite stimulant.
- Orange rooms get people thinking and talking. A good use for this color is to paint the walls of a meeting room orange.
Neutrals
Black
Black is the deepest depths.
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Night | Power | Fear |
| Death | Authority | Negativity |
| Sleek | Sophistication | Evil |
| Professional | Elegance | Mourning |
| Sophistication | Seriousness | Emptiness |
| Dignity | Depression | |
| Mystery | Oppression | |
| Bold | ||
| Classic | ||
| Modern |
Cultural Association
China – Black is the color for little boys
Asia – Generally associated with mourning, penance, knowledge, and career
India – Evil
Thailand – Bad luck, evil, and unhappiness
Judaism – Bad luck, evil, and unhappiness
Australian Aborigines – Ceremonial color
Western Cultures – Mourning
Interesting Information about the Color Black
- Black clothing makes you look thinner
- Black makes other colors appear brighter
- Black is said to boost self-confidence and strength
- Black is the color of choice for most secret societies
White
White is a perfectly balanced color.
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Light | Marriage | Fragility |
| Purity | Weddings | Isolation |
| Pristine | Cleanliness | Sterile |
| Clean | Virtue | Cold |
| Hospitals | Innocence | Clinical |
| Snow/Winter | Lightness | |
| Softness | ||
| Simplicity | ||
| Truth |
Cultural Association
Japan and China – Funeral color
Worldwide – Universal symbol for truce
India – Married women who wear white invite unhappiness
Western Cultures – Bride, wedding and peace
Thailand – White symbolizes purity in Buddhism
Korea – Purity and innocence, morality, birth and death
Interesting Information about the Color White
- In some cultures it is considered good luck to be married in a white garment
- White is so brilliant it can give some people headaches
- White light can be blinding
Grey
Grey is a balance of black and white.
Color Association
| Associated With | Positive Usage Association | Negative Usage Association |
| Neutrality | Balance | Dull |
| Moodiness | Security | Conformist |
| Modesty | Detached | |
| Corporate | Sadness | |
| Quiet | Depression | |
| Basic | ||
| Responsible |
Cultural Association
Native American – Grey is associated with friendship and honor
America– Represents industry
Interesting Information about the Color Grey
- Grey seldom evokes strong emotions
- Grey is it’s own complement color
When doing design work it is important to understand the needs of the project you are working on. You need to remember to take into consideration who your main viewing audience is. In this article I have covered the basics of color and how it can affect your site. In a future article I will go more in-depth into how to apply colors to your project and get the most out of them.
If you have any color tips you would like to share feel free to post them below in the comments secton.
About the Author: This post was written by Ivy who is the graphics designer of Tips and Tricks HQ.
Interesting article. I agree with a lot of these color tips, but the “yellow makes babies cry more” statement is a myth. I studied color, it’s messages and meanings with Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone’s color expert,. She has said that is just not true. Yellow does not make babies cry more.
Hi Ivy!
First of all, thanks for a great article! I’ll definitely take your tips into consideration, if I have my website redesigned again. I personally prefer the combination of blue and grey, it looks great, trustworthy, and it doesn’t draw attention as extremely as red. I also have to admit not to have realized until now that cultural differences actually play a great role in color perception too.
We produce a lot of websites, landing pages and campaignsites. I don’t hope this is entirely new to our web team, but will definitely share this with them.
I really like this article. Just recently started on a new site of mine and this will come in very handy!
coincidentally I was reading about color psychology a week ago but not as in-depth as this article. 😉
This is a great article. Thanks so much!
That’s an interesting article – for websites I like blue, usually pale and towards grey, with clean white pages and a darker blue for Headings – in fact, exactly the color scheme and style of this site. Plus red for important Attention Getting text or symbols.
I like blue and blue/green and blue/mauve in almost everything – always have done, and probably always will. I like blue flowers, blue-mauve flowers and blue jeans.
I dislike white cars – a waste of a color opportunity – and they show the dirt, as do black ones.
Bright red cars should be avoided at all costs unless you really are a middle aged male having a mid life crisis…..and you don’t mind the world knowing about it.
Or, if you have the need to try to compensate for some inadequacy or other….and you don’t mind if the world knows about it.
I’m going to go right now and make my website’s side/background color a paler blue towards grey, just to see how that looks.
Thanks for a great article.
Thanks a lot for publishing this article. This would be very helpful for me since I’m studying Web designing!
It is so strange and shocking that in cities and developed countries, so many people wear black. It is a constant – “just wear a black dress! Black is always safe!”
We all wear black so often when in so many cultures is symbolizes evil, unhappiness and bad luck! Is it a coincidence that there is a high percentage of people within big cities that are unhappy and dear i say – evil??
It’s interesting that blue is the most popular color in advertising and it’s the most common color in the world with water generally giving off a blue color. I guess it makes sense.
I tend to veer toward blue and gray for website design. I suppose I’m a bit of a traditionalist in that way. For example, if a particular theme offers multiple color schemes, I almost always choose the blue-based scheme.
I am going to share this with my people and I have already posted it on Quora
great article.
It’s the best and most complete article on Psychology of Colors that I ever read. Thanks for epic work
This is quite educational, I must say. Orange really is an appetite stimulant and seems to enhance food color when displayed.
Fascinating article, thanks for the color tips!