Color Psychology: A surefire design tool
In your designs, color weighs high on the scale of importance because of the emotional response it creates in the viewer.
The psychology of color has been long studied and documented, and is easy to learn and apply. But beware: once you start noticing color in the world, you’ll never see it the same. You’ll start to understand how color psychology affects your everyday life and decision-making.
The graphic above is called the color wheel, a general representation of all the colors and how they relate to each other. If you split the wheel down the middle, you get a representation of cool colors (on the left) and warm colors (to the right).
Cool colors evoke calm and ease, like relaxation, meditation, and nature. Think blues, purples, and greens. Warm colors on the other hand evoke passion, intensity, vibrancy, and aliveness—think reds, oranges, and yellows.
Let’s look at each color individually to see what emotions they evoke. When designing a piece, I always consider color psychology to make sure the piece communicates emotion with intention.
Blue is calm, loyalty, and trust, but can lean toward corporate.
Purple is royalty and sophistication, but can lean toward excess or moody, and even mystical.
Orange is confidence and creativity, but can lean toward annoying or heavy.
Red evokes passion and energy, but can lean toward danger and warning. Also hunger—you’ll see it in many food brands (such as Coke and McDonalds).
Green is life, fresh, relaxation, and nature, but can lean toward bland and unexciting. Surprisingly, many tech companies have embraced green for their logos.
Yellow is of course happiness and attention-grabbing, but can lean toward fear and anxiety. Think police tape and warning signs.
Black is powerful and elegant, but can lean toward coldness or death. You’ll see it in fashion, but never in hospitals.
Finally, White is modern and pristine, but can lean toward sterile and empty. But you’ll see it in both fashion and hospitals.
Let’s take a look at how I applied color psychology in a real-world project. Below is a book cover I’m working on. The book is a comedic memoir by a musician who suffered from a sound sensitivity disorder, so I wanted loud, almost garish colors.
I chose yellow by doing market research into popular colors for comedic memoirs. But yellow also doubles as “warning!” and “caution!”, which are themes in the memoir, as the author has to avoid certain loud environs.
I chose pink for the main font, continuing the garish theme. The black in the skull and crossphones underlies the seriousness of the condition the writer suffers from. The soft, muted color in the sound wave represents healing the author found in various sound and meditation therapies.
Using color psychology is a great way to ensure your designs communicate the message you want to send on an emotional level. The next time you pick a color for your design, whether it’s a landing page, brochure, or business card, pick a color with intention. You’ll be more confident that the design you present makes its intended mark.
About Jon Hébert
I’m a former newspaper editor, radio DJ, art director, and rock n’ roll front man who ventured into graphic design as a hobby. After receiving my art and design degree from LSU, I worked at several marketing firms before opening Jon Hébert Creative in 2003. I’ve since helped hundreds of clients with their graphic design, digital strategy, storytelling, and more. I’m also a musician and writer.
