COLOR AND COLOR

PSYCHOLOGY

SUBMITTED BY
VARSHA V
MAFC
Why colors are important for creative minds?
Color is a crucial instrument in the world’s orchestra. And if that instrument is out of tune,
the whole universe falls apart. Color theory is a science and art itself, with which some
people build knowledge, create and manipulate new things. Knowing the effects of each color
can be the awakening of new ideas and we will be having a different impact on the world and
yes for a creative mind color is the major key to rule the entire world. Color is more than a
visual experience, when you see the world filled with colors your brain tends to observe more
and intake the moods and aesthetic nature. It is also a psychological one that affects emotions
and moods. Color can also bring on physiological changes to creative minds. Something as
simple as changing the exact hue or saturation of a color can evoke a completely different
feeling.

What is Color Science?

Color science is a fundamental field of science that is dedicated to understanding the creation
of colored stimuli, sources of illumination, and ultimately the human perception of color. It’s
very important to understand the science of choosing of colors.

1. Color is really made up of light and pigmentation of a surface.

2. Light comprises different wavelengths of energy.
3. The color only really exists inside your brain when you perceive it.
Color wheel 1660:

➢ Sir Issac Newton directed a beam of light through a prism which created a rainbow
effect. Newton formed the idea of the color wheel.
➢ Light splited - linear with red tones at one end, violets at the other end.
Prang’s color wheel:

The Prang color system is the basis of the artist's color wheel, and it uses red, blue and yellow
as its primaries. This system theorizes that the three primary colors can't be produced by
mixing other hues, but can produce all other hues through mixing two of the primaries
together.

Developed by Louis Prang, the Prang color system is most often used by artists in
determining what paint pigments to mix in order to produce desired colors out of the basic
primary colors.

Munsell’s color wheel:

Munsell colour system, method of designating colours based on a colour arrangement

scheme developed by the American art instructor and painter Albert H. Munsell. It defines
colours by measured scales of hue, value, and chroma, which correspond respectively to
dominant wavelength, brightness, and strength or purity. The system is used internationally
for specifying opaque colours of dyed or pigmented surfaces.

Dimensions of color:

➢ Hue – Original color.

➢ Value – Darkness of the color.
➢ Tone – Adding grey.
➢ Shade – Adding black.
➢ Tint – Lightness of the color.
➢ Intensity of color – The saturation or purity of color.

Primary Colors: Red, yellow and blue

In traditional color theory (used in paint and pigments), primary colors are the 3 pigment
colors that cannot be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. All other colors
are derived from these 3 hues.

Secondary Colors: Green, orange and purple

These are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors.

Tertiary Colors: Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green & yellow-

green
These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color. That's why the hue is
a two-word name, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange.
Primary colors:
Secondary colors:
Tertiary colors:
The meaning of colors:

What is color psychology?

• color psychology has become a popular area of color theory that assigns emotional
and psychological connotations between colors and emotions.
• Most psychologists view color therapy with scepticism and point out that the
supposed effects of color are often grossly exaggerated. Colors also have different
meanings in different cultures.
• Several ancient cultures, including the Egyptians and Chinese, practiced
chromotherapy, or the use of colors to heal. Chromotherapy is sometimes referred to
as light therapy or colorology.

How does it affect perceptions and behaviors in humans?

➢ Color psychology suggests that various shades can have a wide range of effects, from
boosting our moods to causing anxiety. Your color preferences while buying items
might say something about the type of image you may be trying to project. A person
might prefer brighter, more attention-getting colors when they are younger, but find
themselves drawn to more traditional colors as they grow older.

Color perception is very subjective, as different people have different ideas about and
responses to colors. Several factors influence color perception, which makes it difficult to
determine if color alone impacts our emotions and actions. Factors that influence color
perception include age, gender, and culture.

➢ The personality of the buyer can play an important role in color selection, but buyers
are often heavily influenced by factors such as price as well as availability. The eye
and brain are such superb systems that they are able to compensate for such
differences, and normal-appearing colours are perceived, a phenomenon called colour
constancy.
➢ While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, some effects have universal
meaning. Color can play an important role in conveying information, creating certain
moods, and even influencing the decisions people make. Color preferences also exert
 an influence on the objects people choose to purchase, the clothes they wear, and the
way they adorn their environments.

People often select objects in colors that evoke certain moods or feelings, such as
selecting a car color that seems sporty, futuristic, sleek, or trustworthy. Room colors can
also be used to evoke specific moods, such as painting a bedroom a soft green to create a
peaceful mood.

List of Colors:
Color Name Representation Positive Affect Negative Affect

• Wealth communicates a sense People feel sorrow,

Violet • Dignity of worth, quality, and fear, and
• Wisdom value, spirituality, apprehensiveness.
• Arrogance sacredness, and
• Impatience gracefulness.

• Trust believed to soothe Blue can also lower

Blue • Efficiency illnesses and treat the pulse rate and
• Coolness pain, is often seen as a body temperature,
• Security sign of stability and can also create
• Sadness reliability, calls to feelings of sadness
mind feelings of or aloofness.
calmness or serenity.
It is often described as
peaceful, tranquil,
secure, and orderly.
Green often symbolizes nature green can even Green can also be an
and the natural world. It is improve reading indicator of a
thought to represent ability, green is physical illness, such
tranquillity. green was used to calming, motivating, as when someone's
reference the fertility of the natural, optimistic, the complexion turns
earth as well as the fertility of color green may green. Some believe
Green women. Studies have shown positively impact our the link between
that the color green may thinking, our green and illness
inspire creativity, too. relationships, and our created the
physical health. It association between
• Health relieves stress and help green and envy—as
• Compassion heal. in, envy is an illness
• Favor of its own.
• Ambition
• Passivity
 • Energy a level of aggression
• Hope Stimulates the nerves and frustration
• Honour and purify the body, associated with
• Fear most visible color and yellow. highly
• Frailness it is most attention irritating color, some
getting one. It can people also become
Yellow increase metabolism. much more
impatient and
argumentative. It can
lead to eyestrain or
vision loss in
extreme cases. It
also creates
frustration and
anger.

bright, happy, and uplifting, used to heal the lungs People who stays
bright and and to increase energy more in orange
overwhelming. controversial levels. environment shows
color, energetic hatred often.
Orange
• Wisdom
• Pleasure
• Desire
• Pride
• Loneliness

• Warning used to stimulate the Red is linked to

• Love body and mind and to power and anger,
• Courage increase circulation, including redness of
Red
• Aggression red is also linked to the face and neck,
• Rage passion, love, and which are caused by
• Power desire. elevated blood
• Control pressure.
• strength
 • Aggression the color black has this sombre color has
Black • Gloom long been associated been tied to death
• Security with power. From and all things evil
• Coldness priests to judges, and bad. It evokes
• Emptiness tuxedos to credit strong feelings of
cards. Attractiveness anger, aggression,
and elegance. fear, and sadness.
purity or innocence white can convey white can
can create a sense of space or include cleanliness, seem stark, cold, and
add highlights. freshness, and isolated. Consider
described as cold, bland, and simplicity. The color how a large, white,
White
sterile white often seems like empty room might
a blank slate, seem boring, bland,
• Perfection symbolizing a new and stark.
• Sterility beginning or a fresh
• Cleanliness start.
• Goodness
• Coldness

calming color associated with is thought to have a very bright, vibrant

love, kindness, and femininity. calming effect, shades can be
Some shades of pale pink are refreshing, creative, stimulating or even
described as relaxing joyful aggravating.
Pink
• Joyfulness
• Sweetness
• Calmness
• Passiveness
• Lack of willpower

Grey Neutrality, intellect, Modern, seen as a lack of confidence

knowledge, wisdom. dignified, conservative and can stimulate a
and carrying authority. depressing mood

Color Schemes:
What are Color Schemes?

A color scheme is the choice of colors used in various artistic and design contexts. Color
schemes are used to create style and appeal. Colors that create an aesthetic feeling when used
together will commonly accompany each other in color schemes.
List of color schemes:

1. Nature inspired:
2. Readymade:
3. Monochromatic:
4. Complimentary:
5. Analogous:
6. Split complementary
7. Triadic:
8. Tetradic color scheme:
 9. Creative color scheme:

My inspiration from pantone 2022 – Gossamer Pink and Daffodil.

It is in a ratio 60:40
Identifying brands from different sectors which have color as their USP. Explaining my
findings by identifying the color schemes used by brands and justifying why (create a
chronological timeline for the change).

Introduction to the color psychology:

Color psychology is the study of how the colors we perceive impact our thoughts and
feelings. It is based on the mental and emotional effects colors have on sighted people in all
aspects of life. There will also be variations in interpretation, meaning and perception
between different cultures. The different wavelengths within this segment make up the
variety of colours humans can perceive.

Why color psychology is important for branding

Purchasing intent is greatly affected by colors due to their effect on how a brand is perceived;
colors influence how customers view the “personality” of the brand. While many marketing
experts have attempted to distil colors down to a few basic properties or perceptions,
psychology can help businesses develop a deeper understanding of the implications of color
choice. The right color appeals to your audience. The right color differentiates your brand. The
right color shows off your brand’s personality.
Plutchik’s color wheel of emotions:

Robert Plutchik devised the psycho-evolutionary theory of emotion and this helps categorize
emotions into primary emotions and the responses to them. He argued that the primary
emotions are an evolutionary development and that the response to each such emotion is the
one that is likely to deliver the highest level of survival possibility.

The Wheel of Emotions looks much like a traditional color wheel, and features 8 primary
emotions that grow in intensity as you move into the centre of the diagram.
Lower intensity Emotion Higher intensity

Annoyance Anger Rage

Interest Anticipation Vigilance

Serenity Joy Ecstasy

Acceptance Trust Admiration

Apprehension Fear Terror

Distraction Surprise Amazement

Pensiveness Sadness Grief

Boredom Disgust Loathing

Table of brand personality traits
 Popular brands

Points that brands keep in mind:

1. Brand Identity
➢ What does the brand wants to say?
➢ How does it portrait itself different from the rest?
2. Emotions – customers
3. White space – Helps people not to get overwhelmed, it leaves the clients with a little
room to breathe.
4. Self- expression – What does the owner of the brand wants to speak?
5. Bring contrasting effect
➢ Contrast helps you to draw attention
➢ Make the text easy to read
➢ Make your images to pop
6. Remember who/what kind of population the brand is targeting.
 COLOURS AND BRANDS

CASE STUDY – 1: Mention specific colors and the brands which use them.

Blue: Trust worthy, dependable, constant, faith and intelligence

Orange: Radiates warmth and energy, stimulates appetite and activity

Red: More energy and passion, inherently exciting

Green: Produces calming effect, conveys freshness, calm

Pink: Youthful., fun and exciting, passionate

CASE STUDY - 2: Brand interaction with color
Fashion:

• Gucci
• Levis

Gucci:

➢ Target population: The age of the targeted people is between 20 and 50 years old,
but they have recently included children in their market.
➢ Colors used: Green, red, yellow

➢ Brand personality trait: The colors were chosen to represent beauty and class, and
they appeared on a huge selection of vintage Gucci products. For many lovers of
Gucci, the red and green color palette is just as iconic as the emblem itself. Gucci logo
in all of its glory.

Advertisement campaign:

The brand’s spring-summer

2018 campaign, Gucci
unveils ‘Utopian Fantasy’.
Made in collaboration with
artist Ignasi Monreal, digital
paintings take inspiration
from painters of the
Renaissance and Pre-
Raphaelite era. The images
focus on themes of the earth,
sea and sky with mermaids,
owls and tigers.
Red – Respect, passion, excitement
Black - evokes a powerful, sophisticated, edgy, luxurious and modern feeling.
Violet – Feminine, Glamorous, compassionate
Yellow- Courage, strength
Levis:

➢ Target population: Levi's target market is centred of a demographic segment of 20

to 35-year-olds.
➢ Colors used: Red, white

➢ Brand personality trait: Levi's is usually identified as a young, rebellious and free
person.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

2019 ad campaign
White – White evokes cleanliness, virtue, health or simplicity.
Grey – Classic, long lasting, sleek and refined.
Websites:

• Instagram
• Amazon

Instagram:

➢ Target population: As of October 2021, roughly 32 percent of global Instagram

audiences were aged between 25 and 34 years. Over two thirds of total Instagram
audiences were aged 34 years and younger and this makes the platform particularly
attractive for marketers.
➢ Colors used: Purple, violet, red orange, yellow, orange, maroon, red, blue

➢ Brand personality trait: Most of the colors on the Instagram logo are warm colors
that represent enthusiasm and energy.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

Instagram user
"@fatsdabarber" shows
off his dance moves
and humor as the social
networking service
highlights that "your
funny" is "yours to
make."

The ad campaign tells that you can take a video or a reel to show yourself in Instagram.
Amazon:

➢ Target population: Amazon’s target market is middle and upper-class consumers

(evenly split between genders) with home computers or smart devices aged between
18-44 as of 2021. Additionally, 60% of Amazon’s target market are from the United
States who prefer shopping online for convenience, fast delivery, and competitive
prices.
➢ Colors used: Black, orange

➢ Brand personality trait: The black color in the Amazon logo represents dominance,
supremacy and elegance, while the orange color stands for pride and happiness. The
original meaning of the smile and arrow design was to suggest “we’re happy to
deliver anything, anywhere.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

Amazon says out

with the old in Great
Indian Sale ads

Yellow – Yellow evokes happiness, youth and optimism, but can also seem attention-
grabbing or affordable.
Red – Red stands for passion, excitement.
White – It can range from affordable to high-end.
Make up brands:

• NYX
• Lakme

NYX:

➢ Target population: NYX's followers are typically millennial, digital natives, sitting
within the 17-24 age demographic.
➢ Colors used: Black and white

➢ Brand personality trait: The color scheme of the logo is monochrome,

corresponding to a dark night and light stars.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

Global Brand Creative Director. Executed the L’Oreal acquisition re-brand in 2015 and still
modernizing. Pioneered the Beauty Influencer campaign. Launched the first NYX
Professional Makeup retail stores. Established NYX Professional Makeup as a creative
innovator in the beauty industry.

Red– Focuses attention on a particular product

White – It can range from affordable to high-end.
Yellow – Advances from surrounding colors, enlightening.
Pink – Pink stands for femininity, youth and innocence. It ranges from modern to luxurious.
Lakme:

➢ Target population: It has targeted to the young and upper and upper middle affluent
class customers who have enough disposable income and want to show off their
beauty. The brand has succeeded in attracting its main target audience, girls and
women, by constantly improvising and satisfying the demands of its customers.
➢ Colors used: Black and white or Pink and white

➢ Brand personality trait: The monochrome color palette of the official emblem is an
understandable choice for a cosmetic brand, as it looks strong and bright on any
background and in any surroundings. As for the pink and white color scheme of the
Lakme emblem, it is a reflection of the brand’s purpose, and its value of its
customers’ beauty and happiness.
➢ Advertisement campaign:

Lakme launches Kareena Kapoor Khan Collection

Red– Focuses attention on a particular product

Black – evokes a powerful, sophisticated, edgy, luxurious and modern feeling.
Food:

• Starbucks
• Lays

Starbucks:

➢ Target population: The target age of Starbucks' market is 22 to 60, with the teen
audience growing steadily. The target audience of Starbucks is middle to upper-class
men and women. It's the percentage of the general public who can afford their higher
priced cups of coffee on a regular or daily basis.
➢ Colors used: Green and white

➢ Brand personality trait: The colors used in Starbucks’ logo include deep green and
white. The green stands as the background color, while the white is used for the main
siren symbol. In the design world, green is a color that represents healing, nature, and
protection. Often times, it is also a color that is used to signify wealth and money.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

Starbucks launches first

global brand campaign

Green – represents healing,

nature, and protection
White – New beginnings
Lays:

➢ Target population: Children and students.

➢ Colors used: Yellow, red and white.

➢ Brand personality trait: The yellow and red color palette of the Lays logo is a
representation of energy, power, and passion, and in combination with white, it
evokes a sense of professionalism and reliability of the brand, which is concentrating
on the quality and flavour of its product.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

Love on the small screen:

Alia, Ranbir 'smile', sign
first joint endorsement
deal with Lay's

Yellow – Optimistic, happy, sparking creative energy

Orange – Stimulates appetite and activity, radiates warmth
Furniture:

IKEA:

Green –
represents
healing, nature,
and protection

➢ Target population: IKEA's target consumer is middle-class peopleWhite – New

between the ages
beginnings
of 20 and 34 as of 2021. This age and salary bracket are most concerned with buying
stylish, contemporary, quality furniture at the best price possible, which is precisely
the type of furniture IKEA sells.
➢ Colors used: Blue and yellow

➢ Brand personality trait: The IKEA logo hints at something big and exciting.
The blue represents trust and openness, while yellow depicts happiness, optimism and
imagination. IKEA also shares those colors with the national flag of its home country,
Sweden.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

Yellow – Happiness,
optimism
Blue – Trustworthy,
dependable

The Memac Ogilvy & Mather agency, based in UAE, imagined a smart print ad campaign for
IKEA in Saudi Arabia. With daily life objects as cans, takeaway coffee tumblers or stamps,
creatives wanted to show how simple IKEA furniture are.
Sports Franchise:

• Indian Cricket
• Indian Football

Indian Cricket:

➢ Target population: Young children to adults

➢ Colors used: Earth Yellow, Cyan Cobalt Blue and Blizzard Blue

➢ Brand personality trait: The symbol of the BCCI is similar to the representation of
the star of the order on the mantle of British Raj.
After the First War of Indian Independence in 1857, to consolidate its sovereignty
over India, the British Crown created a new order of knighthood to honour loyal
Indian princes. No such honours were given after 1948. the BCCI is still hanging on
to this colonial legacy, 'symbolically', and our team flags this logo even today.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

Nike Launches ‘Bleed Blue Pledge’

Campaign Featuring Team India

Blue – Trustworthy, dependable,

committed, color of the ocean and sky,
tranquillity, professionalism
Indian Football:

➢ Target population: Young children to adults

➢ Colors used: Orange, white, green and blue

➢ Brand personality trait: The new logo represents the Tricolour in the form of a
rising flame along with a football denoting vibrancy and upward movement of the
sport in the country. The shield on one side of the logo solidifies the entire structure
and represents AIFF’s inclusiveness, responsibility and authority towards the game in
India.

➢ Advertisement campaign:

Indian Super League:

‘C’mon India, Let’s
football’ campaign
launched to promote ISL
2014

Orange – Love, energy, fun, active

Green – Green evokes stability, prosperity, growth