We see life in colours from around 3 months old, so the impact of colour on our moods, actions and decisions starts young.
Colours invoke feelings and sensations and can trigger memories both in our subconscious and out conscious minds. Learn how to use the impact of colour in your design work and your branding, logos and visual messaging will be a lot more powerful. Don’t just spin the colour wheel like a colourful game of fortune, be strategic and watch your designs improve.
Key Colour Connotations
Red
Connotations include energy, danger, love and passion
Orange
Makes you think of excitement, art, food and warmth
Yellow
Brings thoughts of sunshine, happiness and grabs attention
Green
The colour impact of green is thoughts about nature, health and calm.
Blue
Blue brings thoughts of trust, loyalty and security.
Purple
Provokes thoughts of luxury, pride and wealth. Especially rich violet shades.
Brown
Whilst not the prettiest of colours, can invoke thoughts of reliability, nature and honesty.
Grey
A personal favourite, and lots more than 50 shades available, grey can make viewers think of neutrality, communication and composure.
Black
Black is the absence of all colour (see here fore more on how colours actually work) but has connotations of power, elegance and discipline.
White
Technically all colours, the impact of colour for white is thoughts of purity, cleanliness and light .
This handy graphic shows a few more colour connotations. The chances are you know a few of them already as they are fairly universal. That is the cool thing about the impact of colour. I may vary from culture to culture, but the connotations of colour across the globe are remarkably consistent.
