The Meaning of Colour

colour psychology

A brand’s choice of colour is a particularly crucial factor in the look and feel of a brand, reinforcing both its personality and the qualities of the products or services it offers. Our brains immediately recognise brands, which makes colour an important consideration when creating your brand identity, not only in terms of differentiating yourself from your competitors, but in positioning your brand in the eyes of your consumers.

When designing your brand identity, there is a lot you need to factor in. What category of products are you creating, which markets will be your key markets, is there a symbolic meaning to the types of colour you are selecting?

There are specific attributes that connect to colours, for example, the colour red is commonly associated with luck throughout Asia, it can also represent love and strength. However, in other markets it can relate to danger. These different points are vital to consider when targeting audiences especially if you want to market your brand globally.

Purple, particularly in deep or vibrant tones, has been a common denotation of royalty and luxury for centuries. Even though not being the most frequently used colour in modern-day marketing, brands like Liberty London and Aussie Hair have included it in their branding. There’s no denying that certain colours are bold and eye-catching, while others are more subtle and calming.

Some more iconic brands are possible to identify purely from their colour palettes. Brands such as Cadbury and Barbie have trademarked the shades, they use so that only they can own them. Research shows that brand identification can be increased by up to 80% by an effective use of colour throughout your marketing touch points. Whilst other marketing elements involving the advertising and effective product copy are of importance to a brand’s voice, its core individuality and memorability could lie within its carefully selected colour palette.

create an emotional bond

Consistency is vital to ensuring a brand has a coherent voice. By choosing a concise palette and employing the use of colour through your marketing channels, brands strengthen their band identities and create an emotional connection and memorability with their consumers.

Red: Red conveys passion and energy, it is a colour that is representative of love, desire, power, and in certain culture like Japan, happiness.

 Blue: Blue is a sign of peace and tranquillity; it conveys trust and harmony and is often used in business to instil confidence.

Green: Green is associated with the environment and is frequently used across wellness brands. It is perceived as a sign of growth, the start of Spring, but also as a colour associated with envy and jealousy.

Orange: Orange is a colour associated with energy, vibrancy, warmth, and enthusiasm, and is often used by food and health brands.

White: White is the colour used for cleanliness, peace, innocence, youth, and birth. It is pure but can also be seen as cold and clinical.

colour and culture

Certain colours are also symbolic to certain cultures. India is a very vibrant country, with an abundance of bright splashes of colour across the country, which really brings the country to life. From clothing, to foods, to flowers like the beautiful orange marigold flowers, to deep shades of red worn on your wedding day, colour is synonymous with religion, faith and beliefs. In India colour represents different emotions to people living in different regions of the country.

Colour plays a big part in history particularly when reviewing the divide between the West and the East. In the West royalty and the christian culture is represented by deep hues of royal purple, whilst in India red and ochre symbolise wealth and grandeur. In Japan white is considered the spiritual colour of the gods and of physical and spiritual purity. The emperor of Japan used to dress in white for shinto rituals, whilst in Buddhism, the colour white means death.

There is much to consider when selecting your brand colours, not just in terms of the product and the markets you are selling this in, but in terms of the shades that best evoke the brand. If you are needing support with developing your branding, get in touch today.

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