There’s a cute commercial for a paint company where two kids are tearing through the house at full throttle while their parents paint a room this very cool color of green.  Suddenly it’s quiet and the parents turn around to see the kids in the new green room, sitting quietly and reading.  While there is in reality no color that will suddenly tame children, it is true that color elicits emotions and can have an effect on our mental state.

This is important in graphic design and marketing.  You want the colors you use for your branding and marketing to elicit the right emotional response from your customers.  Let’s take red as our first example.

Red is a strong color with a multitude of associations.  It can portray danger, love, passion, aggression, heat, strength,urgency, excitement or debt.  The color red can stimulate your appetite – for food or for more sexy pursuits.  It is a high energy color.

If your company specializes in something relaxing like massage or meditation – red is a bad choice, not relaxing enough.  If your company is involved in finance – red is a bad choice, since red in finance means negative.  In healthcare, red means emergency.  If your company is trying to appeal to patients and make them feel safe, red is a bad choice.

If you are a restaurant, red can be a good choice since it stimulates appetite.  A high energy entertainment company can use red to very good effect.  A sexy clothing line or jewelry shop can do well with red.

Does this mean that you have to entirely avoid red in all your materials if it doesn’t entirely fit with the emotions you want your customers to feel?  Not necessarily.  Just use it in small doses, tempered with other colors that do elicit those feelings.

How does red make you feel?