The Power Of Colour In Design

Not to teach your granny to suck eggs, but colour in design is pretty important! 

As any good designer knows, colour plays a vital role in your work for so many different reasons. It can be used to place emphasis on a particular aspect of design, to evoke a certain mood or reaction in the viewer, to trigger an emotional response, and to communicate a message without using any words at all. It can be used for symbolism, to improve usability, to show associations, and to point to an instant message. 

A nice way of thinking about it is that colour is a universal language and an extremely powerful communication tool. It is not just simply a visual element, but is arguably the most powerful, vital and influential tool of all of the elements that make up visual design. 

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When researching this vast topic, a very handy tip that I came across was the guideline of the 6:3:1 colour palette, otherwise known as the Golden Ratio of Colours. This very simple idea dictates that when choosing a colour palette for design, 60% of the palette should be reserved for one main colour, a second complimentary colour will take up 30% of the design, and the remaining 10% is used for a third accent colour. 

When choosing your palette, a good designer should bear in mind that colours can have very different messages in different cultures, which can dramatically affect the way that colour is perceived. As an example, in western cultures, white symbolises purity and innocence, and perhaps even conjures up images of a big, white wedding, while in Japan, Korea, China and India, white is a colour that signifies mourning.

In the UK and USA, when we think of love we instantly think of the colour red that adorns every supermarket shelf in the run up to Valentine's Day, while love is symbolised with green in Japan. Luck is symbolised by red in China, Denmark and Argentina, while the very same colour represents being unlucky in Nigeria and Germany. The point being, know your audience and be mindful of which colours you are using to send messages in your work. 

Colour psychology can be something very helpful to understand while choosing your colour palette. It is how humans perceive colour and how their behaviour reacts towards it. The psychology of colour can be used to trigger the right responses from consumers, and can be used to work in line with a brand or company mission. Designers can use colour carefully to create harmony and balance and to reinforce a message. In fact, colour can influence a person’s purchase decision by 85%.

Interestingly, psychologist Andrew J. Elliot noticed that people who are cold will often choose warmer colours such as red or yellow, while people who are hot will choose cooling colours such as blue and green. He also found that people who are introverted tend to prefer cool colours, while people who are extroverted often prefer warm colours.

When thinking about designing for a brand or company, a carefully selected colour palette can subconsciously influence viewers on how they feel about a brand or message. Are your colours appropriate for your design/ brand/ message? Colour can determine a customer or clients first impression on a brand or product based upon their feelings and attachments for certain colours, which will in turn influence their perception of a brand. Choosing the right colours for marketing can mean the difference between a successful campaign standing out from the crowd, or blending into it. 

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Here are some examples of colour and the subconscious messages that they can send:

Red: Signifies love, anger, passion, danger, intensity and easily draws attention. It can be associated with movement and excitement, and in fact can actually stimulate breathing and increase heart rates just by seeing it! Red is great for headlines, text that needs to grab attention or to advertise a sale. 

Yellow: Signifies energy, joy, youth, sunshine, bright, cheerful, happiness, joy, and is actually the colour which catches our attention the most. 

Green: Signifies nature, peace, money, growth, safety and freshness. 

Blue: Signifies calmness, tranquillity, peace, the sea, the sky, tranquillity and depth. Blue is the world’s most popular favourite colour. 

Orange: Signifies warmth, happiness, success, bright, autumn, optimism and energy. 

Purple: Signifies royalty, power, wealth, ambition, spirituality and luxury.

Pink: Signifies femininity, friendship, affection, peace and approachability.

Brown: Signifies warmth, security, earthiness, trust, history, nature and neutrality. 

Black: Signifies luxury, elegance, power, icon, power, mourning, sophistication and formality.

White: Signifies simplicity, cleanliness, innocence, purity, coldness and minimalism. 

If you're considering adding some colour or enhancing your existing branding but don’t know where to start, feel free to get in touch with us at Nurture via hello@designbynurture.com.

All work shown within this article was completed by some incredible creatives, if you would like to find out more about who designed any of the pieces please reach out and we will point you in their direction.

Written by Charlene Payne.