Why Is Color Psychology Important In Design?

Why is color psychology important in design?

The colors we use in our designs have a much bigger impact than we think. Colors can spark different emotions in a person and have a psychological impact on the opinion that they create.

Color Psychology

The study of color psychology relates to the research of how colors can have an affect on a humans emotions, and how it psychologically has an affect on a persons opinion and/ or behavior.

A persons perceptions can be greatly affected by color. Color is used with pills and placebos to enhance the effectiveness of them.

All the big brands in the world deliberately use certain colors in their branding to achieve their desired outcomes. A high level graphic designer will intentionally use certain colors to stay aligned with a companies branding and mission.

Lets cover some of the main colors and what they are used to achieve:

Red – Bold and Energetic. Companies such as Tesla and Coca-Cola use red to represent their brands, Coca-Cola being a sugary drink that gives you energy and Tesla being fast electric cars, so both associate with the psychologic impact.

Blue – Universal Favorite, notice how all companies that connect people together all over the world use blue for branding/ their logo? This is because the universal favorite color is blue, it appeals to everyone. Companies such as Facebook, Skype, Zoom and Twitter use blue for the logos and branding.

Yellow

Yellow is associated with being low-cost / easy. Snapchat is one of the easiest ways to share photos with friends, McDonald’s is one of the easiest, low-cost ways to get food, fast. IKEA is famous for its easy to build flat packs.

Pink being associated with femininity and being delicate is why businesses such as lingerie companies/ little girls toys choose to use the color to represent their brands. Companies such as Barbie for example.

In conclusion when you are designing something you need to take more into consideration than just what colors will look good together, you also want to consider what impact and outcome you want your ideal to consumer to have. Learning the psychology behind colors and their impact on a person is an essential knowledge base- for any high level graphic design to have.