Color Psychology

Color

•“meaningful constant for sighted people”•“powerful psychological tool”

▫Positive or negative effect•Applications

▫Logo design▫Web site design▫Book cover▫Package of a product▫And more…

Psychology of Color• Based on Western Hemisphere

▫Black▫White▫Gray▫Red▫Blue▫Green▫Yellow▫Orange▫Purple▫Brown

Psychology of Color - Black•Color of Authority and

Power,•Stability and Strength• Intelligence•Thinner appearance•Evil•Grief•A serious color that evokes

strong emotions▫Easy to overwhelm people

with too much black

Psychology of Color - White

•Color of Purity,•Cleanliness•Safety of Bright light•Absence of color

(Neutrality)•Creativity•Compression of all colors in

the color spectrum

Psychology of Color - Gray

•Practical•Timeless•Middle-of-the-road•Solid•Too much: nothingness•Shade of gray – old age,

death, taxes, depression•Silver – giving a help hand

Psychology of Color - Red

•Good for drawing attention▫Attracts eyes

•Color of energy, movement, and excitement

•Not a good color to over-use•Symbol of life•Pink – love, giving,

romance, soothing

Psychology of Color - Blue

•Calming – Skies and Seas•Too much – cold, uncaring•Steadfastness•Dependability•Wisdom and loyalty

(uniforms)•Becomes more productive

Psychology of Color - Green•Color of growth, nature, and

money.•Another calming, soothing

color•Dark forest green is associated

with conservative, masculine, and wealth

•Envy, good luck, generosity, and fertility

•Peace, harmony, comfortable nurturing, support, and energy

Psychology of Color - Yellow

•Laughter, happiness, good times

•Brain releases seratonin which makes people more optimistic

•Too much – temper flare, dominant color

•Speeds up metabolism•Creativity

Psychology of Color - Orange

•Happy, energetic, warmth•Ambition•New dawn in attitude

Psychology of Color - Purple

•Wealth, prosperity, rich sophistication

•Simulates brain activity in problem solving

•Mystery, wisdom, respect

Psychology of Color - Brown

•Reliability, stability, and friendship

•Natural, organic

Basics on How to use colors together•Color Schemes:

▫Monochromatic▫Complimentary▫Triple

Monochromatic Color Scheme

•Use of single color in varying shades

Complimentary Color Scheme

•Colors that are directly opposite in the color wheel

•Warm color to Cool color▫Yellow – Purple▫Orange – Blue▫Red – Green

Triple Color Scheme

•Three colors side by side make harmonious combinations

•Examples:▫Yellow, Orange, Red▫Yellow, Green, Blue

Color Psychology

•It is very important to use this in web designing

•Good harmony of colors attract users•Bad mix of colors are displeasing to users

Questions?