Color Symbolism in Design and Marketing – Part 3
Read Part 2 - Read Part 1
The use of Color in branding can have positive or negative connotations from cool colors in brand imaging that are ice-cold for a soft drink that quenches your thirst on a hot day, to that hunter green jacket that speaks of a love for nature. Color in design matters.
Cool Colors
Cool colors can be calming or cold and impersonal to the viewer. Websites often overuse the cool color spectrum. All designers need to be careful not to overuse cool tones and colors without offsetting them against a warm color tone.
Green
Green is the color of nature and symbolizes Health, Freshness, Nature, Growth, Prosperity, Harmony, Freshness, Fertility, Stability, Endurance, and Safety.
Dark green – Boredom, Stagnation, Envy, Blandness, Ambition, Greed, Money, Finance, and Heaviness.
Yellow-green –Sickness, Cowardice, Discord, and Jealousy
Olive green – Peace, Military, Nature, and Masculinity
Bright green – Health, Freshness, Nature, Growth, Prosperity, Harmony, Fertility, Stability, Endurance, Wellness, Excitement, and Safety
Aqua Green – Emotional Healing and Protection.
Green is often used to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products. And since it is directly related to nature, all its shades can be used to promote natural or environmentally-friendly products and organizations. Dark green found on websites is related to money and finance.
Colors Do Matter in Marketing and Branding.
Blue
Blue is the color of the sky and sea, so it symbolizes depth, stability, trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, heaven, tranquility, calmness, and sincerity.
Darker shades of blue are often used by political and patriotic organizations, legal firms, and sports teams. In comparison lighter shades of blue commonly are used to promote health and wellness, travel, and relaxation.
Midnight Blue – Boastfulness, Secrecy, Unreliability, Reticence, Indecisiveness, Fence-sitting, Mystery and Aloofness
Dark Blue-– Knowledge, Power, Security Integrity, Seriousness, Masculinity, Health and Expertise
Light Blue – Health, Healing, Tranquility, Understanding, and Softness
Turquoise Blue - Positive Communication, Clarity, Calmness, Inspiration, Self-expression, Healing
Blue often used across a large variety of websites from the dark blue of Banks to the light blue of the dentist's office.
Established high-end private Banks, i.e., Coutts & Co bankers, to the British royalty, use a mix of dark Blues, Golds, and Browns to develop long term trust.
Corporations that want you to trust them will use dark blue in their marketing. Blue is the preferred color for commercial, corporate America, from Anthem, Blue Cross to United Health Care, and General Motors. You will find it a lot on big conglomerate company websites using trustworthy blue.
Recently there has been a trend towards more greys and reds, for example, Wells Fargo! Remember to heed the warning sign.
Media and many web industries use medium shades of blue because it can appear to be high-tech when mixed with silver and grey. However, if not used carefully, blue and grey can become cold and push the observer away. When shades of grey, gold, and blue are combined, big investment banks and firms will be on your web browser.
Light blue can be found on websites related to cleanliness, water purification filters, cleaning liquids, and of course, Sky Vodka. Airlines, airports, air conditioners use air and sky blues; water and sea blues often used to entice you on a voyage or encourage you to drink healthy mineral water.
Remember to drink water responsibly and use a recyclable insulated water bottle instead of plastic.
Image Source: Book Cover © Peter Lucking | contentbrandingsolutions.com
The Book cover for Top Tips for Healthy Living - Coming in the Spring of 2020 in time for the Beach Season plays on symbols and emotions.
Light blue for health, healing, tranquility, with a hint of healthy, relaxing, green, and softness. Turquoise Blue for positive communication, clarity, calmness, inspiration, self-expression, healing. Add a touch of yellow for positive excitement, energy passion power, and strength, and you have a strong, powerful image.
Book covers can speak a thousand words touching your emotions.
Many established high-end private Banks like Coutts & Co Bankers to the British Royalty use a mix of dark blues, golds, and browns to establish long term trust.
Purple
Speaking of royalty, notice the color purple symbolizes royalty, especially when combined with gold, old money, power, nobility, luxury, ambition, wealth, extravagance, wisdom, dignity. And of course, the Artist, formerly known as Prince the ''Purple Rain'' musician, independence, creativity, and mystery.
Arturo Jiménez Immigration Law Website, Logo, Content, and Branding by © Content Branding Solutions
To see Arturo Jiménez Immigration Law website and Purple Branding Click Here
Arturo and his wife are fans of the Artist, formerly known as Prince the ''Purple Rain'' musician. The color selected was from the official Pantone based on his piano and trademark glyph called Love Symbol #1—a mash-up of the Mars-male and Venus-female astrological symbols. We think Pantone got the color wrong.
Arturo is also very swashbuckling, and in the end, he and his wife are happy with the choice.
Sometimes, the color selected by the client is not the one that we recommend. As an observation, we recommended the use of light purple and gold as it symbolizes the joy of life, the warmth of the sun, and the glowing femininity of the lady justice. As you can see below, the results are quite different.
Light Purple – romance, nostalgia, the joy of life, and femininity
Facebook Banner - Arturo Jiménez Immigration Law Website, Logo, Content, and Branding by © Content Branding Solutions
As a side note, we prefer gold and the light purple branded logo. However, it is, in the end, the client’s choice. What do you think?
Medium Purple (violet) – meditation, creativity, concentration, quietness, beauty, inspiration, artistry, music, chivalry, excellence, ethereal, sensuality, intellectual achievement, responsibility, and sacrifice
Dark Purple – gloom, sadness, frustration, royalty, and richness
Royal Purple is often associated with legal and aristocratic websites or websites aimed at women.
Medium Purple is a favorite of Academic institutions who will often use medium shades of purple because this shade of purple has many qualities related to intellectual thought and achievement.
Lighter shades often found in high-end spas geared towards women, as well as health and wellness websites.
Grape/ Dark Red Purple is often used for accents to offset with tiny amounts of pink.
Please join us next week when we will look at "Neutral" Colors from slate grey to black... the impact that color has on marketing and advertising.
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Come back next week when we talk about Cool Color Symbolism in Design and Marketing
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