In partnership with Aerologic Marketing, Blue Wagon Group has developed a blog series to assist you in choosing colors to communicate well. Today’s installment is part 2.
Most of us were first introduced to the color wheel in kindergarten or elementary school, where we excitedly mixed paints or layered crayons to discover how hues combined and transformed. Building on my Color Theory blog post part 1, “Top Ten Tips on Current Color Psychology,” today we take a deep dive into the meanings behind primary colors – red, yellow, blue – and secondary colors – green, orange, and purple. The Blue Wagon Group and Aerologic Marketing teams have included a few popular outliers to better understand color meanings in today’s marketplace.
> RED | Often associated with food, passion (the most sexual color), danger, and urgency. Red is the color of joy, fortune, and weddings in Asian cultures; it can be seen as unfavorable for financial industries unless varied in intensity (like burgundy, red with a significant amount of black added) and balanced appropriately with a complement or analogous color.
> YELLOW | High energy, happiness, and clarity but proven repeatedly to be anxiety-provoking. While well-known brands that provide information (think IMDb and National Geographic), it is known as an approachable accent or second-tier brand color. Yellow is best when balanced with another warm color, varied in intensity (like a soft butter yellow), or paired with a bold anchor color like deep eggplant purple.
> BLUE | Most everyone is familiar with good ol’ corporate blue. However, there is substantial reasoning associated with blue. By far, it ranks as the most popular color. From periwinkle (“Very Peri” was the Pantone 2022 Color of the Year) to sky blue to navy or indigo – blue is versatile and continues to have massive appeal. Case in point: check how Blue Wagon Group consultants have noted their favorite hue of blue in their bios!
Every shade of blue indicates calmness, trustworthiness, and stability. In the past, blue was the main medicinal color in the United States. The healthcare industry used to steer away from warm tones, especially red, which evoked ideas of blood and danger.
> GREEN | The first and most popular secondary color. Today, healthcare providers, specialists, and facilities have launched brands or campaigns leaning toward green hues over medicinal blue, echoing a focus on wellness and aiding ailments. Green, shades of green, and teal (and all those delightful colors in between) have increased in universal appearances. Green used to be a color to avoid for businesses in the food industry, but with more focus on health, organic, and farm-to-table foods, green is often incorporated into modern restaurants, food labels, and grocery stores.
Traditionally, green is the color of money for those in the US and remains a go-to for the financial industries, symbolizing wealth and growth. More recently, there have been some smart departures from the green in the banking world as new brands are emerging with limited or no brick-and-mortar locations. Our worldwide endeavors to protect our environment also bring green to the front of many brand messages.
> ORANGE | You love it or hate it! In the past, orange was the color of cheesy starburst, discounts, and convenience (think Big Lots or Home Depot). But our second secondary color has grown up! Since the early 2000s, orange has seen a robust rise in the digital world. Orange is a favorite of many millennials who have grown up in the digital era. It’s more approachable than red but has the same intensity of fun and enthusiasm. It is pleasing on most devices and conveys the energy of yellow while being easier to read on light and dark backgrounds of back-lit monitors and devices. As its complement, it works so well in various shades to update a more conservative blue anchor color.
> PURPLE | Deep purple shades remain regal and are an excellent choice for luxury brands. Brands use purple to make their audience feel special, connected to high-end experiences, or empowered. It is pleasing digitally (back-lit) in any shade. Purple has seen a rise in surprising industries like the financial sector. Truist and Ally (online-only) banks use purple – both institutions back up their choices with strategic messaging. This bold, contemporary take on purple can project a confidence and credibility that translates well to financial branding. We would caution against certain shades of purple that can cast a more juvenile feel over a brand or campaign.
> BLACK | The first outlier and not part of the color wheel. Black has lost some appeal in the digital world since those late 1990s and early 2000s website designs with reversed-out text. White text on black digitally can be troublesome to read on smaller screens and mobile devices. Black is a strong anchor, enhancing accent colors. Given the application, black can be associated with elegance or, at the extreme end, rebellion. The ever-popular grey (all varying shades of black) continues to be a solid choice. Charcoal can indicate the same idea to your audience as black while being less harsh and more refined.
> WHITE | White is widely accepted as restful and clean. In some cultures, white can symbolize anything from weddings to death. But white space in a cluttered world is good strategy for campaigns – even more than branding. Apple has done this so well, focusing more recent campaigns on branding in black and white. Even though it is not part of the color wheel, learning to use the color white well in communications can make or break successful visual communications regardless of your message.
> BROWN | The most reliable color, hands down. Very few people choose brown as their favorite color; recent studies show that around 2% of the population worldwide choose brown as their favorite color (Williams, 2015). But when it comes to branding and messaging, the psychology behind brown is solid and may be a fruitful choice for your brand makeover or campaign. Brown is comforting, like baggie cargo pants, reliable (explaining UPS’ well-known branding), rich in soil for farming, and delicious as chocolate and a good cup of coffee! The list goes on: from tan to beige to mahogany for leather, cognac, and Thanksgiving. Every color has a shade with a brown undertone, and brown is incredibly flexible. It is not high-energy but can be a hard-working part of your brand colors, even if it is not part of your logo.
> PINK | The last color to note is not just for baby showers and little girls. Depending on the pink selected, it can skew peach or more red based on the amount of yellow added. While traditionally a feminine shade, pink is also considered energetic, like yellow, and can be associated with more than sugar-and-spice-and-everything-nice. Acceptance of pink in modern culture is not new. Pink got its big breakthrough as a super successful cosmetics awareness campaign introduced by Estee Lauder in 1992 (“The Pink Ribbon”).
Pink in branding has steadily become more visible year-round but dominates in October, reminding us of working together in the now global campaign for the cure for breast cancer. We’re all accustomed to seeing athletes from high school to college and professionals sporting pink on their branded apparel during October to support the women in their lives and the race for a cure. Pink as accents, in the right balance, works well for campaigns and brands needing a little surprise. Soft pink may not make a great call-to-action button on a website with a white background, but hot pink is an eye-catcher.
With so many facets to color theory, science, and psychology, it is challenging to share in two short articles. Our primary goal was to encourage you and your organization to take a second look at how impactful a meaningful color strategy can be for your brand and all applications.
Want to know more about color intensity, hue, or shade? Ask us for an audit of your brand and materials. Our teams are dedicated to ensuring the success of all communications, including your color strategy. Successful communication color selection is in our familiar territory!
Rivera, Sofia. “Why Is Blue the Most Popular Favorite Color?” Apartment Therapy, Apartment Therapy, LLC., 28 July 2022, www.apartmenttherapy.com/blue-most-popular-favorite-color-37111105.
Jordan, William. “Why Is Blue the World’s Favorite Color?” YouGov, YouGov, 12 May 2015, today.yougov.com/international/articles/12335-why-blue-worlds-favorite-color.
The Pink Ribbon Story, www.komen.org/uploadedFiles/Content_Binaries/The_Pink_Ribbon_Story.pdf. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.