There’s a close connection between the traffic lights and the “sale” signs you see in stores and online. Can you guess what it is?

From the early days of our childhood, we are taught to stop at traffic lights when they turn Red and to always pay close attention to them. When we grow up, we unknowingly follow the same rule whenever we see a sign or an ad using that same color.

Have you noticed how every “sale” sign is designed using a Red background? Because it instantly commands attention!

There’s a psychology behind the colors we see in the designs around us. Designers and marketers have been using this concept to create more impactful branding designs and advertising campaigns for decades.

But is color psychology a real thing? How does it work? Can you use it in your own design projects? Let’s find out.

Color Psychology in Action

(Credit: TheLogoCompany)

Isn’t it strange how the biggest brands in the same industry share similar colors in their branding designs?

Some of the most influential tech companies such as Facebook, IBM, Intel, Salesforce, Samsung, and Dropbox all share the color Blue in their brand identity design as it’s associated with trust, reliability, and security.

It’s the same reason why many luxury brands, like GUCCI, Prada, CHANEL, and Louis Vuitton, use the black color in their designs as it’s the color of minimalism, elegance, and sophistication.

Each and every one of these colors has the power to connect with humans on a personal level and evoke different emotions. That’s what color psychology is all about. And it’s not just a concept either, there’s actual science behind it.

Science Behind Color Psychology

Color psychology spans many different areas, subjects, and industries ranging from genders to cultures, lifestyles, professions, and much more. And there have been many studies proving the impact of color psychology in each of these areas.

When it comes to color psychology in branding and user experience design (UXD), there are a few specific studies that show interesting findings.

One research published in the International Journal of Management and Human Science has found that people often make the decision to buy a product within 90 seconds and about 62 to 90% of that product assessment is done based on the colors alone.

A great example of this is the Coca-Cola product design. Whenever you see a soft drink can with a white logo on a red background, you immediately assume it’s Coca-Cola and grab it off the shelves without a second thought. Also, note that this is the same color combination used in those “sale” and “discount” signs in supermarkets.

Another research from the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science has solidified the importance of color usage in branding design and how strong of an impact it has in forming consumer brand perceptions. Proven again by another study from the University of Loyola, which found that “color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent.”

(50,000-year-old cave paintings, Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil / Source: Wikimedia)

All these research and studies are examples of how our human brain processes colors and how they evoke different feelings and emotions. It’s nothing new really, color psychology has been around since the birth of civilization, proven by even the findings of the earliest cave paintings using colors such as red, yellow, and gray colors depicting scenes of hunting, clashing, and sexual activity.

How Colors Affect User Behavior

Whenever someone appears to be feeling sad, we often ask “Feeling blue?”. Or when someone’s angry, we say “his face was red”. There’s a reason why we associate these emotions with specific colors.

(Credit: Wordstream)

All these colors have associations with our emotions. However, the same colors can also evoke different emotions based on the situation as well.

For example, companies like Facebook and PayPal use the color blue to evoke a sense of socialness, trust, and loyalty. While that same color is used by law enforcement agencies to convey security and dependability.

Another example is the color red. When we see this color on a stop sign, we immediately feel a sense of alertness and attention. But brands also use this same color to evoke feelings of excitement, passion, and sometimes power.

For a much more detailed understanding of color psychology, we encourage you to explore the ColorPsychology.org website. It includes more in-depth explanations about each color and how they affect emotions.

Myths and Misconceptions

Color psychology is not a magic formula and it certainly doesn’t work the same way for everyone. As we mentioned before, the effects of color depend on the context and situation. And it’s also important to remember that people from various parts of the world and different cultures have unique associations with colors.

The colors you use to evoke a sense of excitement could translate into a completely opposite reaction from people from a different part of the world.

(Strawberry Coca-Cola in Japan / Source: Stars and Stripes)

For example, in Western culture, the color black is associated with luxury and elegance while the same color represents death and mourning in Eastern cultures. When creating designs that target international audiences, understanding the symbolism of color is crucial to creating universal designs.

5 Tips for Choosing Effective Colors

Color psychology is not just about evoking emotions and persuasion. You can use it in user experience design to create color schemes that improve user engagement and retention as well.

These tips will help you choose a more harmonious color palette for your designs while also making your designs more effective and accessible.

1. Design with Accessibility in Mind

Accessibility is one of the most important aspects to keep in mind when creating a color scheme for a design. Making your designs accessible to all, including people with disabilities like color blindness, is not only required by the law but it’s also part of making more inclusive designs.

When it comes to choosing colors, always remember to pick color tones and shades that meet accessibility standards.

2. Pick the Right Shades and Contrast

The shades and the contrasting of the colors you use will also have different psychological effects on people. A good example is the new trend of pastel and soft colors, which aims to create more soothing and calming vibes through designs. However, a small adjustment to color contrast will make a different outcome in such a design project.

3. Guide Users Toward Action

Colors can also be used to guide users and persuade them to take action. For example, the colors used in Call to Action (CTA) buttons on websites are designed with this goal in mind. These CTAs often feature brighter accent colors like red or green to grab attention and also to create a sense of urgency, which persuades users to click the “buy” button much faster.

4. Understand the Target Audience

Understanding the culture, ethnicities, and beliefs of your target audience is also crucial to creating a more appropriate color palette that’s also effective. When creating color schemes that target a wide range of audiences, it’s always best to go with tested and proven colors used by the more successful brands.

5. Test the Color Palettes

It’s always wise to test your color schemes and designs before going public. If you can’t afford a focus group, you can use various other means to test your designs. Even using platforms like Reddit and Facebook groups would suffice. Or you can use affordable user testing platforms such as UserTesting to get that job done.

Conclusion

Whether you’re designing a brand identity, crafting an app interface, or even a social media campaign, having an understanding of color psychology is vital to delivering more effective and successful results.

Having even a basic understanding of color psychology is enough to make a big difference in your design outcomes. However, you should follow a proper course from a reputable institution to get all the accurate knowledge about this subject.

You can also explore our gallery to see how different kinds of designs use color psychology with their respective color palettes included. And read up on the latest color trends here.