Do you ever wonder that how colors can affect our choices, our mood, our likes and dislikes! It seems to be very simple. But after exploring this, I realized this field has much more to say. Significance of each and every color is not just in terms of words rather it always convey much deeper meaning.
93% of purchase decisions in real time are based on colors and visual appearance of the product/brand hence choosing the right set of colors is paramount for your business be it for your website, logo, or even product packaging.
Your business gets associated with the colors you choose and hence the right set of colors will take your business to new horizons as colors are the one of the most-remembered elements of your brand and can make a big impact on how it is perceived.
It is worth a while to note that facebook has all it colors in blue hue. They have not used any other color which could relate itself to facebook apart from blue. What could be the reason for this blue color to stand out from all other colors for Mark Zuckerberg?
Well, that’s because according to The New Yorker, Mark Zuckerberg is Red-Green color blind. So, that means, the color he can see the best is BLUE. Does that actually matter?
World through the eyes of people with Red-Green Color Blindness (Deuteran and Protan).
This article covers
- Understanding RGB and CMYK color schemes
- Understanding color harmony
- Illustration to describe color psychology
- Merging color theory and business rules
- The subtle case of spotify and broccoli green (A case study to show importance of color psychology in business)
Introduction to RGB and CMYK
RGB is an additive method of color creation, meaning that you add and mix different intensities of red, green, and blue you get your desired color. RGB codes are represented with any number between 0 and 225 for each red, green, and blue. If you add no color to RGB (0,0,0) you get black.
Have you ever tried to print something? Take a look at your cartridge. You’ll notice that you’re not printing in RGB, but rather in CMYK. CMYK is a subtractive form of color creation, meaning a reading of 0% of each color will get you white whereas 100% will get black.
What is Color Harmony
Understanding psychology of colors
Understanding the color theory is much complex than we can even imagine.
In the above image, you will see a small rectangle on the left to have red-purple tinge as compared to the small rectangle on the right side.
But they are both of same color. This shows that how 3 colors can be perceived as 4 colors.
The effects colors have on each other is the starting point for understanding the relativity of color. The relationship of values, saturations and the warmth or coolness of respective hues can cause noticeable differences in our perception of color.
Merging Color theory and Business rules
Design is not only about creating cool layouts and creatives. We forget that it is about building a connection between the product in hand and the target audience.
Use of colors is the best way to build that connection. As we personally also drawn towards the things which are more colorful. This is because each and every color expresses an emotion and that emotion attracts the viewer.
Colors can even energize or cool down. If you learn to use them properly, colors can lead to action and increase the conversion rate of website. 93% people get influenced by visual factors when they interact with the website.
The subtle case of Spotify and “broccoli” green!
Let’s talk about the case of spotify here. Spotify is a music streaming service app which allow users across the globe to access the music of their choice. Lately, Spotify was under scanner as their logo went under a little cosmetic surgery.
As you can see in the image below, spotify opted for a different green shade and revamped their logo. It left many people in bewilderment on why this subtle change happened to an app which had already clocked millions of download across the globe.
Later it was justified as a move from a “broccoli green” to more of a “pop green”. Team at spotify felt that green we felt that the dreary brand palette was desperate for an upgrade. It was time to give it a little refresh and make sure it goes well with their vibrant new color palette. Importantly, the new green color has little more “pop” and feels just right with their color theme set. This pop-green not only looks fresh and modern but also is more easy on the eye when viewed full-screen.
These subtle changes may sound insignificant to some business minds but these colors are what people associate your brand with. Spotify took care of creating harmony between the colors they were using and were able to create better brand understanding/brand awareness among the users across the globe.
This is how color psychology played an intrinsic part in solidifying brand awareness of spotify among the users across the globe.
Choosing the right color for your business is also an important step in growing the business and should not be overlooked. It may not be the most important step in growing the business, but this is what makes your business a “brand” in the industry.
