Colour psychology occupies a controversial and fascinating position in the hearts and minds of colour practitioners and users.
To some it is a powerful means to convey meaning and generate emotion, others believe it to be aimed at those easily influenced. However, at its core lies a measure of scientific and anthropological thinking concerning social conditioning, the electromagnetic spectrum and the responses of the human body.
Colour psychology shares much with colour symbolism – the notion that a colour holds with it a cultural significance, one that could have been passed down through generations and history. Red for stop, green for go…
One can use the power of basic colour psychology in branding and marketing assignments, simple research will reveal whether a specific colour encourages business or will prevent it. This is of particular note in parts of Asia where certain colours are deemed ‘lucky’.
As we know through our own research into the visual perception of colours; the understanding and placing of a colour in context is subjective and varies from person to person. Culturally too, the symbolism and psychology of a specific colour is also subjective and subject to a wide variety of differences (many of them polar in their opposition). Black may well be the colour of death in the West but in the East this is the reverse with white being connoted with the passing of life into a higher plane.
Interestingly the elementary colours in the NCS System are loaded with symbolism. Take the blue and yellow for example, some believe that these are the first colours we see when emerge from the womb. Yellow as a colour in its own right can be a difficult colour to take in. Although cheery and warm the colour reflects a high amount of light and can strain the eyes if taken in long periods of exposure. It carries both positive and negative aspects on the human psyche; on the one hand, yes, it is cheery in its darker strains it has been known to cause tension resulting in feelings of frustration and anger plus it does tend to make babies cry more as a colour of a particular space. Yellow has long been associated with psychotic episodes and dementia.
Blue is a reliable colour, preferred by men and indeed the most trusted of colours in the world of branding. A calming colour yet, like the sea, it can hide swathes of unrest, sadness or aloofness. As humans have evolved over the centuries we still find it hard to shake off our internal programming that makes us believe blue is a sign that food has been ‘compromised’ and, as such, is a colour to which we do not find appetising at all. As a result there are some claims that eating your food from a blue plate may aid weightloss.
Red is a warm, bright colour capable of evoking strong emotive responses – love, anger, pain. Associated with many of the human being’s most intense feelings, red has to be used carefully but can have dramatic effects. Think of the infamous ‘red star’ sale signs which persuade us into buying all the things we think we need… Used well this is colour which sells and can also be used to generate prestige like Ferrari for example. East and west have very distinctive cultural values associated with red which should always be taken into account.
Green is synonymous with nature. Emotively the colour represents good luck, health and tranquility but, as with many colours, has a darker side in being associated with jealousy. Studies have revealed green can be used to enhance reading ability – students placing a transparent green sheet of paper over text may find it helps improve comprehension and reading speed.
White in the modern western culture is pure and the colour of weddings. Peaceful and clean, white is used heavily in the contract sector to symblolise cleanliness and hygiene. As a point of interest it is in fact white which is the most slimming colour to wear not black as may believe due to its reflective values repelling light.
Which brings us to black, which some believe is not strictly a colour at all, merely an amalgamation of all colours. However, in its purest form, as with all of the elementary colours used in NCS, it cannot be described as anything other than black – bringing it into our elementary colours. Absorbing all light, black is a powerful colour which represented life and rebirth in ancient Egypt. Today in western cultures it is a colour we attach to death and mourning and thus has sinister, menacing undertones.
The Elementary Colours
We are often asked about our elementary colours and the reasoning behind the NCS – Natural Colour System®© colours. The six colours are based upon tests which show that these are the only colours which in their purest form cannot be described as anything other than what they are. Pure green, for example, cannot be described as slightly blueish it is green and green alone. So we have yellow, red, blue, green in conjunction with white and black (which perceived as achromatic). One can assume that human beings have throughout the ages possessed colour vision and have probably been able to describe their observations where colour is concerned. Colour words themselves enter the language systems late in their development into the different languages we use today.
Primitive languages have fewer expressions for colours than, say, English or Spanish. Today there are still a few languages who only have expressions for white and black (or light and dark). One of the most interesting facts in language and its relationship with colour is that when other colour words enter a language they do so in the same order.
According to Berlin & Kay, all languages have terms for black and white but when more become added they are done so in the following order: first red then green or yellow followed by blue and finally brown. Only when the language includes eight or more will these expressions be joined by the likes of violet, pink, orange, grey... In many languages the actual term colour derives from a skin or the outer covering of an object.