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Show Notes:
- [05:01] GENERAL COLOR MEANINGS
- [05:03] Red: is full of excitement and said to be youthful and bold. It is also said to make people hungry or angry, and is associated with stopping.
- [05:45] Orange: is said to be cheerful and have confidence. It is also fun, whimsical, childlike, friendly, spontaneous, glowing, hot, and persuasive.
- [06:16] Yellow: has optimism, clarity and warmth. It is also joyful, illuminating, nourishing, sunny, sweet, stimulating, innovative, energetic, hot, surprising, or can bring awareness.
- [06:50] Green: is said to be peaceful and associated with growth and health. It can also be calm, quiet, fresh, lush, soothing, renewal, balance, life, and fertility.
- [07:43] Blue: is associated with trust, dependability and strength. Some other words (again, depending on the shade) can be calm, quiet, water, clean, peaceful, reassuring, serene, transcendent, open, sophisticated, confident, tasteful, cool, credible, authoritative, classic, traditional, nautical, or professional.
- [08:42] Purple: is associated with creativity, imagination and wisdom. It can also be romantic, thoughtful, nostalgic, thrilling, dramatic, regal, intuitive, mysterious or visionary.
- [09:19] Pink: ranges from vibrant, flirtatious, attention-getting and high energy to soft, subtle, romantic, compassionate, delicate, innocent, fragile or youthful.
- [10:08] Grey and other neutrals: are bringing balance and calm. It is also classic, corporate, timeless, quiet, logical, reserved, basic, modest, efficient, accountable, staunch, professional, sleek, classy, mature, sophisticated, and methodical.
- [10:50] Brown: is earthy, rugged, outdoor, rustic and woodsy, but as you change the shade to chocolate it could be delicious, rich, robust or appetizing.
- [11:28] Black: is powerful, empowering, elegant, sophisticated, mysterious, bold, classic, strong, expensive, nighttime, stylish, or prestigious.
- [12:12] White: is positive, pure, clean, innocent, simple, airy, bright, pristine, or bridal, but it can also be seen as sterile, cold and clinical.
- [13:09] COMMON MISTAKES
- [13:11] Colors have tons of associations and meanings, and often opposite associations depending on the shade or context.
- [14:02] GENDER PREFERENCES
- [14:13] Gender does have different impacts on preference for colors, which can be important for brands.
- [16:06] Blue and green are universally predominant favorite colors. Orange and brown are least favorite for both genders. Purple is gender polarizing.
- [16:27] BEYOND GENDER In some cultures, white is bridal, pure and innocent, but it is a funeral color for others. Black can be sophisticated or menacing. Red can be aggressive or mean luck.
- [19:33] THINK ABOUT BRAIN ASSOCIATIONS The associations absolutely do matter, and studies have found that appropriateness of the color to the brand persona matter quite a bit.
- [20:18] Think about how all the context triggers come together to support or contradict the color used in your brand, logo or other aspects of your marketing.
- [20:41] When people are not already familiar with a brand, the common emotions tied with the color of the logo make a big difference in the way they interpret the brand.
- [21:13] When starting your brand be aware of the associations with color and the emotions those colors bring up. Knowing the color associations can also help you go against the traditional theory if that is your strategy.
- [23:00] When it comes to the way a designer or someone working with colors would explain the type of color, there are three important items: hue, value, and chroma.
- [23:51] The hue is the color itself. Purple, red, and green are all hues.
- [24:14] Value shows us how light or dark a color is – the level of brightness.
- [24:18] Chroma is the saturation of color or its vividness.
- [26:00] Google tested to find the perfect blue for its links.
- [27:13] There are ways to use color in your business, beyond brand associations and color choice.
- [28:28] The thing that is most important when it comes to calls to action is to have a lot of contrast. This is known as the isolation effect or the Von Restorff effect.
- [29:39] You want to pick your colors based on congruency to your message and the personality, as well as the market you are targeting.
- [30:03] Go with contrast when picking secondary or tertiary buttons and links, so they stand out.
- [30:22] Know what your competitors use so you can stand out.
- [31:26] Fight the urge of your herding brain and be different from the competition.
- [32:05] Trendy colors generally aren’t good for brands, but they can be great for for special editions etc.
- [32:56] For physical items, keep in mind what your competitors are using and find colors that help you stand out on the shelf.
- [35:31] Color is incredibly important for brands to understand and consider when creating their materials. With a little bit of thought and consideration, you can absolutely use color to your business’ advantage.
Links and Resources:
- Episode 60. Surprise and Delight
- Want to Build Brand Loyalty? Surprise Your Customers–Literally
- The Psychology of Color
- The Psychology and Meaning of Colors
- Color Psychology: How Color Meanings Affect Your Brand
- When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?
- The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding
- Colour Assignment
- There’s Evidence Humans Didn’t Actually See Blue Until Modern Times
- Exciting Red and Competent Blue: The Importance of Color in Marketing
- Current Research Development Impact of Color on Marketing
- The Interactive Effects of Colors and Products on Perceptions of Brand Logo Appropriateness
- Color Psychology
- Why Google Has 200m Reasons to Put Engineers Over Designers
- Which Button Color Converts the Best?
- 10 Proven Ways to Build a Website that Customers Will Love
- Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight
- Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding
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