As a child, arches didn’t mean a lot unless of course they were yellow arches, in which case excitement ensued. Who didn’t enjoy a Happy Meal every now and then?

The Power of Color in Psychology

Color influences us on many levels - conscious and subconscious. In fact, there is an entire concentration of psychology dedicated to the study of colors and how they influence behavior and decision-making. And even though no two colors are perceived the same (depending on your past, your ethnicity, your race, etc.) colors are a powerful motivator in decision-making; especially when you have a choice of “the red pill or the blue pill”.

Photo courtesy of The Matrix

The Power of Color in Marketing

Color increases brand recognition by up to 80% [1]. Similarly, colors can be perceived as appropriate for the brand message your company is trying to convey. Therefor, predicting the consumer reaction to color appropriateness should be an important part of your graphic design process. If people should feel passionate about your product, choose a red motif. If you want them to think it’s earthy and fresh, go with green. Even if it’s “just” a CTA, the color can still impact the consumer. In fact, HubSpot found that on average, a red CTA button will outperform a green CTA button by 21% [2].

Photo by Snyder Group Inc.

Whether you’re picking a color for a new website layout or just the font color for a new eBook, pay attention to what “job” you need the color to get done. Color establishes visibility and differentiation. Before choosing your colors, make sure your brand won’t get lost among the market leaders (and competitors). For example, you can easily identify the flavors of  knock-off sodas, even when the names are different, because they usually use similar color schemes as the market leaders’ brands:

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Color is an important part of branding and marketing. Choosing your colors should be a thoughtful process. Because just like you want the right color for your living room to feel “at home”, you need the right color for your deliverables for them to “speak” to your audience and gain leverage.

Additional Resources:

[1] https://www.colorcom.com/research/why-color-matters
[2] https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/psychology-of-color