What Color Psychology Gets Wrong
Color is central to the human experience. It’s an integral part of how we evolved and live our lives. It’s also one of the most critical aspects of visual branding. In fact, color is making a huge comeback in the design world after years of greige, and I’m here for it. Given the importance of color in branding, it’s no wonder there’s so much online content related to color psychology.
Image: Interaction of Color. Josef Albers, 1963
There are thousands of articles, blog posts, and infographics out there that attempt to explain color psychology in a simple way. But is this information really getting to the truth about how to use color in brand design?
If you’ve researched how to chose brand colors, you’ve probably come across this kind of content. Some of it is really helpful and informative, like this one from Behavioral Design Academy, which looks at the use/misuse of color psychology (and provides some useful context to what I’m talking about here). Unfortunately, if you google “color psychology”, you’ll get a mish-mash of cherry-picked research, pseudoscience, and personal opinion written to sound like it’s a cool secret formula that someone has discovered.
When I see a blog post that says, “Green is calming and associated with money,” it irks me to no end. This approach is reductive and misleading when it comes to giving people advice about how to use color in branding. There’s so much more to it than just “this color means this”. Color psychology is a thing, but it’s not a simple formula and there’s no one way a color affects human perception.
I’m a freak for color. I use it liberally in my artwork and put a lot of focus on it with client projects. While America has been gradually shying away from expressive color over the last couple decades, especially in how we design our lived environments (if I see another grey-and-white house flip, I might actually barf), the graphic design industry has been shifting recently towards using color more and in unexpected ways. This shows us that our culture is moving away from rigidity and towards possibility and creative innovation. I don’t see expressive color in brand design going away anytime soon.
With that in mind, there is a lot to know about using color in brands that doesn’t get much attention in the blogosphere. Let’s break down some need-to-knows, and why a simplistic approach to color psychology won’t shake out the way you might think.
Color is entirely context-dependent.
Where a color shows up, how much of it there is, and how it’s being used all hold sway in how a color is perceived. To say “green is associated with money” doesn’t take into account any contextual factors other than that American money is green. Take TD Bank and Sprite as examples. Both brands are recognizable by their vibrant green logos. For TD Bank, the use of green does relate to the association of green with currency. They handle money. That makes sense. For Sprite, however, green takes on an entirely different contextual meaning. There, it evokes freshness, effervescence, and the quintessential lime flavor. Plus, think about how many financial institutions don’t use green (Citibank, Western Union, Ally). That green = money analysis falls apart the moment context is taken into account.
There are literally millions of colors.
While there is some debate among researches and many physiological factors that affect color perception, we know the human eye can perceive colors in the millions (LED screens can display upwards of 16 million). All that to say, color is a big, complex topic. Color psychology analysis tends to rely on simplistic color models, like the ROYGBIV. This is a red flag right off the bat. “Green is calming.” Which green? What shade? Is it Kelly green? Seafoam green? Matcha? Olive? Chartreuse? All of these colors resonate completely differently. A soft seafoam green might have a calming affect, but chartreuse? Not so much. Be wary of dumbed-down, generalized takes on color. Bosnian designer Damjan Coric has posted some fun carousels about color variations that illustrate this idea in a cheeky way.
Ratios and hierarchy matter.
Visual hierarchy refers to the prominence of the elements within a visual structure (like an image or a page) which draw the eye to objects and information in a specific order of importance. Brands use color hierarchy by setting one or two primary colors, and one to four supporting and/or accent colors (this is a general guideline, not a rule). Employing green as a primary brand color will have a different effect than using it as an accent color. How dominant a color is in a brand palette influences the associated meaning and the kinds of emotions it evokes. To say a color evokes a specific feeling or symbolizes a specific idea like money doesn’t take visual hierarchy into account.
Meaning is subjective.
Every person carries their individual beliefs and experiences when they interpret color. We can see this in how people incorporate color in their living spaces. I gravitate towards vibrant and natural colors that evoke warmth and create layers of visual interest. Neutral, white spaces don’t appeal to me in the slightest. I find them sterile and unwelcoming. For folks who like a clean, neutral space, my house might drive them bananas. Whites feel airy, fresh, and bright and help accent colors stand out. Neither interpretation is wrong. This is why defining color psychology so narrowly is problematic. It reduces people to machines, superimposing 1s and 0s over the complex, subjective, and diverse range of human experience. For branding, which hinges on connection and insight into human behavior, it shuts down any nuance of thought about target audience and market niche.
That covers some of the pitfalls of color psychology, but what about actionable color advice for brands? I got you.
Don’t worry about what a color means, think about what it means to you and what it will convey to your target audience.
If you have a color in mind, what does it evoke for you? How does it make you feel? What do you associate with the color? What does it remind you of? When color choice is based on a set, external idea of meaning, there’s no room for artfulness and interpretation. But when color choice reflects a feeling, a perspective, a mood that you can describe and connect with, then you’re cooking with gas, my friend. Your brand is a reflection of a unique perspective, and color becomes a big part of how that perspective gets communicated.
2. Reconsider taking a literal approach.
It’s definitely worth exploring using colors that have an obvious relationship to your brand, but being literal with color risks being generic. Is there a case for a sustainability focused business to use green in their branding? Absolutely. Is it also the most widely used brand color in that niche? Almost certainly. Not everything in branding is about being different, but stumbling into cliches is dangerous territory. My general advice is to use color to express identity, not literal (and probably overused) references to the product. Look at what other brands in your niche are already doing a lot of, and think about whether it serves you better to follow suit or to move away from it. If you do incorporate color in a literal way, see if you can offset that with interesting or unexpected combinations.
3. Figure out how color reinforces your brand strategy.
Your brand color palette should be based largely on the overall strategy. Are you going for playful and whimsical? Is your vibe more toned-down? What needs do you seek to fulfill for your audience, and how might color illustrate that? What colors do you see out in the world in relation to your target demographic? Color palette is not a random decision you make based just on what you like. Your color preferences are an important part of the decision, but the other piece is how the color connects to your brand message and your audience. If you don’t have a brand strategy laid out, working with a brand designer is a great place to start.
4. Hire a designer whose use of color speaks to you and aligns with your brand goals.
Research designers to see what’s out there and how creatives incorporate color into their projects in various ways. Maybe you come across a portfolio that’s full of vibrant, expressive colors that excite you, or maybe they have an eye for subtlety that’s elegant and professional. A good designer will have a firm grasp of color theory, understand the nuts and bolts of how to design with color effectively, and guide you through the decision making process.
5. Gather inspiration.
Look around online, in nature, while you’re shopping or eating out, flip through magazines, take photos. The world is brimming with color, and once you start seeking out inspiration, you won’t want to stop. When I go on hikes, I take photos of the amazing color combinations I see: a canopy of vibrant green trees against a joyful blue summer sky or bright orange mushroom peeking out of the dark, brown-grey leaves of fall. I use these photos to create color palettes for future projects. The best thing about color is that it’s fun. Enjoy the process!
Looking for some inspiration to get you started? Check out this post, where I’ve put together some examples of brands using color like badasses.