Color Symbolism (Part 2)

“With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft.” ~Henri Matisse

Colors hold significance for people around the world. Not only do colors influence emotion, but they also hold meaning in religion and various cultures. Every color has its own way to express the feelings. The following is a list of colors and possible meanings of each color.

Yellow

The yellow color may be luminous and vivid, which can contribute to such strong feelings. Yellow can get exposure easily, but when it’s overused it can get abrasive. It may look warm and light, but visual exhaustion can also occur. This one is bright, attention-getting color is seen as a sunny, happy color, yet studies have also shown, paradoxically, that prolonged exposure to it can make adults lose their tempers and babies cry. As well as Yellow is perhaps the most energetic of the warm colors. It is associated with laughter, hope and sunshine. Accents of yellow help give your design energy and will make the viewer feel optimistic and cheerful. However, yellow tends to reflect more light and can irritate a person’s eyes. Too much yellow can be overwhelming and should be used sparingly. In design, it is often used to grab attention in an energetic and comforting way. While the color yellow can evoke a lot of different psychological reactions, it is important to remember that these responses are often unique to the individuals.

Associations with yellow include:

· Energy

· Hope

· Honor

· Fear

· Frailness

Purple

Purple makes you feel creative. Purple is associated with mystery, creativity, royalty and wealth. Lighter shades of purple are often used to soothe or calm a viewer, hence why it is used in beauty products. Incorporate purple to make a design look more luxurious and wealthy or a lighter purple to show romance and mystery.

Purple As a Royal Color

Purple is the royalty and richness symbol. In the old days, the making of purple colors, particularly for certain colors, always needed a lot of effort and cost. Because violet is less natural in nature, it was much difficult to manufacture a dye for purple and much more expensive. The color purple became associated with wealth and royalty because very often the rich were the only individuals who could afford such expensive items.

Visually, purple is one of the most difficult colors to discriminate. It also has the strongest electromagnetic wavelength, being just a few wavelengths up from x-rays and gamma rays. For this reason, it is often used in visual illusions such as the lilac chaser illusion.

· Purple Is Regal

· Purple Is Sensual

· Purple Conveys Wisdom

· Purple Is Soothing

· Purple Is Mysterious

· Purple Is Exotic

Light purple colors represent romance and delicateness, while dark purple symbolizes sorrow, fear, and apprehensiveness.

Pink

Pink makes you feel playful and romantic. Pink represents femininity and romance, sensitivity and tenderness. It’s inherently sweet, cute and charming. Many people associate color with all feminine and girly things at once. Romance and vacations, including Valentine’s Day, might even come to mind. Some pale rose colors are characterized as calming, while very bright and dynamic shades can stimulate or even worsen them. It is important to remember that color associations are heavily affected by individual experiences and cultural influences. Color preferences are often linked to past experiences. Negative associations with the color pink include immaturity, physical weakness, and low self-confidence.

Pink is considered a fun color that also represents:

· Joyfulness

· Sweetness

· Calmness

· Passiveness

· Lack of willpower

Orange

How does the color orange make you feel? Orange can be a very strong and energetic color. Like yellow and red, it can be very attention-grabbing, which is perhaps why it is often used in advertising. Orange makes you feel energized and enthusiastic. Orange boosts a sense of vitality and pleasure. Like red color, it is revealing and shifting, but it is not overpowering. It is aggressive, but balanced — it depicts energy but it can be friendly and inviting. Orange is great for purchasing a product or subscribing to an action call. It’s association with autumn leaves and seasonal transitions can also make people think of change when they see it. Orange is also associated with warnings, though less strongly than red.

Psychology of color:

· Orange is an energetic color mix of yellow and red.

· Orange is strong, so many sports teams can use orange in jerseys, mascots and branding.

· Also, Orange is the color of luminous sunsets and fruits like oranges and mandarins; so many people may associate color with sunset beauty and citrus savor.

· Orange evokes feelings of enthusiasm, warmth and excitation.

· Orange, like traffic signs and publicity, often attracts attention.

· The color of the dying leaves and pumpkins is also associated with autumn and this.

· The color is also very closely related to Halloween in the U.S., so sometimes it can be dark or even cartoonic.

Brown

Although brown is not the most color-inspired, it can also be used to produce a normal, earthy tone. After all, timber, sand, mud and many other natural elements are brown color. This can make people see brown as wet, relaxed, safe and trustworthy. As well as Brown tends to feel like a solid, earthy color, but it can sometimes seem drab and boring. Light browns such as beige are often used as neutrals in design and fashion. While they can provide a conservative and traditional backdrop, these shades are often perceived as dull. Brown can also create feelings of loneliness, sadness, and isolation. In large quantities, it can seem vast, stark, and empty, like an enormous desert devoid of life.

Color Psychology: The Color Brown

· reliability

· stability

· friendship

· sadness

· warmth

· comfort

· security

· natural

· organic

· mourning (in some cultures/societies)

However, when it comes to clothing, brown was chosen as the fifth favorite color out of 18 total colors, including no preference. Brown was the second color choice for both men and women for their living rooms and the fourth choice for their bedrooms.

Gray

Gray feels serious and professional. Gray is considered to be fair and balanced between black and white. Its lack of color makes it useful, because it can be used in case many colors, without disturbing the design. gray also has some negative connotations in color psychology. It can appear dull or moody.

Color Psychology: The Color Gray

· neutral

· timeless

· practical

Each color has a meaning and taps into emotions. There’s a whole science (and art) in the meanings of colors. As an entrepreneur or designer, it’s essential to be aware of these color meanings to help you choose your colors wisely and tap into the magical power of color symbolism.