What Do Colors Mean to Your Brand?

Does your logo color reflect the relevant image and energy of your brand? Logo colors reflect the personality, likes and dislikes of the person(s) who developed the logo or the current marketing piece. Determining appropriate colors for each business or destination is a huge part of visual branding.

People will change. The meanings behind colors will not. The psychology of colors is fascinating and vital to reflecting each business or community appropriately. It is imperative that the colors represent your business and not the people in the room making the decisions.

Imagine for a moment the McDonald’s “M” in blue. Does that feel palatable? Likely not, and there is a reason. The color yellow literally makes you hungry and salivate. The color blue is an appetite suppressant. Perhaps we should dangle it over our stove or buy a blue refrigerator when we are trying to lose weight! It is not by accident that the most successful fast-food restaurants use red, yellow, orange or a combination of those colors. Red makes your brain stop. Perfect for a fast decision about where to eat.

As a marketing agency, we diplomatically proact when we are hired to develop brands, but there are still cases where clients want what they want no matter what. We have even been asked to change the logo colors to match a local school’s mascot colors. To which we ask, what happens when your community grows, and a second school is added that will compete?

The question I return to is: What image do you want to convey? Read below and see if the words associated with your logo colors are the words you want associated with your brand.

Primary Colors:

(and Green, which we include as a primary color in branding):

RED: ENERGY

Word Associations:
Energetic, Assertive, Passionate, Ambitious, Active

Physical Reactions:
Enhances metabolism (heart beats faster), increases respiration rate, raises blood pressure, stimulates adrenal glands, neurons Mental Reactions:
Invigorating, makes the brain stop, attracts attention, signifies danger

Associations:
Stop, Love, Danger, Energy

Caution:
Can invoke frustration and anger

Fun Fact:*
People feel more amorous when red is worn.

*Our fun facts across colors are not intended to be decision-making factors, as we have many fun facts that would attract you to the same color.

YELLOW: JOY

Word Associations:
Optimistic, Happy, Intelligent, Friendly, Cautious/Deliberate

Physical Reactions:
Salivation and hunger, stimulated mental and muscle activity, warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, light in the morning (especially blue-tinged light releases the hormone cortisol which wakes us up); yellow also helps us release a brain chemical called Serotonin which elevates a happy mood.

Other:
Attention getter (stands out) – reason it is used for caution

Associations:
Honor, Loyalty, Caution

Caution:
Can produce a disturbing effect if overused

Fun Fact:
Babies cry more in a yellow room.

GREEN: PEACEFUL

Word Associations:
Growing, Harmonious, Stable, Generous, Prosperous, Healing

Emotional Associations:
Safety, stability, endurance

Symbolizes:
Trust, loyalty, wisdom, intelligence, nature, money (dark green)

Physical Reactions:
Slows metabolism, produces a calming effect

Fun Fact:
Green has a healing effect, which is why many hospitals use the green color.

BLUE: TRUST

Word Associations:
Trusting, Peaceful, Loyal, Honest, Sincere, Reliable, Orderly, Stable

Emotional Associations:
Calmness, serenity, inward reflections (taking reduced blood pressure reaction and calmness to the extreme is the reason blue can be associated with sadness)

Symbolizes:
Water, Sky

Physical Reactions:
Appetite suppressant, reduces blood pressure, sadness, depression

Fun Fact:
When served blue food or food on a blue plate, people lose their appetite.
Yet, blue is by far the favorite color.

WHITE: PURE

Word Associations:
Complete, Perfect, Light, Goodness, Purity, Innocence, Safe, Sophistication

Emotional Associations:
Truth, Unfriendliness

Symbolizes:
Safety, Purity, Cleanliness, Faith, Sterile (clean)

Physical Reactions:
Stills the body, increases focus (blue/white light increases energy and can interrupt sleep)

Fun Fact:
People with hand tremors have fewer tremors in a white room.

BLACK: POWERFUL

Word Associations:
Powerful, Authoritative, Sophisticated, Elegant, Mystery, Formality, Strength

Emotional Associations:
Sadness, Anger, Aggression

Symbolizes:
Power, Formal, Death, Evil, Strong

Physical Reactions:
In the evening as the amount of light decreases, melatonin is released into the bloodstream and we become drowsy. Seasonal Affective Disorder occurs in the winter when light is reduced and more darkness takes over, associating black with sadness and depression.

Fun Fact:
Food wrapped in packages with black are thought to be higher quality; teams using black jerseys are penalized more often.

Secondary Colors:

PURPLE: MAGICAL

Word Associations:
Harmonious, Royal, Magical, Spiritual, Luxury, Ambitious, Wealth, Creative

Emotional Associations:
Combines the stability of blue and the energy of red

Symbolizes:
Wisdom, Dignity, Independence, Creativity, Mystery and Magic

Fun Fact:
Purple is one of the top three favorite colors of children. Why do you think Barney, the gentle dinosaur of the children’s TV show Barney & Friends, is purple?

PINK: SWEET

Word Associations:
Romance, Compassion, Sweet, Sincere, Passionate, Creative, Soft

Emotional Associations:
Femininity, Love and Kindness

Physical Reactions:
Reduces anxiety and anger, heart muscle relaxes

Fun Fact:
Some prisons and opposing team locker rooms are painted pink because the heart cannot beat fast enough in the presence of pink to be aggressive.

ORANGE: ENTHUSIASM

Word Associations:
Warm, Spontaneous, Happy, Enthusiasm, Creative, Optimistic

Emotional Associations:
Happiness, Energy, Playfulness

Physical Reactions:
Stimulates the thyroid, increases energy, increases appetite

Fun Fact:
Orange is an attention-grabbing color that tends to stand out visually, which is why it is often used for traffic signs and advertising.

GRAY: BALANCE

Word Associations:
Balanced, Neutral, Sensible, Formal, Wise, Mature

Emotional Associations:
Compromise, Solid, Stable, Responsible

Physical Reactions:
Can dampen moods, creating a neutral reaction

Fun Fact:
Gray is the favorite color of people affected by depression. Gray can have tones of all other colors, giving it a lot of complementary flexibility.

BROWN: GROUNDED

Word Associations:
Dependable, Natural, Rugged, Organic, Earthy

Emotional Associations:
Security, Dependability, Stability, Industrious, Comforting,

Physical Reactions:
Brown suppresses emotions

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Now that you have chosen the colors that best represent your brand, next you will select a color tone or shade that best represents your brand. I am happy to answer any questions you have about that. Click Here to Email Me. My book on branding will be published in 2023! And you can sign up now for an advance copy not to be billed until the release.

—Linda Mosely, CEO of 365° Total Marketing