Psychology of Colors in Logo Design

When you look at your company’s logo and brand design, what comes to mind? Have you chosen a specific color that will evoke a feeling in your customer or have you simply come up with a mish-mosh of colors that you thought blended well together? It is important to understand that colors play an important role on our psyche and if you have never thought about them in this type of capacity before, now is the time to do it.

Below, we will explore just how colors can influence your sales and we will take a look at some shocking statistics that will have you rethinking your logo and brand design immediately.

How Does Color Influence Sales?

Color directly influences the sales that your business will have. It may sound crazy, but there are tons of proof to back it up. Think about it though for a moment. When you head to the store and you see a red clearance sign, what does this mean? It means, “Hey, hello, come get these items now before they are gone for good.” See, the red color coupled with the word clearance got you excited and you sensed the urgency that you need to check out the items before they were no longer available to you.

Color influences sales in several different ways because:

• It creates a brand identity
• It increases memory
• It helps engage participation
• It informs your customers
• It attracts attention

Statistics You Need to Ponder

As we mentioned above, the proof is in the pudding and many statistics and studies have been performed that show color does in fact affect the things we buy and it encourages us to purchase one item over the other.

Let’s see just how color does affect us:

• 93 percent of consumers make purchase decisions based on visual perception
• 80 percent of customers think that colors increases brand recognition
• Almost 85 percent of consumers say color is a main reason they purchased a product
• 92 percent of people think that color can elevate an image to impressive quality
• 81 percent of people think color helps give their brand a competitive edge

While color does draw the eyes in and can increase sales and help customers recognize your brand better, color actually helps us out personally as well. In fact, color can help improve your comprehension of a subject by 73 percent, boost learning by up to 68 percent, and improve reading by 40 percent.

Color Choice and Your Brand

The color you choose for your logo and brand design should not be done in a flash. You should sit down and think about the feelings and emotions you want to evoke in people and then go from there. For instance, if you have an organic product or an environmentally friendly product, you may want people to think nature and calm. This means you would choose a color that correlates to this such as green. Let’s take a look at the different colors along with their emotions and some top name brands that chose these colors.

1. Blue

Feelings:

• Trustworthy
• Secure
• Strong
• Calm
• Caring
• Honest

Companies:

• Visa
• Ford
• Facebook

2. Red

Feelings:

• Passionate
• Energy
• Aggressive
• Action
• Bold

Companies:

• RedBull
• Coca-Cola
• Kellogg’s

3. Yellow

Feelings:

• Playful
• Cheerful
• Logical
• Confident
• Optimistic

Companies:

• McDonalds
• Bic
• Shell

4. Orange

Feelings:

• Sociable
• Happy
• Affordable
• Friendly

Companies:

• Fanta
• Nickelodeon

5. Green

Feelings:

• Nature
• Earth
• Fresh
• Organic
• Environment

Companies:

• Starbucks
• Subway
• Spotify

6. Purple

Feelings:

• Creative
• Imaginative
• Feminine
• Nostalgic

Companies:

• Cadbury
• Hallmark
• Yahoo!

7. Black

Feelings:

• Authority
• Seductive
• Sophisticated
• Formal
• Luxury

Companies:

• Hilton
• Sony
• Bose
• BBC
• Chanel

8. Multi-Color

Feelings:

• Fun
• Boundless
• Playful
• Positive

Companies:

• Ebay
• MSNBC
• NBC
• Google

Colors is Important and Shapes Play a Role Too

In addition to colors, you also need to consider the shape of your logo and brand design. In fact, if you pair together the right shape and color, your brand will take off running and you will never look back.

Ovals, Circles, and Ellipses

When paired with the right color, a circle, oval, or ellipses can create a positive logo and brand for you. These symbols are associated with:

• Positive messages
• Feminine
• Endurance, marriage, and partnership
• Friendship, unity, love, and community

Some examples of companies with these symbols in their logo include:

• Land Rover
• Pepsi
• GE
• Hyundai

Squares and Triangles

When paired with the right color, a square or triangle can give your logo the boost it needs to become an overnight sensation. These types of symbol are associated with:

• Power, law, and science
• Masculine
• Balance and unity as one
• Professionalism, strength, and efficiency

Some examples of companies with these symbols in their logo include:

• Adidas
• Domino’s
• Picasa

Vertical and Horizontal Lines

When paired with the right color and brand, vertical and horizontal lines can create a memorable logo and brand design that consumers will keep in the back of their head for a lifetime. These symbols represent:

• Youth
• Calm and tranquility
• Strength and aggression

Some examples of companies with these symbols in their logo include:

• Cisco
• IBM
• Honda

Final Thoughts on the Psychology of Colors in Logo and Brand Design

When it comes down to it, it is important for you to understand that most of our senses are based on what we see, taste, hear, and smell. Therefore, colors are a wonderful way to stimulate one of those senses and draw a customer in.

While a color may seem like a simple enough choice, it is not and you need to make sure that you spend some time deciding on the color you want to represent your brand and your overall logo and image. Some companies will skip over this process and simply choose the first color they want and this leads to some confusion, especially when it comes to the brand. For instance, when you think organic, you may think green, orange, or brown, but you definitely do not think pink or red.

As you approach your brand and logo design, keep the above tips in mind and choose a color that truly represents your company logo.

Article was written by ColorCodes blog