Psychology of Color

1. Psychology of Color
Color is a meaningful constant for sighted people and it's a
powerful psychological tool. By using color psychology, you
can send a positive or negative message, encourage sales,
calm a crowd, or make an athlete pump iron harder.
There is a reason why people prefer certain colors over
others. This preference says volumes about our
personalities, because each color has an association with a
reaction our brain has when we internalize it.
Color psychology is a well-known, yet less explored branch
of the study of how our brain perceives what it visualizes.
As far as scientific research goes, there is not much to work
with. However, the impact that colors have on our brains is
used to manipulate our decision making by multiple facets
of society.

2. Red - Associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as
well as passion, desire, and love.
- Enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood
pressure
- It attracts attention more than any other color, at times signifying danger.
Orange - Combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow
- Associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics.
- Represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination,
attraction, success,
encouragement, and stimulation.
Meaning of Color

3. Yellow - Associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.
- Produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates
mental activity.
- Yellow indicates honor and loyalty.
Green - Color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and
fertility.
- Strong emotional correspondence with safety.
- Has great healing power.
- Green suggests stability and endurance.
- Color of the sea. It is often associated with depth and stability.
- Symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith,
truth.
- Considered beneficial to the mind and body.
- Strongly associated with tranquility and calmness.

4. Purple - Combines the stability of blue and the energy of red.
- Associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and
ambition.
- Conveys wealth and extravagance.
- Associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity,
mystery, and magic.
White - Associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity.
- Considered to be the color of perfection.
- Signifies safety, purity, and cleanliness.
- Can represent a successful beginning.
- Depicts faith and purity.

5. Black - Associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil,
and mystery.
- A mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown
(black holes).
- Usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, black humor,
‘black death’).
- Denotes strength and authority; it is considered to be a
very formal, elegant, and prestigious color.
- The symbol of grief.

6. What is Color Harmony?
Harmony is nature’s way of saying that two or more things together
make sense. Color harmony represents a satisfying balance or unity of
colors. Combinations of colors that exist in harmony are pleasing to the
eye.
Color Harmonies

7. Complementary
-Colors that are opposite each other
on the color wheel are considered to
be complementary colors (example:
red and green).
-The high contrast of
complementary colors creates a
vibrant look especially when used at
full saturation. This color scheme
must be managed well so it is not
jarring.
-Complementary colors are tricky to
use in large doses, but work well
when you want something to stand
out.
-Complementary colors are really
bad for text.

8. Analogous
-Analogous color schemes use colors
that are next to each other on the
color wheel. They usually match well
and create serene and comfortable
designs.
-Analogous color schemes are often
found in nature and are harmonious
and pleasing to the eye.
-Make sure you have enough
contrast when choosing an
analogous color scheme.
-Choose one color to dominate, a
second to support. The third color is
used (along with black, white or
gray) as an accent.

9. Triad
-A triadic color scheme uses colors
that are evenly spaced around the
color wheel.
-Triadic color harmonies tend to be
quite vibrant, even if you use pale or
unsaturated versions of your hues.
-To use a triadic harmony
successfully, the colors should be
carefully balanced - let one color
dominate and use the two others for
accent.

10. Split-Complementary
-The split-complementary color
scheme is a variation of the
complementary color scheme. In
addition to the base color, it uses the
two colors adjacent to its
complement.
-This color scheme has the same
strong visual contrast as the
complementary color scheme, but
has less tension.
-The split-complimentary color
scheme is often a good choice for
beginners, because it is difficult to
mess up.

11. Rectangle (tetradic)
-The rectangle or tetradic color
scheme uses four colors arranged
into two complementary pairs.
-This rich color scheme offers plenty
of possibilities for variation.
-The tetradic color scheme works
best if you let one color be
dominant.
-You should also pay attention to the
balance between warm and cool
colors in your design.

12. Square
-The square color scheme is similar
to the rectangle, but with all four
colors spaced evenly around the
color circle.
-The square color scheme works best
if you let one color be dominant.
-You should also pay attention to the
balance between warm and cool
colors in your design.