Tork has made a study on how the brain reacts to different colors. Have a look at this slideshare to get inspiration on how you can set your table to create the mood you are looking for.

1. A restaurant’s guide to colors
A restaurant’s guide
to colors

2. To investigate how colors affect experience, restaurant guests got to experience 8 different environments in
8 different colors. Each setting was designed with restaurant attributes completely covered in a monochrome
color – from walls and floor to furniture and tableware.
All guests were equipped with tools that measure brain waves and heart rate. The analysis showed clear and
reoccurring patterns in moods and emotions provoked by different colors. The colors where also perceived to
be suitable for diverse kinds of meals and with special restaurant experiences ranging from a romantic dinner
date to a formal business lunch.
The color restaurant experiment
What’s your color?
Color is everywhere. Color affect our mood and behavior. And although there are many aspects within a restaurant
that affects the guest experience – color is a critical one. On the following pages you will find insights that are
the result of an experiment where brain wave technology was used to investigate how restaurant guests react to
colors.

3. The meditative
green
The brain wave results indicate a revitalizing quality for the
green colour, with restorative deep relaxation and immune
system improvement. The heart rate was also below average
in this room. In line with this, the green colour was described
as relaxing, calm and welcoming.
An environment in which to recover and heal, rather than get
excited or experience romance.
I would like to bring friends and
family to the green room,
people I know very well.
”

4. The happy
orange
Overall, orange was perceived as modern and fun typically
associated with happy experiences together with kids and
friends. On the other hand orange could also be seen as
somewhat unromantic, a bit stressful and not luxurious.
The brain wave and heart rate results showed that orange
might be a more neutral choice compared to other strong
colors such as yellow. Orange also gave mid-range
indications of gamma waves, associated with learning and
information processing.
My favorite room was the orange
one because it made me feel really
happy.
”

5. The sophisticated
black
Black is a color of complexity. It was perceived as luxurious,
modern and sophisticated but at the same time a bit
unwelcoming and boring. It was strongly perceived to be
suitable for a sophisticated event where you leave your
kids at home. The brain wave readings indicated high levels
of creativity and arousal, but also a lower level of focus –
making it less appealing for business set-ups.
I make the connection between
good food and darker colors,
for some reason it feels more fancy
than happy colors.
”

6. The exciting
yellow
Yellow is an exiting and fun colour. The brain wave results
indicated higher states of arousal and conscious focus,
but in extreme cases also higher stress levels.
Also, both the average and max heart rates where high for
yellow. The colour was perceived to be suitable together
with breakfast but also the most popular colour for a venue
where to bring kids. Results indicate yellow as suitable for an
exciting and arousing environment.
The yellow color gave me an
energy-boost and made me feel
more awake.
”

7. Red that stands out and provokes powerful emotions rather
than blending in. Red gave high indications in the delta
and theta brain wave ranges - meaning strong emotional
connection and high levels of creativity. Heart rate results
where also high, indicting a stimulating environment.
Perhaps not surprising, red is strongly associated with
romance and evening drinks. However there is also an
exciting and fun side of red.
Red is for intimate meetings with
someone you like – perhaps not
suitable for business partners.
”
The romantic
red

8. The blue colour gave high indications in the delta wave range,
which means deeply relaxed states. High theta wave also
indicates creativity and high emotional connection.
This responds to the fact that blue was described welcoming,
calm and relaxing. Blue was perceived to work well for a
family-friendly venue to have breakfast or coffee, but not so
well for a luxurious restaurant experience or a venue used for
business meetings.
I think I liked the blue room the best.
I dont really know why, but it was a
nice calm color.
”
The calm
blue

9. White stood out and yielded low indications for all brain wave
ranges – indicating a neutral colour and something of a blank
canvas for guests’ experiences. White is also perceived as
the best colour for business settings. The colour is seen as
luxurious and modern, but scored low on aroused emotions
such as fun and exiting. A color suitable to create neutral
environments that do not distract from the task at hand.
The white felt clean, modern and
luxurious.
”
The luxurious
white

10. Brown scored low on the majority of brain wave ranges,
indicating a neutral colour. The delta wave range and
heart rate results suggest that brown may also encourage
relaxation. Brown is perceived as traditional, neutral and
relaxing. Brown is perhaps not the best choice to create
arousing experiences, but was perceived to be a good colour
for more traditional venues and easy to match with other
colors.
I guess I am a bit conservative, but
I like the brown room the best.
”
The traditional
brown

11. Relaxing
Lunch
Friends
Fun
Breakfast
Kids
Modern
Dinner
Date
Exciting
Breakfast
Kids
Romantic
Drinks
Date
Calm
Breakfast
Parents
Luxurious
Lunch
Parents
Traditional
Coffee
Colleagues

12. The color nuances used in the experiment are derived from the color palette within the Tork tabletop
assortment, and napkins from Tork were also used as a part of the monochrome settings.
Tork has a new complete range of tabletop products such as napkins, tableware, dispenser napkins and
custom print solutions - available in a unique color palette of 20 colours. The colors have been selected based
on customer’s most popular choices. In addition, Tork have chosen new intuitive product names, updated
packaging design and created a web tool to make it easier to select and order products that goes well together.
All together, making it easy to create the right impression for your guests.
Learn more at www.sca-tork.com
Making it easy to create the
right experience
Simple to choose Make the right impression Fit for purpose