Colour psychology

Colour is obviously an integral part of any design, and choosing the right colours for your business or products can be a very tricky process.

We are not only influenced by fashion and personal likes and dislikes, but also we have subliminal feelings about certain colours, some of which may go back innately in time. For example we tend to use yellow and black stripes for danger, as do certain stinging animals like wasps and bees.

In general there are certain colours that are used as they mean something to us, for example 'Business' would tend to gravitate towards a dark blue, this is because blue is the nation's favourite colour. It is considered a dependable and safe choice, coupled with a grey you will be adding to that neutrality - but perhaps by doing so you would be seen as a bit too unadventurous. Make the grey, silver, then it has become more special and expensive, no longer boring but very dependable. If there was any spark of life, or any other attribute to that company, it would be better to set off the dark blue with other colours that have more optimism...

This works the other way round too; you will notice that we have used dark blue in our own identity. This is because we have also chosen a lovely fresh green (for innovation) and we have a lot of colour within all the imagery. In order to invoke our expertise we needed to use a more acceptable, established dark blue.

However more significantly it's the shade or tone of the colour that's influential, and that takes more expertise to determine. Especially if a project requires a range of colours. It's important in this instance that they all fit together without jarring.

Choosing the correct colour palette for your business depends on what impression you want to give your customers. You may want to appear innovative and creative, or very strong and efficient, perhaps calm and sophisticated, or then again more down to earth?

Since colour psychology is a very specialised subject, we can only give a beginners guide here, but the chart opposite will show you how colour can affect mood, character & personality.

Colour also needs to be considered in conjunction with the design, typefaces used and logo, as it is a fine art of tempering and balancing all the elements in the design to get across the right message.

Fly Design will determine which colours are best suited for your business - these may not be your favourites, but we will endeavour to take that into consideration!

Note: the image colours will be affected by your screen set-up