Maria Jose Gonzalez Vogue Article

Is

Color Changing You?

We have all done it, buy something because it looked pretty, or the wrapping looked pleasing, right?

Picture it, you are grocery shopping looking for cookies. You know you want chocolate chip, but what brand? What would you do in this situation to choose a product. Probabbly check the price, but we will leave that on a side for now. Have you ever thought of how visually responsive your taste might be? This is color psychology.

We make our minds about a person or a product within 90 seconds, and about 62 to 90 percent of a product consideration is based on colors alone (Khattak, 2018). Color is one of the crucial factors within the human perspective and considered a fundamental

aspect of consumer behavior. Color is a powerfull tool that affects your behavior and has helped companies and brands impact the way you, as a consumer react to their visual imaging. This by choosing a specific color that might attract more your attention in order to, for example, buy a specific brand of cookies.

Maria Jose Gonzalez

November 11, 2022

Color Psychology?

Color psychology is the study of how colors affect human perceptions and behaviors (Ciotti 2020). Graphic Design takes part on the visual communications and elements we see on our daily life, more specifically on digital and marketing areas; it is in charge of gathering the viewers’ attention and transmitting information through the use of visuals. This attention is normally targeted within an objective in mind, either promoting a product, company or just presenting information.

Emotions and Color

Thanks to science, colors have been divided in warm or cold, which are dependant on the way we see the world. Colors have been related to activities and elements of the daily life, generating symbolisms.

For example, what color is fire? You are probabbly thinking of an orange, yellow, red color right? How does fire feels? Warm and hot right? Well, this synethesia of colors, feelings and emotions has been buliding up an understantind for the clasification of colors.

Feelings, emotions and behaviors are the main factors impacted by color in ourselves. “Scientists and psychologists have studied the relationship between people’s conscious and subconscious perception of color and their associated meanings” (Arias, 2012, p. 78).

Comming back to warm and cold colors, warm colors are believed to evoke a range of feelings from warmth and comfort to anger and hostility; cold colors can evoke feelings of calm but also sadness or indifference (Cherry, 2020).

Colors visually affect your emotions. For instance, did you know you could be more propense to find a partner if you are wearing the color red. Yes, you heard that right. If you wear the color red you look more attractive to others. Why? We don't know, but we do know that it happens and that color has a big part on it. "Scientists at the University of Rochester found that men were 10 percent to 20 percent more attracted to a woman wearing the color red than they were to her twin who was dressed in pastels. This preference continued on to monetary decisions with subjects reporting that they would be more likely to spend more money on the woman in the red dress "(Arias, 2012, p. 79).

Has this happened to you? Think about it. Understanding the ways in which colors alter human behaviors and emotions would make us believe there are profound repercussions colors have on design and advertising towards our consumer minds.

The Color Culture

Thats not all... color is not only affected by your human biological respnse, but also it relates it to past esperiences and cultural attachments that are part of your identity. Cherry (2020) states, “Your feelings about color are often deeply personal and rooted in your own experience or culture. For example, did you know the color white is used in many Western countries to represent purity and innocence. However, it is also seen as a symbol of mourning in many Eastern countries”.

Color symbolisms develop within human communities or personal experiences. Each of us has a unique response to colors directly attached to our religion, geography, social status and life experience. Another interesting example of the different variations of human understanding of colors within the cultural communities is that of the color purple. Historically purple was a very expensive color, so in many Western, Eastern, African and Asian cultures it is associated with wealth, royalty and fame. However, in countries like Brazil and Thailand, the color purple has a meaning of mourning and death (Brooks, 2016).

These particularities in cultures have a significant difference in the way some customers might react depending on the part of the world they are from or the part of the world a product is being sold. You might not know it, but brands could be using this to their advantage to sell goods in a specific geographical space and to a specific target audience. This in order to generate a sort of empathy to cultural beliefs in an area, which will create a more meaningful design. Why do you think every everything in the market turns to color orange, yellow or brown in october and november... yeah it is that time of the year americans call the Haloween and Thanksgiving season; cultural festivities that have a deep asocciation with specific colors. Companies want you to buy their special editions and their new colored products even though it migh still taste the same as the original one.

Experiencing Color

Personal experiences also have a huge part on the development of color symbolisms. From the way your grandmother’s house was painted to the favorite color of your dad, or the color of your fist bike; experiences bond within our visual identification and our memory to associate what we see to who we are and what we have lived.

Personally, I was raised on a catholic family very devoted to catholic celebrations. The color purple is a color often seen in churches during Advent and Lent, symbolizing sorrow and suffering; as well as wealth, power and royalty (Sector, 2022). When I look at this color, my mind goes straight to these symbolisms I have been raised with my whole life. Also, recently my grandmother passed away, and my entire life I have known her favorite color was purple. I never really paid much attention to this till the day she passed. As I came to Austin after her death, spring

was at is most brilliant point, were flowers flourish, especially blue bonnets which are this purple blue like color. Since then, everything that is purple reminds me of her.

My associations to the color purple have been part of a buildup of experiences on my life, personal, unique, and shared with other communities. This color association takes me to people, places, memories, all connected to what I have lived. Probably for the rest of my life, bluebonnets and spring colors will remind me of my grandmother, as well as bluebonnets and the color purple. This is important, as I probably won’t look at visual graphics that have the color purple on them, the same way I used to do.

Are brands getting to you?

Colors and visuals change the way we see the world, and due to this they have taken a big part in the marketing industry in order to catch us as possible clients and consumers. So, are companies trying to persuade us? Brands are trying to manipulate our identities and bilological assosiations.

“Understanding the different ways humans process and perceive color is essential to producing stunning, impactful designs (Pantone, 2022)”. By using generical reactions to colors, or cultural symbolisms within color psychology brands are trying to get consumers. Even though the purpose of advertising is to persuade, a campaign that aims to control the consumers autonomy of decision could be considered morally wrong. Think of all the times you have bought something, gone somewhere or get a specific service from someone just because their advertising appealed to you. Think even of political campaigns. Have you been influenced by color?

An Approach to Color Psych.

The belief that as human beings we might all have the same reactions to the same colors would generate a design approach that will create a strong logo, company visual or product design effectively achieved by researching the effects of color on human psychology. Or, the company’s geographical space and target market could be taken into accountability in this process. By understanding cultural customs and beliefs, the use of color could be useful to having a successful design and color palette in a marketing environment. All this in order to shape the reaction an individual is going to have towards a specific design. Sources have argued that as color associations and effects have a different meaning for each individual, the company should take into account a more introspective approach and choose designs and colors based on what the objective of a company is, the products they sell and the general aesthetic of a product or company.

Ciotti (2020) argues that there is a big problem with using color psychology in Graphic Design. He begins his statement with an idea previously discussed; colors are too dependent on personal experiences and identities. “So, the idea that colors such as yellow or purple are able to evoke some sort of hyper-specific emotion is about as accurate as your standard palm reading”. The author states that there is a very big inaccuracy in generalizing the meanings of colors and human reactions to the whole public.

Instead, Ciotti suggests there might be better approaches to the use of color in Graphic design than color psychology. “The context you’re working within is an essential consideration. It’s the feeling, mood, and image that your brand or product creates that matters”.

This different approach to color takes the designer to a more introspective approach, as it is suggested to begin with the message that wants to be

conveyed and not the message that the public is going to understand though color psychology. Thinking first of the personality of the design and the characteristics conveyed is a different approach to the use of color in the world. However, Ciotti suggests that there might be some truth behind the principles of color psychology; as color symbolisms that have been universally established will help convey a specific meaning within a visual design.

But, where does morality fit tin this color use? I believe the notion of wrong or right is very subjective to the individual. If you believe the product you are selling is bad for the human body and yet you are still trying to sell it, is that correct? Consumerist culture is highly dependent on ads and marketing campaign. But, if you belief that this consumerism in the world is not correct, is the use of psychology in your branding appropriate to your morals? The way you use graphic design depends on the impact you want to create in the world.

Due to a general visual language within the world, colors can indeed be used to convey a certain message. However, it can still be argued the morality behind the use of specific effects of color psychology in the consumer behavior. Society nowadays is deeply connected to a consumerist behavior where money moves the world, and catching audiences and customers is a big deal in it. Most design jobs in the industry will want to promote both aspects in the use of color: control consumers and display messages or meanings. I believe the perception within the morality of consumer control relies in each company and designer. But, understanding the world we live in is a world of survival will probably take the designer into the path their job asks them to do. Everything that surrounds the being is subjective to the self, so, what would be the correct way of using color?

reaserch and design by Maria Jose

Gonzalez