The Game of Color Palate.

The world around us is filled with colors. Vivid, dull, monochromatic, and many more. Yet colors are one of the things in our life that are just taken for granted.

In truth colors actually play an important role in our life. Much more than we give it credit for. This statement is much more true when it comes to a brand. This is often thoughtless and can be the difference between a successful, memorable brand and one that is forgotten easily. All pertain to the interpretation of reflections upon the eyes of people.

An intrinsic part of our life is constituted by colors. So much so that mostly the effect colors have on the human psyche has been ignored. Colors have been taken for granted and usually considered a minor part of brand designing. A last-minute decision or a split-second thought on finalizing the color palate of a brand might not be the best course of action one can take. Especially when they constitute an important part and parcel of the human lifestyle. But this is usually the line of thought as that’s how much for granted colors have become.

According to Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, “ Colours Express the main psychic functions of man", they also act as “ mother tongue of the subconscious”. Colors can influence the behavior of humans. They have the ability to subconsciously affect decision-making and form responses from the viewer. The scope of using an advantageous color palate is because of this. An agreeable color palate can induce the scope of a brand making it more attractive. In fact, certain studies have pointed out that a vast majority, around 84.7% of consumers chose the color as their primary or main reason when asked about their choice of a product. And research has proven the fact that 60% of people decide whether they are lured by a message based solely on its color.

It is therefore pretty evident that a color palette chosen by a brand can have an influence on the audience. The colors chosen by the brand should be such that it creates a psychological and subconscious connection with the audience. Color palettes if chosen carefully have the ability to incite customer loyalty towards the brand. A brand’s color palette is where a consumer or an audience first forms an impression about the company. Given a product, or an advertisement or a website, or just even a logo, or just a post on a social media platform, the first impression on the audience is formed subconsciously with the help of the colors in use. This is why it is also important that after choosing a particular color palette, stick to it throughout on all means of identifying the brand.

Colors are not just a visual aid or just a means of inviting looks from people by being more vibrant or popping out. They subconsciously cause the viewer to form an impression and thereby connect the color to the brand. Colors can therefore be used to convey emotions of the brand, the feelings the founders had on establishing the idea, and even the emotions the brand holds or wants to hold for all its stakeholders. A palate should therefore be such that it produces a good impression for the brand. It should be able to convey the right emotions to the perceiver. Using the correct shades, tones and colors is therefore important as all these factors into the story that is what a brand wants to tell its target audience. Why should someone trust the brand and become a loyal customer of it can all be told subconsciously without words by using the right choice of colors.

Colors if uses properly, provide a means of communicating with the audience. It can be used as a tool to get the audience to see what the brand wants them to see, to feel exactly what it is that the product creators felt, and even make them do what is to be done. They have the ability to encourage actions, influence the mood of the viewer, and tap into the emotions of people. How to utilize this to draw out the required action and emotion is the proper execution of color palettes in the branding process. A step towards the realization of this is the realization that different colors have different effects on people. Sometimes different people react differently to the same color. This depends upon the background of the person in question. But it is seen that certain colors are able to derive a common reaction from people.

In this context, the color yellow can be used to incite positivity, happiness, and warmth, after all, it is the color of sunlight. It is attention-grabbing, which is why it is used as the go-to color for taxis, and often perceived as light-hearted, childish, and unstable. Blue is perceived to be stable and often connected with security and stability. It is supposed to induce a feeling of trust and also cleanliness, it being the color of the sky and water. Green is the color of nature. It is commonly associated with a brand being eco-friendly, environmentally conscious, healing, and harmonious. Darker shades of green are also associated with money and signify success. Purple is the color of royalty from ancient tunes and has been associated with royalty and mystery. Red is deemed as a very passionate color, with it being used to represent fire and blood. It is associated with war, rebellion, death, and love. Orange is a little less intense form of red and is often associated with youth, creativity, and enthusiasm. Brown is an earthy shade and indicates nature, roughness, simplicity, and strength. Black represents authority, elegance, and intelligence. It is a serious color that is often associated with class, secrecy, authority, and tradition.

The Colour palette, therefore, is not something that should be taken for granted. Colors used in the right way have the ability to produce a vibrant visual experience. They can be helpful in creating a unique personality and taste for the brand and go a long way in influencing the manner in which people interact with the brand. Another important point is to utilize more than one color as to thereby not seem monochromatic unless of course, that is what the brand design demands. Colors therefore when used properly are a tool for brand designing allowing designers to converse with their audience. The palate of a brand should not, therefore, be a split-second decision and actual thought has to go into the decision-making as colors truly form an intrinsic part of our life.