The Psychology of Color The Psychology of Color

Which Color, graphics and font for what sites and why?

TopicsTopics

Why do we need to study colors?What are some color terminology?Psychological effects of colorWhat does each color represent?Different cultural interpretations of colorHow does fonts and graphics play a role?Case studies

Important Role That Color PlaysImportant Role That Color Plays

Color influences our moodAffects how we view certain thingsThe Ancient Egyptians, Chinese and

Indians believed in chromo therapy. Today it influences the market and plays an

important role in marketing items and how we view certain web sites.

Color TerminologiesColor Terminologies Spectrum: All possible color space Hues: Defines a specific location on

the color wheel or spectrum Value: Describes the range from

light to dark Muted: Colors that have very little

saturation. Tint: The process of adding white

to a color Tone: the process of adding black

to a color.

More TerminologiesMore Terminologies

Color Wheel Primary Colors: RED,

BLUE, YELLOW Secondary Colors:

GREEN, ORANGE AND PURPLE

Tertiary Colors: Other shades of color that are produced when mixing secondary colors

Color HarmonyColor Harmony

Analogous Colors are the three colors that are side by side on a color wheel

Complimentary Colors are colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel.

- NY Mets uniform are complimentary

Blue and Orange

Psychological effects of colorPsychological effects of color

The human eye can see at least 7 million colors. The colors we see can affect our perceptions of the world.

Colors can affect our reactions to emotions to even our appetite.

The color Blue

Our eyes can play tricks on us.Our eyes can play tricks on us.

High contrast between colors creates muscular activity which fatigues the eye. The greater the contrast between two colors the more difficult it is to look at.

When we reduce the ContrastWhen we reduce the Contrast

The two sets of pictures are now easier to see when we lower the contrast.

Emotional Responses to ColorEmotional Responses to ColorBlue Tranquil, appetite suppressant

Green Soothing, being in a green room relieves pain

Orange Improves mental clarity

Pink subdues

Red Increases bodily tension

White Cause more headaches

Bright Yellow Fatiguing; babies cry more in a yellow room; couple fight more

Light Yellow Creates harmony

Some Colors Used In MarketingSome Colors Used In Marketing

Hot Pink Vivid; shocking; high energy; youthful; less

expensive

Glam Rock from Claire's Accessories

Light Pink Romantic; feminine Victoria's Secret

Blue Dependable; reliable, confidence

Terracotta Rustic; robust; upscale; traditional

Cuban Cigars

Cultural DifferencesCultural Differences

In every culture colors are viewed differently

In the Europe, U.S and Japan brides traditionally wear white, while in China, India and Pakistan it is traditional to wear red.

Cultural DifferencesCultural DifferencesColor Western

Europe & U.S

China Japan Middle East

Danger, Anger, Stop

Joy, Festive Occasions

Anger, Danger Danger, Evil

Caution, Cowardice

Honor, Royalty

Grace, Nobility, Childish,

Happiness, Prosperity

Safe, sour, go Youth, Growth

Future, Youth, Energy

Fertility, Strength

Purity, Virtue Mourning, Humility

Death, Mourning

Purity, Mourning

Calm, Authority, Masculinity

Strength, Power

Villainy

Death, Evil Evil Evil Mystery, Evil

On The WEBOn The WEB

Colors play and important role on a web page. Unsuccessful color choices make it difficult to

view the web. Here is an example of a bad site. Brower-Safe Colors

-Cookwood Site

-Prime Shop

Example of the difference: http://www.lynda.com/products/books/dwg/flatdither.html

Four Formula For SuccessFour Formula For Success

Convert images to the correct file format Select the most appropriate colors by analyzing

the store’s products or services and the target market.

Use color to create a functional user-interface Use color harmony principles

In depth coverage at this site: Color Matters

FontsFonts

“There are no good and bad typefaces, there are appropriate and inappropriate typefaces. Think about your reader and the feeling you want to convey, then choose a typeface that fits.”

- Daniel Will-Harris (http://www.will-harris.com/use-type.htm)

Fonts Fonts

Fonts types are also important and should be taken into consideration.

Just because you like the font doesn’t mean you should use it.

Serif, San-serif, Monospace Type is on the page to serve the text.

It should make the words easy to read and provide a suitable background. Type should not overpower the text.

Another alternative = embedded fonts

GraphicsGraphics

Graphics enhances a web siteSome different types of graph formats : jpg

and gifshttp://www.lynda.com/products/books/dwg/

dithering.htmlAnti – Aliasing vs. Aliasing

www.hothothot.comwww.hothothot.com

Hot Hot Hot!!!Are they using the right colors?Analyzing the predominate colors:

RED

ORANGE

YELLOW

RevlonRevlon

RevlonRe establishes it brand color: RED Colors used: Red, Burgundy and Pink

shades

ConclusionConclusion

Colors combinations can effect the way we feel about things therefore it is crucial that we learn how to use that to our benefit to market or site or product.

Works CitedWorks Cited

http://colormatters.com/des_ecom.html http://library.thinkquest.org/50065/psych/effects.html?tqskip=1 http://www.insteam.com/LauraFunderburk/ http://webdesign.about.com/compute/webdesign/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?

site=http://www.bhg.com/default.sph/bhgcontent.class%3FFNC=next%5F%5FAstory%5Fhtml%5F%5F%5F1%5F%5F%5F56%5F%5F%5F432%5F%5F%5F2181%5F%5F%5F2%5F%5F%5F2

http://www.hothothot.com/ http://www.will-harris.com/use-type.htm http://www.victoriassecret.com/ http://www.lynda.com/hex.html http://www.cigars-of-cuba.com/secure/index.html http://www.revlon.com/index.asp Chijiiwa, Hideaki. Color Harmony. Rockport Publishing, China, 1987 Weinman, Lynda. Designing Web Graphics.3 New Riders, Indiana, 1999

Campus OverviewCampus Overview

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Ahmedabad Kolkata

Infinity Benchmark, 10th Floor, Plot G1,Block EP & GP, Sector V, Salt-Lake, Kolkata – 700091.

Mumbai

Goldline Business Centre Linkway Estate, Next to Chincholi Fire Brigade, Malad (West), Mumbai – 400 064.

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