color psychology

IMO Color psychology tends to be more nonsense than genuinely useful.

Nvidia isn't earthy or jealous. They are profitable, but I don't think that's the message they're trying to send.

I've read online that McDonalds chose red & yellow because yellow increases metabolism and red gets you excited, so the combo gets you in and out of the store faster. Sounds great, but I seriously doubt the lone franchisee came up with that plan in 1940.

A good book on general color theory will serve you better. This discussion lists a bunch of excellent ones.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=167031

"IMO Color psychology tends to be more nonsense than genuinely useful."

agreed. not that there arent some obvious elemental and physiological connections. but beyond that. i think a lot of it comes down to subjective experience.

for example. most people find blue a "soothing" color. but my great grand mothers house, that was just as haunted as hell. had a lot of blue glass around that she collected. so the color blue, to this day. makes me a little edgy...

I think it just refers to the general perception for the use of colour. ie. eco-friendly is signified with earthy tones while toy companies have a tendency to be multi-coloured vibrant beings. It doesn't mean every company follows this but it helps the connection (or so I feel). Does it mean that if you make an eco-friendly company with a red people won't still come running? Not necessarily, but it helps people make the quicker jump.

Even if you put aside the natural common sense connection between colors and their connotations (brown is "earthy" because soil is is brown, red is "passionate" because lips are red, green is "eco" because plant life is green, etc... etc...) You're still left with the obvious conundrum... People have been trained by people like us - thru advertising and design - to associate those colors with their appropriate connotations. If you believe in your own business and your own abilities - you have to also believe that generations of people being exposed to the same ideas behind color have been influenced by those connections as well... trained to believe red signifies "passion" whether it's true or not. So fight the connotations of color at your own risk. ;-)

Well... I just figured there must be some book written on the subject. Marketing studies have shown that if you have "Red" in your product packaging, people tend to purchase it more than if it doesn't have Red.

As designers we learn about color harmonies, theory, art history, programs, etc. But I never took a class in college about the phycology of color and how it effects us. I remember in grade school we had a talk about why the walls were painted a yellowish-white, rather than just plain white. The teacher told us that that yellowish tint has a calming, and focusing effect on students, so it is preferable.

Well, if a color of the room you're in can calm you down, make you focus on work at hand in some bizarre sub-conscience way, then the colors we chose for our design projects will also have a profound effect on our intended viewers. Whether that is for logo design, flyers, or just our own personal artwork.

Then again... our grade school teacher could have been making it up just to get some student to shut up. It did get me thinking all these years later though.

the color makes difference.

gender, temperature, credibility, etc...

I was just at a trade show (Food Service Industry) and was scouting out clients, so naturally I was looking for a mixture of stuff:

1. A company who would benefit from my services - This means that their existing marketing stuff, packaging, etc. had to look like shit.

2. Their product had to be viable - This means that the product had to withstand a rigid, focus group of one... namely me. If I like it, I'll sell the hell out of it.

3. The people (my prospective client) had to be receptive to new ideas and not be batshit-crazy.

I stumbled onto a company that passed all criteria:

1. Wow... Everything's Magenta on Bright Yellow! This really looks like shit... Hot Shit!

2. They made Fried pies, My favorite! And their's were delicious! Whoo-Hoo!

3. What... The Magenta and Yellow are your "trademark colors?" Hmmm... Oh, because you read somewhere that yellow produces hunger and hot pink creates an impulse sale.

Hmmm... I'm Sorry. I'll be needing that business card back now, if you don't mind.

True story.

"I was just at a trade show (Food Service Industry) and was scouting out clients..."

i have a lot of clients whove stopped exhibiting at trade shows. because they say that a large percentage of the attendees are vendors trying to sell THEM something.

seems they were right ; )

I have gotten a lot of very positive feedback from graphic designers on both of these books. I recommend two books, Color: Messages and Meanings and/or Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color. The Pantone Guide explains the emotional meaning of each color family and demonstrates hundreds of the most effective combinations to use in getting the message across. Messages and Meanings is a follow-up to the Pantone Guide with some additional information and guidelines.

http://www.colorexpert.com/books-by-leatrice/

Be aware that colors have different meanings -- sometimes directly opposite meanings -- from one culture to the next. The classic example of this (though it's a little dated now) is that white is associate with funerals, not weddings, in some parts of Asia. Similarly, yellow has connotations that are anything but cheerful somewhere in the world, I forget where. As our world becomes more and more of a "melting pot" I'm not sure if we need to pay MORE or LESS attention to stuff like this-- some cultures are striving to retain more of their traditions in the face of this global blending, so who knows?

What's your gut feeling about this?

"The Pantone Guide explains the emotional meaning of each color family..."

Much like McDonalds would rave about the health benefits of a Big Mac if they could get away with it, I would imagine. :)