Visual identity: the importance and meaning of colors

The palette of colors available has continued to grow over the centuries. Knowing the meaning of colors can help you make informed choices. Whether it is for your logo, your style guide, your visual identity and your overall branding.

Make sure that the color reinforces your message rather than contradicting it.

Understanding colors

Our eyes capture light and send the information in the form of electrical impulses to our brain. The latter decodes these signals to interpret the image.

Light is both undulatory (it is a wave, a radiation) and particulate (it emits particles). As for colors, their perception depends on the frequency of the wave and covers all the colors of the rainbow.

It is either a direct light that goes from the source to our eyes, or an indirect light, projected on an object and reflected back to our eyes. This is what will make the difference between additive colors and subtractive colors.

Additive colors: RGB

White light is broken down into colors when it passes through a prism (refraction). In this case, white is the complete light and colored lights are components of white light. This is called additive colors because all the colors mixed together give white. This is the case when the colors are in a luminous form.

We find this principle of additive colors with televisions, monitors and other projectors that emit light. These systems work with Red, Green and Blue (RGB) as basic colors.

When we talk about screens, we also talk about everything that is designed to be displayed on them: websites, PowerPoint presentations, videos, etc. If you have to design images that will be projected, you must use an RGB format otherwise your colors are very likely to be distorted!

Subtractive colors: CMYK

The other way to perceive colors is when light is reflected on an object. This object will absorb part of the projected light and reflect only a given frequency which will correspond to the color we perceive. It is therefore the pigments on the surface of the object that will determine the color that we see. A red pigment will only reflect red light and will absorb all other frequencies.

This is called subtractive colors because all color pigments mixed together give black.

We find this principle of subtractive colors among professional printers or even in printing cartridges. These systems work with Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key/Black (CMYK) as basic colors.

If you have to make a layout for printing, you must use a CMYK format!

The perception and meaning of colors

A visitor who arrives on a new website decides in a few seconds (5 to 10 seconds according to studies) whether to continue his visit or to close the page.

During these few seconds, his gaze will have read the main titles, skimmed the beginning of a text and taken a quick glance at the photos and images available… and will have unconsciously perceived the colors used.

You may have an extraordinary text and sensational images… if your visitor is put off by the colors, it’s bye-bye pronto because the perception of colors is unconscious and intuitive. We love it or we hate it even if we don’t necessarily know why.

The perception and meaning of colors in the West

The perception and meaning of colors is instinctively linked to their primitive presence in nature. A color can also have a positive or negative connotation depending on cultural influences.

Blue will be associated with the sea and the sky.

• It is associated with peace, calm, serenity, freshness, protection, seriousness, dream, wisdom, truth, loyalty, purity and sensitivity.
• It is often used in a technological or international context.

Green will be associated with vegetation and trees.

• It is associated to balance, freshness, happiness, harmony, success, energy, patience, optimism, youth, calm, concentration, rest, security, confidence, tolerance and serenity.
• It is often used in an environmental context.

Brown will be associated with earth.

• It is associated with solidity, stability, warmth, comfort, softness, assurance, calm, philosophy, terroir, nature, gentleness and neutrality.
• Its negative connotations include dirt.
• It is often used in a cultural or luxury context, without forgetting the entire chocolate sector.

Yellow will be associated with the sun.

• It is associated with joy, energy, tonicity, warmth, dynamism, creativity, curiosity, hope, power, wealth, immortality, warning and friendship.
• Its negative connotations include cowardice, selfishness, lies, jealousy and pride.
• It is often used in a tourism, agri-food context, in insurance and credit, music or information as well as a number of warning signs!

Red will be associated with fire.

• It is associated with passion, temptation, heat, blood, forbidden, emotion, strength, power, potency, luxury, energy, perseverance, ego, fight, determination, knowledge and friendship.
• In its negative connotations we find anger, aggressiveness, violence, danger, urgency, forbidden and blood.
• It is often used in the context of luxury, fashion, eroticism, sports, media, humanitarian, wine and gastronomy.

Orange is a mixture of yellow and red, sunshine and passion.

• It is associated with creativity, communication, optimism, boldness, intelligence, loyalty, trust, health, honor, joy and security.
• Its negative connotations include aggression, distrust and kitsch.
• It is often used in the context of entertainment, sports, communication technologies and the food industry.

Le noir est la non-couleur par excellence et s’associera volontiers avec une couleur vive.

• It is associated with sobriety, voluptuousness, sweetness, luxury and mystery.
• In its negative connotations we find death, darkness, sadness and monotony.
• It is often used in a context of cinema and photography, forbidden and luxury.

White is pure light and forms a stark contrast to black.

• It is associated with purity, innocence, freedom, divine mystery, cleanliness and freshness.
• Its negative connotations include emptiness, absence, solitude and fear.
• It is often used in a religious context, linked to winter and snow, marriage, fashion and current events.

Pink is a mixture of red and white, passion and purity.

• It is associated with charm, intimacy, beauty, femininity, romanticism, seduction, happiness, tenderness and youth.
• Its negative connotations include naivety, indecision, immaturity and kitsch.
• It is often used in a childish context, leisure, and feminine universes.

Purple or mauve is a mixture of blue and red, seriousness and passion.

• It is associated with delicacy, intelligence, passion, discretion, modesty, delicacy, friendship and meditation.
• In its negative connotations we find melancholy, eccentricity, sadness, solitude, mourning, dissatisfaction and vanity.
• It is often used in an artistic and cultural context, luxurious, musical, academic, religious (it is the color of bishops) and femininity.

Things to know about the meaning of colors in other cultures

If in our global world you are considering healthy visual communication with other countries, other cultures, other continents… it can be good to know how your colors can be interpreted.

• White: It is the color of mourning in most Asian countries. It represents misfortune in India.
• Green: In China, it is the color of lies. In Ireland, green recalls the national symbol, the four-leaf clover. It is the Islamic color par excellence.
• Red: It is the color of mourning in South Africa. It represents good luck in China. It is the color of wedding dresses in China and India.
• Black: In China, black is worn by young boys. In India, black restores balance and health. In Thailand, it is the color of bad luck.
• Yellow: In Asia, it is a color that refers to royalty. In Japan, it is a symbol of courage and strength. For Buddhists, yellow is spiritual and calming. In India, it is associated with trade and negotiation. Finally, it symbolizes mourning in Egypt.
• Blue: In Iran, it characterizes mourning. In China, it is the color of immortality.

There you have it, you now have all the cards in hand to make your choice of colors. Analyze your objectives, your target and your market carefully.

Your colors must reinforce your visual identity and your message, not contradict them. Deligraph, web and graphic studio, combines expertise in both the digital and paper aspects. Discover what our agency can do for you.

Welcome @ Deligraph. What a colorful world.