In this section, you will find articles about the use of color within various industries. Click to subscribe to our Color Articles feed in your newsreader.
Since the color of your suit is the first opportunity to make a positive impression, choosing the right shade for the right occasion could mean the difference between making a positive or negative impact. The general rule that the larger the clothing item the more conservative the color choice holds true for both men and women. If you rarely need a suit, a black, charcoal-gray or navy-blue one will always be a safe choice. On the other hand, if you wear suits regularly, you will probably want one of each and a variation on brown as well. These are the primary business colors that work best in the executive world. Adding accessories such as colorful ties allows you to insert your personality whenever the situation is appropriate.
Black suits are classic and very formal. They can also be depressing. Save yours for evening or formal-wear occasions or funerals. They are always in fashion and indicate the height of sophistication and elegance but feel out of place in the regular, everyday business world. You might appear to be usurping your boss's authority if your black suit outranks his gray or navy choice.
Young men, however, can add the appearance of maturity when they choose a well-tailored, charcoal-gray suit. This is a very professional look and, depending upon the undertones of the suit, it can easily be paired with brown or black. Navy blue has become more and more popular in recent years. Although it can be perceived as a bit more casual, it still presents itself as stylish and responsible. Older men may find navy blue to be a bit more youthful and attractive for that purpose. Adding pinstripes to any of these solid colors will make them only slightly less formal.
Because business signage is the first visible advertisement for any company's services or products, corporations spend huge amounts of money researching the most appealing choice of colors for their specific needs. It is true that people are affected psychologically by the colors presented to them in advertising promotions. Choosing the right two basic colors for your business is the foundation upon which you can then add designs and suitable graphics. This is not the time to focus on personal favorites. If you allow modern color research to guide your choices, you can know that your signage will be doing its job as effectively as possible.
One of the first considerations in choosing the right color combination is the level of visibility that will be created. By contrasting a light color font or graphic on a dark background or a dark font or graphic on a light background, viewers will be more drawn to your signage. Fonts should be legible and uncomplicated. The background or graphic should never overpower or distract from the actual message of the sign.
Since people react psychologically to various colors, you should choose the shades that most closely identify with your business or company theme. Warm colors tend to encourage people to feel comfortable enough to relax and linger. If you want customers or clients spending extra time in your store or restaurant, you'll want to pick from a pallet of colors that have comforting layers of reds, oranges and yellows in them. If you want your signage to be a real attention getter, yellow is a universal favorite. You can pick a signature color such as hot pink or electric green. Strong reds and blues are always popular choices.
When the passion and highly energized aggressiveness of red is diluted with the purity and innocence of white, the resulting pink becomes the color of tender love and romance. It also represents friendship, particularly among women and girls. Although other countries may have additional and different meanings, generally speaking, pink is known as the universal color of love. The softening of powerful red with the fullness of white has a way of neutralizing disorder and dissipating violence. For this reason, some prisons deliberately paint their holding rooms a gentle shade of pink. Studies have shown that this color tends to have a calming effect on riled emotions and promotes relaxation and contentment. Some research has suggested that, in large quantities, pink may actually cause physical weakness or loss of touch with reality. This psychology explains the occasional re-painting of a visiting team's locker rooms in a soft shade of pink. Male weight-lifters do seem to be weakened in a pink environment; however, women weight-lifters say they feel energized by those same pink walls.
In the United States, pink has always been associated with the feminine gender. It is perceived as the sweeter, less violent side of red. In fact, the playful side of this color is seen in American traditions such as pink flamingoes, bubble gum and cotton candy. Sugary pastries are more popular when packaged in pink boxes or decorated with pink icing. On a more serious note, a recognizable pink ribbon is also the internationally known symbol of the fight against breast cancer and the hope of a cure. Each year, on Mother's Day, Major League Baseball teams use pink baseball bats to show their support. Delta Air Lines has painted one of its Boeing 767-400ER aircraft pink for the same reason.
Several well known companies have chosen pink as their brand color. Mary Kay Cosmetics bought its first pink Cadillac in 1968. Victoria's Secret, a women's lingerie store, uses both soft pink and shocking pink in its displays. Owens Corning Insulation is pink, as is the T-Mobile "Magenta T." Even Pepto-Bismol, with its characteristic pink coloring, is clearly identifiable on the store shelf.
Choosing the right color palette for public areas such as lobbies and more specific and focused spaces such as meeting or conference rooms requires focusing on both the dedicated purpose of the area and the types of people who will be gathered there. Years ago, it was thought that simply painting a wall according to the suggested personality of a color could affect certain desired results. For example, painting jail cells or the visiting sports teams' dressing rooms pink was an attempt to minimalize aggressive behavior. It was also thought that bright, warm colors would stir creativity while cooler blues and greens would actually create a relaxing atmosphere that might impede productivity. Recent research suggests that choosing effective color schemes is actually more complex.
Current color trends do play a part in designing attractive meeting rooms and lobbies. For many businesses, the walls will become a backdrop for the style of furniture or artwork incorporated into the overall feel of the room. A lobby may showcase the flagship colors in an oversize model of the product or service offered. In these cases, the background colors will support this advertising statement. Usually 2-3 of the main colors will be pulled and added to opposing walls or trim for a cohesive and unifying overall effect. Currently popular neutral colors such as chocolate brown, gray or taupe may be added to balance the look and connect the lobby seamlessly to adjoining rooms or hallways.
In meeting rooms, functionality is key and color schemes are more often chosen to meet lighting requirements for those sitting at conference tables that need to be able to easily see their computer screens and papers. However, research indicates that individuals have different levels of distractibility and a red that might stir one employee to think creatively and energetically, might cause another employee to feel angry, frustrated or even trapped. Some workers might feel inspired by a palette of cool blues and greens in the room, while others might feel too relaxed to focus and others might just feel uncomfortably cold.
Once upon a time, a kitchen was a simple place consisting basically of a shelf space, fireplace or woodstove and table and chairs for dining. Then came the invention of electricity and the possibility of creating powered appliances that would cook food or keep it cold, wash the dishes, stir, knead, chop, toast or grill and so much more. Historically, the kitchen has alternated between being a family gathering place, a separate utilitarian space and back to a hang-out area for family, guests and friends and guests alike. Although women are no longer the sole proprietors in the kitchen, they have cared as much about decorating this space as the rest of their home. In response, appliance manufacturers have offered new colors with varying levels of success.
While white appliances were the only choices initially, by the 1950s colors such as Stratford Yellow, Sherwood Green, Turquoise Green, Cadet Blue, Woodtone Brown, Petal Pink and Canary Yellow offered homemakers exciting new ways to coordinate their kitchens. Cadet Blue and Woodtone Brown proved to be unpopular and were discontinued in less than 10 years as were several of the other colors.
By 1960 a few new shades had been added and almost as quickly cancelled including an attempt at a charcoal gray. Standard yellow, pink and turquoise were the only real survivors of this color craze. A new color, Coppertone became a popular choice until the 1980s. In fact, Coppertone and turquoise were the two favorite appliance colors, after white, for several years.
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