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The meaning of colors
Disciplines > Communication > The meaning of colors
Meanings of color | Cultural effects | So what?
Meanings of color
Here is a table of colors and many of the meanings they tend to evoke. Notice how colors can mean very different things - it is not that the colors themselves have meaning, it is that we have culturally assigned meanings to them. For example, red means warmth because of the color of fire. Likewise, it means anger because of the increased redness of the face when it flushes with blood. Purple symbolizes royalty only because the only purple dye that was available for many centuries was very expensive.
| Color | Meaning |
| RED: | warmth, love, anger, danger, boldness, excitement, speed, strength, determination, desire, courage |
| ORANGE: | cheerfulness, low cost, affordability, enthusiasm, stimulation, creativity |
| YELLOW: | attention-grabbing, comfort, liveliness, cowardliness, hunger, optimism, overwhelm, Summer, comfort, liveliness, intellect, happiness, energy |
| GREEN: | durability, reliability, environmental, luxurious, optimism, well-being, nature, calm, relaxation, Spring, safety, honesty, optimism, harmony, freshness |
| BLUE: | peace, professionalism, loyalty, reliability, honor, melancholia, boredom, coldness, Winter, depth, stability, professionalism, honor, trust |
| PURPLE: | power, royalty, nobility, elegance, sophistication, artificial, luxury, mystery, royalty, elegance, magic |
| GRAY: | conservatism, traditionalism, intelligence, serious, dull, uninteresting |
| BROWN: | relaxing, confident, casual, reassuring, nature, earthy, solid, reliable, genuine, Autumn, endurance |
| BLACK: | Elegance, sophistication, formality, power, strength, illegality, depression, morbidity, night |
| WHITE: | Cleanliness, purity, newness, virginity, peace, innocence, simplicity, sterility, snow |
Cultural effects
Remember that color can be culturally dependent - for example, although Black is the color of death in many countries, in China the color associated with death is White.
So what?
So use the color in situations where you are trying to persuade. Use shades of brown and green to relax people and say you are environmentally friendly. Use red to kick people into action. And so on.
McDonald's, apparently, use red and yellow because red=fast and yellow=hunger (hence fast food!).
See also
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html
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