The meaning of colors has a much greater impact on our daily actions than we may think. What is color psychology? How do colors influence our emotions? What do the colors mean? What do colors convey in different cultures? We all associate a certain feeling and different concepts with each color. In this article we will introduce you to color psychology, its practical applications and give you some useful tips on how to use it.
Color psychology: what is it and what is it for?
The psychology of colors is responsible for investigating how colors affect us. The colors can change our perception, alter our senses, make us feel emotions, etc… Colors have the power to improve our memory and attention, and even the power to convince us to make certain decisions. Knowing the meaning of colors is key to better understand our behaviors.
The influence of colors can change the impression we have of a place or a room. Imagine a toy for small children. It is likely that you have thought of a bright object with strong color contrasts. If you now think of the same object but imagine it in black with silver parts, doesn’t that sound a bit strange?
There is no mandatory color code for each object class. However, throughout our lives we make associations. We rely on what we see on a daily basis, without even thinking about it. But if we see a blue banana, orange lentils or a fluorescent yellow tree, we can’t avoid being surprised.
The psychology of colors is a field of study which develops continuously. This discipline is vital for professionals such as creatives or new businesses or products that intend to enter the market effectively. However, discovering the meaning of colors can help us not to make mistakes on special occasions, such as choosing a suitable gift for a friend according to his personality or simply to redecorate our home.
Colors influence your emotions and your morale. Psychology of colors and emotions
We are subjected to an immense amount of stimulation and perform a large number of different tasks on a daily basis. Our brain has to deal with various challenges simultaneously at every moment. This does not give us the time to process all the information we receive through our senses.
Thus, the associations we develop on such basic aspects of our daily life, such as colors and shapes, allow us to save a great amount of time and energy, because they are processed automatically.
Moreover, we are deeply emotional. Colors interact with our memory, awaken certain feelings and direct our reasoning. They remind us of fun things like those funny yellow and orange rain boots we had when we were kids, or we may suddenly be irritated by the sight of a sweater in our ex’s favorite color.
For example, you don’t need to know anything about color psychology to know that colors like pink or red (which start popping up all over the place as Valentine’s Day approaches) are associated with love and romance. If we walk into a building with this color combination (in proper proportions), we are likely to suddenly remember how much we are in love and that the person we love is well worth buying a nice gift for.
