Transcripts
1. Class Trailer: Hello, brand lovers. My name is Kathn and I'm a branding specialist and
the founder of Brands Pre, which is a brand consultancy and coaching company
that creates school educational content for you on all things branding. In this class, let's look
at a particular segment of human psychology that
forms the core of branding and graphic
design called color. This class is perfect for you if you want to
learn everything about color right from its basics to the
very advanced stuff. Color plays a crucial
role in branding, especially in logo design, and color being a visual
element provides a medium for affecting our
perception of brands depending on what color
we're looking at. We'll start this class with an overview of the
color theory and why is color considered to be a very crucial
element in branding. Later, we'll move into understanding what color
psychology stands for. We'll do this by
individually breaking down the emotions that each
and every color evokes, along with interesting real life examples and applications. By the way, please
don't forget to check out the projects and resources
section of the class. You might find
something that could be very useful for you
in your business. You'll also see a teeny, tiny project for you
to work on just as a quick way of putting your
learnings into action. Now, let's get started
with the class.
2. Class Project: Before we get deep
into the class, let's quickly look at
the class project. I'm sure I'll be a great way to improve your branding skills. For this particular
class project, please analyze and study this client brief and use your learnings of
the color theory and color psychology from
this class to suggest a brand color palette that would be perfect
for this business. In other words, you would study the business's
target audience, study its competitors,
and analyze the perception that it wants
to create in people's minds. Then you would come up with a suitable color palette
for this client business. Also, please do include a
detailed explanation as well. If you're not interested
in this client brief, feel free to suggest
a color palette for your own business or any
random business that you like. Now let's carry on
with our class.
3. Basics of Color Theory: Color is a very powerful
tool that evokes emotions, influences perception, and shapes our
understanding of the world. And color theory is the study of how colors
interact with each other, how they evoke emotions, and how they influence
human perception. In graphic design and branding, color theory serves as a
foundational framework for creating visually compelling
and effective communication. To begin with, all of the
existing colors can be divided into three categories as per the following structure. Number one, primary colors. These are foundational
colors using which all other colors
can be obtained. Red, yellow, and blue are considered to be primary colors. Number two, secondary colors. These are colors like
orange, green and purple, which are created by mixing
any two primary colors. Number three, tertiary colors. These are the much
wider range of colors that are
created by mixing primary and secondary colors using a variety of combinations. All of the colors
are collectively referred to as the
color spectrum, and the best way of representing this wide spectrum of colors
is through the color wheel, which is known to be a
fundamental tool in color theory. Interestingly, color theory
also categorizes colors based on their
perceived temperature into three main categories. Number one, warm colors. These are colors like
red, orange and yellow, which evoke feelings of
energy and excitement. This is because these
are colors that are naturally associated
with fire and the sun. Number two, cool colors. These are colors like blue,
green, and turquoise, which evoke feelings of
calmness and relaxation. This is because these are
colors that are naturally associated with water,
nature, and sky. Number three, neutral colors. These are colors like
black, white, and gray, which evoke feelings of
simplicity and elegance. These colors can complement
both warm and cool colors and are often used as a background or base for the other colors. In the later part of the class, we'll better understand these
emotions and feelings by looking into the
color psychology of each of the colors in detail.
4. Color Terminology: Before we get any further, there are a few technical terms related to color that
you need to know about. Number one, hue, Hue refers to the fundamental
color itself, like red, green, or purple. Think of it as the
name of the color. Number two, saturation. Saturation also known
as intensity or chroma refers to the intensity
or vividness of a color. It ranges between fully
saturated or vibrant color with the highest purity and intensity and desaturated
or muted color with a more grayish and
washed out appearance. Number three, value. Value, also known as brightness refers to the lightness
or darkness of a color. It is determined
by the amount of light or black pigment
present in a color. Adding white to the hue creates
tints of the pure color. Adding black to the hue creates
shades of the pure color and adding gray to the hue creates tones of the pure color.
5. Color Schemes and Palettes: Beyond the fundamental
color categories, there are specific sets of colors known as
color schemes and color palettes that evoke
unique aesthetics and emotions, making them valuable tools in branding and graphic design. Color schemes are the
set of colors that are generally chosen with the
help of a color wheel. There are predominantly six different color
schemes in graphic design. Number one, the
monochromatic color scheme. This set of colors
are derived from a single base hue and vary
only in value or saturation. In other words, the
monochromatic color scheme utilizes various shades, tints and tons of a single hue. For example, Tiffany
and Co's branding uses this color scheme, offering a clean and
sophisticated look and feel. Number two, the
complementary color scheme. These are pairs of
colors that are directly opposite each
other on the color wheel. Complementary colors create
strong visual contrast and can make each other
appear more vibrant. Thereby creating an
attention grabbing design like the Fedex logo. Number three, analogous
color scheme. This is a group of
colors that are adjacent to each other
on the color wheel. These colors share
similar undertones and harmonize well together, creating a sense of unity, like in the case
of Instagram logo and the British Petroleum logo. Number four the
triadic color scheme. These are sets of
three colors that are evenly spaced around
the color wheel forming an equilateral triangle. Such a color scheme
tends to create a dynamic and
balanced composition like Superman's superhero
costume, for example. Number five, the split
complementary color scheme. This color scheme consists of a combination of a base color and two colors adjacent to its complimentary color
on the color wheel. This scheme offers both
the high contrast of complimentary colors and the
harmony of analogous colors. For example, the taco bell logo uses yellow in combination
with blue and pink, which are analogous to violet, which is in turn yellow
complimentary color. Number six, the
tetradic color scheme. Also known as double complimentary or
rectangle color scheme. This group consists of four colors arranged into
two complimentary pairs. This scheme offers the
most contrasting colors and creates a playful
and energetic vibe. Like in case of the Google
logo and the slack logo. In addition to the
color schemes, there are color palettes, which are essentially
the group of colors that share a similar aesthetic
value and vibe. Here are three such
color palettes. Number one, pastal
color palettes, which consist of soft
muted tones that are created by adding
white to the pure colors. These symbolize purity
and gentleness. Number two is neon
color palettes, which consist of
bright hues that are so vibrant that they appear
to emit their own light. These symbolize energy
and excitement. Number three is royal
color palettes, which consist of
deep blues purples, and golds that give a sense
of luxury and elegance.
6. Importance of Color in Graphic Design: Before we discuss about the strong impact that color has on the
field of branding, let's zoom out a little
and try to look at the effect that color has
on graphic designing. Graphic design is
the art of using visual elements to effectively communicate a
particular message. Since color is one of
those visual elements, the previously discussed
color theory concepts become much more important in the context of graphic design. Here are some of the
ways in which color can enhance any
graphic design asset. Choosing colors with sufficient
contrast ensures text and design elements are clear and easily legible for
all audiences. Color schemes can
be strategically used on websites and
apps by ensuring visual hierarchy and
good contrast to help guide any user comfortably
navigate through the product. Using the right color, which is different from
its surroundings, makes it easy for attracting the viewer towards the design. Whether it's product packaging
or a business's logo, the appropriate color
choice makes it truly stand out in a
crowded marketplace. A consistent use of
the same color for a particular designed
product or brand helps people easily recognize
the entity and remember that association
for a very long time. Choosing the right
color helps in evoking the required
emotion in the viewer. This is particularly true
in case of branding where the appropriate color choice greatly impacts the
brand perception.
7. Importance of Color in Branding: Color is popularly known to play a very essential role in the
branding of any business. A particular color that
is always meant to associate with the business
is called its brand color, and the brand color is
believed to greatly impact the buying decisions
and choices of customers. According to a
number of studies, it takes very few
seconds or rather milliseconds to form a first
impression about a product or a brand. And since color
is one of those elements of a brand that a
potential customer would first come across, it's probably safe to say that an appropriate brand color has a significantly strong impact in creating a good
first impression. A signature color is set to increase brand recognition
by around 80%, according to a 2018
study by reboot. According to another study
in 2022, by Kiss metrics, around 85% of shoppers
say that the color of the product is one of the few primary reasons
for purchasing it. While these are some
stats to give us a good overview of the
importance of the right color. We cannot deny the fact that these people tend to buy
from brands that they trust. In other words, these
are the brands that feel relatable to people and develop an emotional
connection with them. A great way of ensuring this connection is through the use of the
appropriate colors. Now that we have a good idea of how effective the right
choice of color would be, let's take a closer look
at color psychology, which will help us
better understand how an appropriate color helps
evoke the right emotions.
8. What is Color Psychology?: The psychology of color
is essentially the idea that different colors makes
us feel different emotions. These associations
between human emotions and colors have either developed naturally
or have been induced into our minds through
culture and religion. For example, warm colors
like red and yellow are set to invoke a sense
of appetite and hunger. And that's the reason why you see a lot of food brands have these colors as their
primary elements of their visual identity. McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut are some examples
of such brands. Similarly, the color green is used by some brands to
either show that they're closely associated
with nature or to show that their products
are refreshing and natural. Shopkana and whole
foods market are some brands with green as
their primary brand color. The choice of brand color is
very crucial for any brand. The color has the power to
make or break the logo design, and hence the branding as well. While there are several
exceptions to brands that straightaway implement the conventional ideas
of color psychology, these concepts act as
a great starting point to ensuring an effective
brand color palette and thus, a strong emotional
connection with the brand. Let's dive deeper into each of the colors and
understand what are the different emotions
that get triggered depending on the choice
of brand colors.
9. Violet Color Psychology: The colors violet and purple are similar colors that tend to share very similar
characteristics. According to color, psychology, violet symbolizes royalty,
power, and mystery. Some of the other attributes
or meanings that are associated with the
color are superiority, sophistication, luxury, spirituality, wisdom,
and imagination. Sometimes the color also tends to have negative
connotations. That is, when used excessively, violet leads to feelings of moodiness, decadence
and suppression. Popular brands that
have either violet or purple as their primary
brand color are Cadbury, Yahoo, Hallmark,
Twitch, Roku, and TNA.
10. Blue Color Psychology: The color blue is the most
popular color among brands, especially those in the technology and
finance industries. According to color, psychology, blue symbolizes trust,
confidence, and dependability. Some of the other attributes
or meanings that are associated with the
color are stability, harmony, peace, security,
logic, and intelligence. Some of the negative
connotations associated with the color are that
the blue color might tend to feel cold, unfriendly, and
unappetizing, as well. Popular brands that have blue as their primary brand
color are Samsung, Facebook, Chase Bank,
Ford, Unliver and Paypal.
11. Cyan Color Psychology: Turquoise, teal,
aqua, and can are similar colors made up of slightly varying compositions
of blue and green colors, and they tend to share very similar
characteristics as well. Since the color
is a mix of blue, green, and some
amount of yellow, can symbolizes peace, energy, and upliftment according
to color psychology. Some of the other
attributes or meanings associated with the
color are relaxation, serenity, spirituality, calmness, clarity,
and imagination. When used excessively,
Cyan may lead to feelings of stress,
narcissism, and indifference. Popular brands that have
taquise, teal, Aqua, or cyan as their primary
brand color are Siemens, godaddy, deliver, Windows
eight, mo, and Skype.
12. Green Color Psychology: Green is a color that we would involuntarily associate with
either nature or money. According to color psychology, green symbolizes health,
freshness, and prosperity. Some of the other
attributes or meanings that are associated with
the color are life, growth, generosity, hope,
harmony, and safety. Some of the negative
connotations associated with
the color are that the green color might
lead to feelings of envy, boredom, and blandness. Popular brands
that have green as their primary brand color are holiday in
whole foods market, Tropicana, British Petroleum,
Starbucks, and land rover.
13. Yellow Color Psychology: Yellow is a positive
and cheerful color. According to color psychology, yellow symbolizes optimism,
intellect and happiness. Some of the other attributes
or meanings that are associated with the
color are warmth, creativity, enthusiasm, youthfulness, intellect,
and extraversion. Some of the negative
connotations associated with
the color are that the yellow color might
lead to feelings of caution, anxiety,
and frustration. Popular brands that
have yellow as their primary brand
color are McDonald's, post, Snapchat, mail chimp, national geographic,
and Ferrari.
14. Orange Color Psychology: Okay. Orange is a bright color
that symbolizes energy, warmth, and creativity,
according to color psychology. Some of the other attributes
or meanings that are associated with the
color are enthusiasm, adventure, friendliness, confidence, independence,
and youthfulness. Some of the negative
connotations associated with
the color are that the orange color might
lead to feelings of immaturity, deprivation,
and ignorance. Popular brands that
have orange as their primary brand
color are Nickelodeon, Harley Davidson, Popeye, the
Home Depot, ts and Duncan.
15. Red Color Psychology: Rd is known to effectively
trigger hunger, and that's the reason why it's a popular color in
the food industry. According to color psychology, red is a vibrant
and intense color that symbolizes power,
passion and excitement. Some of the other attributes
or meanings that are associated with the
color are energy, attention, romance, courage,
strength and power. Some of the negative
connotations associated with the red color are feelings of anger, aggression, and pain. Popular brands that have red as their primary brand
color are coca cola, YouTube, virgin, CNN,
Nintendo, and Marvel.
16. Pink Color Psychology: The pink color is a playful and predominantly
feminine color. According to color psychology, pink symbolizes beauty,
love, and passion. Some of the other attributes
or meanings that are associated with the
color are creativity, compassion, admiration, imagination, calmness,
and quirkiness. Some of the negative quotations associated with pink when used excessively are feelings of immaturity, rebellion,
and moodiness. Popular brands that have pink as their primary brand
color are barb, Invision, cosmopolitan,
LG, lift, and T mobile.
17. Brown Color Psychology: According to color psychology, Brown is an earthy color that symbolizes nature,
security, and comfort. Due to its close
resemblance in color, brown is often associated
with chocolate or coffee. Some of the other attributes
or meanings that are associated with the
color are reliability, structure, protection, ruggedness, dependability,
and stability. Some of the negative
connotations associated with the color brown are feelings of arrogance,
loudness, and rigidity. Popular brands
that have brown as their primary brand
color are Ferrero Rosa, Dreyers Nestle ro, M&Ms,
Hershey's and UPS.
18. Black Color Psychology: Black is a sophisticated color that's quite popular
in the luxury fashion, and premium tech industries. According to color psychology, black symbolizes power,
elegance, and authority. Some of the other
attributes or meanings that are associated with
the color are class, strength, intelligence, discipline, formality,
and mystery. Some of the negative
connotations associated with black color are feelings of evil, oppression, and cooldness. Popular brands
that have black as their primary brand
color are Gucci, Uber, the New York Times, Nike, Vogue, and Sony.
19. White Color Psychology: White is a clean and simple
color that symbolizes purity, innocence, and pristineness, according to color, psychology. These attributes of
white are even more strong when applied in
combination with black. Some of the other attributes
or meanings that are associated with the
color are simplicity, modernity, subtlety, universal
peace and organization. Some of the negative quotations associated with the color white are feelings of emptiness,
blandness, and isolation. Popular brands
that have white as their primary brand color
are Cartoon Network, CBS, the guilt of Food writers, ABC News, World
Wildlife Fund, and BBC.
20. Grey Color Psychology: Gray and silver have the same associations due
to their visual similarity. According to color psychology, gray is a neutral
color that symbolizes security, balance,
and neutrality. Some of the other
attributes or meanings associated with the
color are maturity, formality, stability, expertise, cleanliness
and authority. Some of the negative
connotations associated with
the color are that the gray color might
lead to feelings of gancedss and rigidity. Popular brands that have gray as their primary brand
color are Nintendo we, Schindler, Mercedes Benz, Wordpress, Wikipedia, and Apple.
21. How to Choose the Right Color?: Apart from the learnings of color theory and
color psychology, there are a few more things
to remember when choosing the appropriate brand color or color palette
for your business. Number one, align with
your brand strategy, always choose colors that resonate well with your
brand's personality, values, and desired perception. This is one of the reasons why most tech companies
and banks have some variant of blue as their brand color to signify
trust and reliability. Number two, appeal to
your target audience. Choose colors based on the probable preferences
of your customers, which, in turn,
could be based on their age and their income. This is why we wouldn't see
a luxury fashion brand like Chanel have a playful and
vibrant color palette like ego. Number three, differentiate
from your competitors. While ensuring relevancy,
choose colors that would help your brand stand out from other businesses
in the industry, aim to be a taco bell in
the fast food industry that is dominated by brands
with red and yellow palettes, like McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and Wendy's. Number four, respect the
cultural differences. Choose colors keeping in
mind that there could be different cultural or
religious associations for that color in a
particular country that your tablet
customers might be from. For example, while orange is a youthful and energetic
color in the Western culture, it's considered sacred and spiritual in the Indian culture. Number five, T for
long term relevance. While it's essential to
adapt to evolving trends, avoid overly trendy colors that may quickly
become outdated. Aim for an interesting
color palette that can withstand
the test of time. Number six, ensure
versatility in application. Choose a color while considering
how it will translate to both print and
digital applications across various marketing
materials and platforms. This will ensure consistency across all the brand touch
points of the business. Let's dive a bit deeper into
this particular topic in the next lesson on the three
different color models that designers usually follow.
22. RGB vs CMYK vs Pantone: In order to ensure that the
chosen color palette stays consistent across all possible
applications of a brand, it's essential for
all designers, strategists and marketers to
have a good understanding of the three color models that are popular in the fields of
graphic design and branding. Number one is RGB, the red, green,
blue color model. RGB is an additive color model used primarily for
digital displays. It creates colors by combining varying intensities
of red, green, and blue light, combining
all three colors at full intensity creates white while their absence
results in black. In RGB colors are
represented by specifying the intensity of
each primary color on a scale of zero to 2505. For example, pure red would
be represented as 25500. While it's perfectly ideal for displaying vibrant and
saturated digital visuals, it's not suitable for printing, as most of them cannot replicate the full
RGB color spectrum, and simply converting
from RGB to CMYK can lead to
color discrepancies. Number two CMYK, can magenta
yellow black color model. CMYK is a subtractive
color model used primarily for print
applications like brochures, posters, and packaging designs. It creates colors by mixing inks that absorb specific
wavelengths of light. Combining all four inks
theoretically creates black. Although in practice,
a dedicated black ink is also used to ensure better
consistency and depth. In CMYK color model, colors are represented by
specifying the percentage of each ink color used to
achieve the desired color. For example, pure red
would be represented here as zero hundred zero. As CMQ model offers a smaller color gamet
as compared to RGB, designers must manually
convert RGB designs to CMQ before sending them
to print in order to ensure accurate
color reproduction. Number three, PMS or
Panton matching system. The Panton matching system is a standardized color
matching system used across various industries, including graphic
design, fashion, and interior design as well. It consists of a
physical library of pre defined colors each
identified by a unique code. This ensures consistent
color representation across different materials
and printing processes. Panton colors are
specified using specific ink formulations to ensure consistent color
reproduction at all time. While PMS offers the highest color
accuracy and consistency, using pant on
colors often incurs additional costs due to
the use of special inks, and to add to that, not all printing processes
can support them.
23. Conclusion: There is no doubt
that color theory and color psychology are powerful tools
that influence how we perceive and interact
with the world around us. And when applied to
the world of branding, these concepts turn
out to be highly effective in driving the
growth of a business. By understanding the
fundamental concepts and psychological
effects of colors, you can unlock a world of unlimited creative
possibilities and make informed decisions
in various projects across various fields
and industries. It's also important to
remember that everything we've discussed throughout this class are not a set of rigid rules, but rather a set of guidelines and frameworks to
help you ensure that your idea and intended message reaches the desired audience.
24. What's Next?: Okay. Thanks a lot for joining in and congratulations on
completing this class. I really hope you've learned
something new today, and I'm pretty sure you'll
see a significant impact. Once you start implementing
your learnings into building your client's
business or your own brand. If you found this class
engaging and informative, please leave a review here on
Skillshare and feel free to share your thoughts and ideas
in the discussions section. Feel free to check
out the brands pre website and
YouTube channel for more such interesting
and insightful content on branding,
business, and design. I'll see you in at a fern class, have a wonderful day.
Ketan Sai Pothuganti, Brand Consultant & Founder, Brandzpree
