The power of colour

Colour has an amazing emotional and psychological effect on us all.
It can automatically warn us of danger. As children, we instinctively know that Red mushrooms are dangerous, even before we are told. In tests, babies statistically cry far more in red rooms than in rooms of any other colour.

Many high security prisons and mental institutions have a ‘pink room’.  The ‘pink room’ is used when inmates or patients become violent. They are detained in the ‘pink room’ and calm far more quickly that rooms of any other colour.

A deep or dark blue colour instils a sense of trust, which is why many large corporations and banks use it in their branding.

Other tests have shown that pupils using green paper instead of white paper, or taking exams in rooms which are painted green do significantly better at mathematics than students of the same mathematical  ability using paper of any other colour or undertaking tests in rooms painted in other colours.

If you’re not convinced, here’s a little colour trick you can try for yourself. Get yourself a suitable volunteer, write the word ‘Carrot’ on a piece of paper (making sure they don’t see it) and then ask them some basic maths questions (what’s 1 plus 1, 2 plus 2 etc). Keep asking them progressively harder questions  until they look up to the left (this is a sign that they are having to think about it) as soon as you see this trigger, ask them to name a vegetable. It’s worth point out to them before you start that you’ll be asking them some maths questions and then an unrelated question and that they have to say the first thing that comes to mind. In about nine times out of ten they’ll say carrot, as your mind sees orange when doing maths. Pretty much the only time this doesn’t work is when the volunteer pauses before responding, during which time they stop seeing orange, as they are no longer doing maths.

So what does this all mean for us? 

In designing web sites we should use the psychology of colour to our advantage to encourage certain actions or themes, such as the feeling of security for ecommerce sites, or encouraging users to buy items by making the positive ‘Buy Now’ action as appealing as possible to the relevant audience.