Color Psychology

Colors have a very significant impact on our subconscious minds. They also carry cultural and historical meanings so understanding this and how certain colors influence us psychologically is important. Colors also interact with each other, eliciting different responses depending on which colors are mixed together, and their specific attributes.

Colors are a form of non-verbal communication. The emotional, psychological and even physical reaction to certain colors is real. The positive attributes of various colors and the reactions they elicit are discussed below.

Cool Colors – Tend to create a sense of calm. Very cool colors can be cold and impersonal, giving off an antiseptic effect. The softer cool colors can be comforting and even nurturing to be around. These would be softer shades of blue and green, along with the neutral cool colors of gray, silver and white.

  • Blue – Inspires strength, importance, intelligence, loyalty, trust and peace.
  • Green – Signifies growth, the environment, health, harmony, and money.

Warm Colors – These run the gamut from conveying a positive optimism to threatening violence. The warmth of yellow, orange, pink and red can inspire excitement but also anger in certain settings. Neutral colors like brown and even black have warm attributes as well.

  • Yellow – Stimulates happiness, freshness, and can be as cheerful as it is cowardly.
  • Orange – Epitomizes energy, creativity, innovation, change, but too much can evoke agitation.
  • Pink – Inspires romance, a sense of playfulness, of being nice, sweet and somewhat delicate or fragile.
  • Red – This is the color of power, passion, fire, as well as both love and anger .
  • Gold – The color of riches and extravagance while evoking traditional values, a bright future or light.

Warm and cool colors mixed together – Colors having both warm and cool attributes can be calming and exciting. These would be the colors resulting from mixing a cool color with a warm one, like blue with red, creating purple, or possibly blue with yellow, resulting in green.

Typically green is considered cool but the truth is that it is derived from mixing together a cool and warm colors. Depending on the mixture, different shades of colors may lean more one way than the other. A grassy shade of green is certainly warmer than a deep blue-green sea.

  • Green (blue/yellow) – Signifies growth, the environment, health as well as sickly.
  • Turquoise (blue/yellow) – Gives off a fresh, feminine vibe as well as a retro feeling.
  • Purple (blue/red) – Stands for royalty, sacred, precious and romantic, as well as depression.
  • Lavender (blue/white/red) – Is graceful, representing elegance while being feminine, soft and delicate.
  • Beige (white/brown) – Is safe, conservative and relaxing.

Neutral colors – These are the colors that allow the focus to be on other colors or they can be used to tone down the impact of certain colors that tend to be overpowering on their own. The neutrals of silver, gray, ivory and white give off a cooler effect.

To a certain extent the colors beige, tan, gold, brown and black are considered warm. However these cool and warm attributes are flexible and somewhat subtler than the attributes of the more vivid colors like the various shades of red and blue.

  • Silver – Epitomizes sleek, glamorous and rich.
  • Gray – Produces a more formal, sophisticated and conservative vibe.
  • Ivory – Is quiet and subtle, giving off a pleasing, understated elegance.
  • White – Symbolizes innocence, a freshness of purity and softness, in some cultures; death.
  • Brown – Inspires an earthy tone of wholesomeness, friendliness and simplicity.
  • Black – Represents sophistication, of being conservative and mysterious, in some cultures; sin.

Harmonize your colors, use them to compliment your life, energize you and give you peace of mind. Make your next outfit one that puts your purpose in motion. OmTHAT!