Entrepreneur magazine takes a look at what colors ‘mean’ in your logo. It’s a tad simplistic (as most ‘lists’ of this nature, by default, generally are) but certainly worth a looksee. Some notable quotes:
Red: Red activates your pituitary gland, increasing your heart rate and causing you to breathe more rapidly. This visceral response makes red aggressive, energetic, provocative and attention-grabbing. Count on red to evoke a passionate response, albeit not always a favorable one. For example, red can represent danger or indebtedness.
Not sure about he pituitary gland (and to be honest, asking a client if they want their new logo design to stimulate their customers’ pituitary gland has never been part of any pre-project briefing that I’ve sat in on) but red is certainly a passionate color.
Purple: Purple is a color favored by creative types. With its blend of passionate red and tranquil blue, it evokes mystery, sophistication, spirituality and royalty. Lavender evokes nostalgia and sentimentality.
Yes. YES! That’s why I used Purple in our logo. Sophistication and royalty. I wanted our little ‘house’ to be mysterious. Or it could have been that purple & teal were in vogue in 1996 and I just happened to dig the combination. Take yer pick…
Brown: This earthy color conveys simplicity, durability and stability. It can also elicit a negative response from consumers who relate to it as dirty. Certain shades of brown, like terracotta, can convey an upscale look. From a functional perspective, brown tends to hide dirt, making it a logical choice for some trucking and industrial companies.
Heh. I’m sure UPS will be thrilled to know that people think they poured gazillions of dollars into their new ‘Brown‘ identity as the color brown ‘hides’ dirt on a truck. Bit a a stretch, but okay (though I suspect this is more of a case of “I really want to say not to use Brown in my article, but that wouldn’t read right ’cause UPS have been so successful and that would make me look stoopid” kinda thing).
All-in-all a fairly decent look at colors and how they are perceived in your ‘brand’. Trouble is, setting down a series of ‘golden rules’ (and yes, we try to do the same thing) is fine until someone is successful in spite of breaking these rules and that becomes the trend. UPS is a perfect example – who’d thunk that they’d have been successful with an ad campaign that revolved around them painting their trucks a crappy (pun intended) color? Certainly not yours truly.
Worth noting that the author of the article referenced – John Willimans – is president and founder of Logo Yes, one of those flash driven logo design template generators that designers have grown to hate.
But hey, to each their own…
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