Part One: Warm Colours.
So, you are trying to develop a colour scheme for your organization and logo, but you need to figure out where to start. You might be worried or overwhelmed that your colour choices might be the "wrong" ones. Thankfully you have come to the right place. Follow this simple guide to determine what colour palette best shows off your features and will positively impact your audience.
Why is colour choice so important?
People make an emotional and mental connection to colours. Having the right colours can help convey your organization's message, tone and identity. Your colours should match the energy you want to portray.
Colours' representation disclaimer
It is also important to remember that different cultures have different meanings when it comes to colours. For example, Japan and China use white for funerals, while North America uses it for birth and purity.
For this blog, I will use the North American cultural understanding of what each colour can represent and examples that will be more likely to be found in North America.
Please note that the descriptions below are very brief descriptions of each colour and what they can represent. If you are looking for a more detailed explanation, there are tons of amazing research articles online.
To learn more about Colour Psychology: Color Psychology: Does It Affect How You Feel?
What Are Warm Colours?
Warm colours are in the red, orange and yellow family. The right-handed side of the colour wheel (see below) is the Warm Colours, and the left side is the Cool Colours. Be warned, if you want to give off more of a "calming mood," I would recommend staying away from Warm Colours and focusing on Cool Colours (Check out next month's blog for more on Cool Colours).
Fun fact: Like the letter "Y," colours near the halfway line–like red-violet and yellow-green–can sometimes be considered either warm or cool colours–also known as "hybrid colours."
Warm Colour: Red
Red is often affiliated with fire and heat. It can often be associated with positive words like excitement, love and energy. But it can also have negative word associations like anger, rage and aggression. The common thread with the descriptions of red is passion. Using red is a great way to get across a message of passion.
Red is also heavily used in food-related industries. It's been said that red can stimulate appetite and hunger.
If you are not a food-based company, there is nothing wrong with using red since it can represent more fiery/exciting vibes. As mentioned above, red is known to stimulate your heart rate and breathing. The exciting vibe that the colour red can generate is great for the entertainment industry.
For your consideration: Red can be a stand-alone colour or works great when paired with any combination of colours on the colour wheel. There are more effective colours, such as green (a complementary colour) or red-orange and orange (Analogous colours).
Warm Colour: Yellow
Yellow is often affiliated with sunshine and warmth. It can often be associated with positive words like joy, optimism and intellect. But it can also be associated with negative words like jealousy, cowardness and betrayal. The common thread with yellow is stimulation. Yellow is great at displaying the different levels of stimulation.
Yellow is known to trigger childhood memories and euphoria. It is used when wanting to evoke a childlike, adventurous and youthful spirit.
While yellow is great for stimulating youthful emotions, it is not a popular colour on its own. It wants to stand out but fails when it's all by itself; it's best used as a highlighting colour, and yellow will show best when used with darker colours. You'll notice all the examples provided have at least one other colour to help balance out the brightness of the yellow.
For your consideration: Yellow is a great way to stand out from the crowd, especially if you want to give off a youthful connection. But you will want to avoid using yellow for the name of your company. Leave that to darker colours to help make your organization's name and message more legible.
Warm Colour: Orange
Orange is often affiliated with warning, caution and attention. It can often be associated with positive words like energy, friendliness and happiness. But it can also have negative word associations like danger, immature and impatience. The common thread is being loud. When using the colour orange, you really want to grab your audience's attention.
Orange is a good choice if your organization is more whimsical and fun. It's a happy mix of playfulness and professionalism.
While orange is a great attention-getter, think traffic cones, there is a reason it's not often used entirely on its own. It can come across as aggressive to the eyes if the orange is too bright. It is best used as a secondary colour and when paired with a cool colour.
For your consideration: While orange draws attention and makes people feel happier and more alert, if your business is in a "more serious industry," orange might not represent this message best. But if you are adamant that you want orange, try to use a dark shade of orange; this can offer a sense of comfort.
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