OUGD603 Poster Zine - Research: Colour Psychology - Self-initiated / Research Brief (Brief Seven)

Looking into colour theory wasn't incredibly helpful, so I decided to look into colour psychology. This turned out to be really helpful and I spent a good couple of hours reading through the psychology behind colours. I have compiled a list below taken from multiple different websites with the colours and the combined meanings behind them.

https://www.colorpsychology.org
http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours
http://www.sensationalcolor.com/category/color-meaning/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology#.WRSf61KZNBy
http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/meaning-of-colors.html

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF RED FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• Red is the color of energy, passion, action, ambition and determination. It is also the color of anger and sexual passion.

RED. Physical
Positive: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, 'fight or flight', stimulation, masculinity, excitement.
Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain.

Being the longest wavelength, red is a powerful colour. Although not technically the most visible, it has the property of appearing to be nearer than it is and therefore it grabs our attention first. Hence its effectiveness in traffic lights the world over. Its effect is physical; it stimulates us and raises the pulse rate, giving the impression that time is passing faster than it is. It relates to the masculine principle and can activate the "fight or flight" instinct. Red is strong, and very basic. Pure red is the simplest colour, with no subtlety. It is stimulating and lively, very friendly. At the same time, it can be perceived as demanding and aggressive.

Red

• Associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as we ll as passion, desire, and love.
• Enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure.
• It attracts attention more than any other color, at times signifying danger.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF ORANGE FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• Orange is the color of social communication and optimism. From a negative color meaning it is also a sign of pessimism and superficiality.

ORANGE.
Positive: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance, fun.
Negative: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity.

Since it is a combination of red and yellow, orange is stimulating and reaction to it is a combination of the physical and the emotional. It focuses our minds on issues of physical comfort - food, warmth, shelter etc. - and sensuality. It is a 'fun' colour. Negatively, it might focus on the exact opposite - deprivation. This is particularly likely when warm orange is used with black. Equally, too much orange suggests frivolity and a lack of serious intellectual values.

Orange

• Combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow.
• Associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics.
• Represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success,
  encouragement, and stimulation.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF YELLOW FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• With the meaning of colors, in color psychology, yellow is the color of the mind and the intellect. It is optimistic and cheerful. However it can also suggest impatience, criticism and cowardice.

YELLOW. Emotional
Positive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity.
Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, suicide.

The yellow wavelength is relatively long and essentially stimulating. In this case the stimulus is emotional, therefore yellow is the strongest colour, psychologically. The right yellow will lift our spirits and our self-esteem; it is the colour of confidence and optimism. Too much of it, or the wrong tone in relation to the other tones in a colour scheme, can cause self-esteem to plummet, giving rise to fear and anxiety. Our "yellow streak" can surface.

Yellow

• Associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.
• Produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates
  muscle energy.
• Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color.
• When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect.
• It is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms.
• Yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yell ow was connected with cowardice.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF GREEN FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• Green is the color of balance and growth. It can mean both self-reliance as a positive and possessiveness as a negative, among many other meanings. 

GREEN. Balance
Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace.
Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation.

Green strikes the eye in such a way as to require no adjustment whatever and is, therefore, restful. Being in the centre of the spectrum, it is the colour of balance - a more important concept than many people realise. When the world about us contains plenty of green, this indicates the presence of water, and little danger of famine, so we are reassured by green, on a primitive level. Negatively, it can indicate stagnation and, incorrectly used, will be perceived as being too bland.

Green

• Color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility.
• Strong emotional correspondence with safety.
• Dark green is also commonly associated with money.
• Has great healing power.
• Green suggests stability and endurance.
• Color of the sea. It is often associated with depth and stability.
• Symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.
• Considered beneficial to the mind and body.
• Slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect.
• Strongly associated with tranquility and calmness.
• Used to symbolize piety and sincerity.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF BLUE FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• Blue is the color of trust and peace. It can suggest loyalty and integrity as well as conservatism and frigidity. 

BLUE. Intellectual.
Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm.
Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness.

Blue is the colour of the mind and is essentially soothing; it affects us mentally, rather than the physical reaction we have to red. Strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration. Consequently it is serene and mentally calming. It is the colour of clear communication. Blue objects do not appear to be as close to us as red ones. Time and again in research, blue is the world's favourite colour. However, it can be perceived as cold, unemotional and unfriendly.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF INDIGO FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• Indigo is the color of intuition. In the meaning of colors it can mean idealism and structure as well as ritualistic and addictive.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF PURPLE FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

                       

• Purple is the color of the imagination. It can be creative and individual or immature and impractical.  

VIOLET. Spiritual
Positive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality.
Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority.

The shortest wavelength is violet, often described as purple. It takes awareness to a higher level of thought, even into the realms of spiritual values. It is highly introvertive and encourages deep contemplation, or meditation. It has associations with royalty and usually communicates the finest possible quality. Being the last visible wavelength before the ultra-violet ray, it has associations with time and space and the cosmos. Excessive use of purple can bring about too much introspection and the wrong tone of it communicates something cheap and nasty, faster than any other colour.

Purple

• Combines the stability of blue and the energy of red.
• Associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition.
• Conveys wealth and extravagance.
• Associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF TURQUOISE FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• The color meaning of turquoise is communication and clarity of mind. It can also be impractical and idealistic.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF PINK FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• The color psychology of pink is unconditional love and nurturing. Pink can also be immature, silly and girlish.

PINK.
Positive: Physical tranquillity, nurture, warmth, femininity, love, sexuality, survival of the species.
Negative: Inhibition, emotional claustrophobia, emasculation, physical weakness.

Being a tint of red, pink also affects us physically, but it soothes, rather than stimulates. (Interestingly, red is the only colour that has an entirely separate name for its tints. Tints of blue, green, yellow, etc. are simply called light blue, light greenetc.) Pink is a powerful colour, psychologically. It represents the feminine principle, and survival of the species; it is nurturing and physically soothing. Too much pink is physically draining and can be somewhat emasculating.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF MAGENTA FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• In the meaning of colors, magenta is a color of universal harmony and emotional balance. It is spiritual yet practical, encouraging common sense and a balanced outlook on life.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF BROWN FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• The color brown is a friendly yet serious, down-to-earth color that relates to security, protection, comfort and material wealth.

BROWN.
Positive: Seriousness, warmth, Nature, earthiness, reliability, support.
Negative: Lack of humour, heaviness, lack of sophistication.

Brown usually consists of red and yellow, with a large percentage of black. Consequently, it has much of the same seriousness as black, but is warmer and softer. It has elements of the red and yellow properties. Brown has associations with the earth and the natural world. It is a solid, reliable colour and most people find it quietly supportive - more positively than the ever-popular black, which is suppressive, rather than supportive.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF GREY FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• From a color psychology perspective, grey is the color of compromise - being neither black nor white, it is the transition between two non-colors. It is unemotional and detached and can be indecisive.

GREY.
Positive: Psychological neutrality.
Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack of energy.

Pure grey is the only colour that has no direct psychological properties. It is, however, quite suppressive. A virtual absence of colour is depressing and when the world turns grey we are instinctively conditioned to draw in and prepare for hibernation. Unless the precise tone is right, grey has a dampening effect on other colours used with it. Heavy use of grey usually indicates a lack of confidence and fear of exposure.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF SILVER FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• Silver has a feminine energy; it is related to the moon and the ebb and flow of the tides - it is fluid, emotional, sensitive and mysterious.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF GOLD FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• Gold is the color of success, achievement and triumph. Associated with abundance and prosperity, luxury and quality, prestige and sophistication, value and elegance, the color psychology of gold implies affluence, material wealth and extravagance.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF WHITE FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• White is color at its most complete and pure, the color of perfection. The color meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion.

WHITE.
Positive: Hygiene, sterility, clarity, purity, cleanness, simplicity, sophistication, efficiency.
Negative: Sterility, coldness, barriers, unfriendliness, elitism.

Just as black is total absorption, so white is total reflection. In effect, it reflects the full force of the spectrum into our eyes. Thus it also creates barriers, but differently from black, and it is often a strain to look at. It communicates, "Touch me not!" White is purity and, like black, uncompromising; it is clean, hygienic, and sterile. The concept of sterility can also be negative. Visually, white gives a heightened perception of space. The negative effect of white on warm colours is to make them look and feel garish.

White

• Associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity.
• Considered to be the color of perfection.
• Signifies safety, purity, and cleanliness.
• Usually has a positive connotation.
• Can represent a successful beginning.
• Depicts faith and purity.

THE COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY OF BLACK FROM ABOVE WEBSITES COMBINED.

• Black is the color of the hidden, the secretive and the unknown, creating an air of mystery. It keeps things bottled up inside, hidden from the world.

BLACK.
Positive: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency, substance.
Negative: Oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness.

Black is all colours, totally absorbed. The psychological implications of that are considerable. It creates protective barriers, as it absorbs all the energy coming towards you, and it enshrouds the personality. Black is essentially an absence of light, since no wavelengths are reflected and it can, therefore be menacing; many people are afraid of the dark. Positively, it communicates absolute clarity, with no fine nuances. It communicates sophistication and uncompromising excellence and it works particularly well with white. Black creates a perception of weight and seriousness.

Black

• Associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.
• A mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown (black holes).
• Usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, black humor, ‘black death’).
• Denotes strength and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and    prestigious color.
• The symbol of grief.