Welcome boys and girls! Today’s lesson is about colors and what they mean for your business. Did everyone bring their Crayolas like I asked? Great! Tommy, take it out of your nose. No, purple doesn’t belong there. Green maybe but not purple.
Ahem. So something that irks me to my marrow is this new trendy thing known as Pantone Color of the Year. Yes, it’s real. And yes, like most trends, it’s stupid. Somewhere in the peaks of the Himalayas there’s a group of about ten people who get together and decide, every year, what color is “the” color. I’ll wait for you to gather your wits. I don’t know who these people are or what they do or don’t know but apparently they never studied art. Because one of the fundamentals is color. Seems pretty basic right? And it is. It’s also tantalizing and sultry. Well, maybe in my head but it is interesting. Particularly if you are in any kind of business or profession that relies on how people respond to you.
You see, the color wheel was invented in 1953 by Arnold Palmer after winning the Kentucky Derby... oops. Some wires got crossed or something... so the color wheel is based in science. Good ol’ ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) in case you don’t recall. And these colors exist whether we mix them or not. There may or may not be a pot of gold at the end of these colors, I have my team out on that one. But the truly fascinating part is how these colors work together in the minds of humans.
We‘ve got complimentary colors, contrasting colors, primary colors, earth tones, and pastels. There’s more but freaking Tommy in the back is snoozing so I want to bring it into perspective quick. Every color conveys an emotion or reaction. So you can imagine that choosing your brand colors is very important.
For instance, imagine going into a cardiologist office. And everything is red. Deep, blood red, to be precise. Enter Stephen King, right? That’s your emotional reaction to the color. Not the reaction a cardiologist wants to instill. Now imagine you’re headed into have your car worked on. Everything is brown. Again... what are you feeling? Not fast and furious. Not sleek and modern. You’re feeling like poop. Or cookies. Depends on the day. My point is, you are human (jury’s out) and colors will bring up emotions in you and they will in your ideal clientele, as well.
So whenever Miss Pantone of the Year gets crowned you see a flurry of businesses rebranding and using said color like it’s curing ugliness. It’s not. You also see a slew of businesses wasting loads of cash on these rebrands. For nothing. Because guess what happens when Miss 2018 turns to 2019? New color. And they aren’t even nice colors usually. I think this year is Gonzo’s left nut mauve or something.
So do yourself a favor and don’t google trends when putting together the face of your business. Let yourself imagine your clientele and what you want them to think of you and what your business does.
Or ask me. I’ve got all sorts of amazing and award winning design ideas just punching to get unleashed.
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