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Color

When you advertise, nothing is more important than the message, but one aspect that significantly influences its delivery is the use of color. Color is a silent communicator, but has a pretty loud voice. Choosing a color palette, whether it's for promotional items, print advertisements, or a direct mail piece, is easy when you know what emotion you are trying to convey. Choose the most appealing color palette that will act as a visual smorgasborg for the eyes rather than turn them away.

Certain colors evoke specific emotions, for instance, red inspires feelings of passion, energy and desire. It has an incredibly high visibility rate, and pulls text and images to the foreground. Red is often used to encourage quick decision-making.

Shades of red mean different things. Pink denotes feminine qualities and signifies romance. Dark red is associated with strong feelings of vigor and courage. Brown represents stability and masculinity, whereas reddish-brown is a seasonal color for fall. Blue-based reds are associated with expensive products but yellow-based reds are best when putting less emphasis on a high price.

Orange is also an energetic color and is often associated with joy, sunshine, and happiness. Eyes are heat sensitive to orange, but the color lacks the aggression of red. It stimulates emotions of enthusiasm, creativity, and encouragement. Like red, it has a high visibility that can bring attention to important elements of a design.

Of course, orange also comes in many shades, and with it come many different meanings. When mixed with red, it corresponds to desire, action, and passion. Gold is the color of prestige and high quality, but orange is most commonly used to play up affordability.

Yellow, the color of sunshine, is predictably the hue that is associated with joy, energy, and warmth. It arouses feelings of cheerfulness and intellect. Although, an overabundance of yellow has the opposite effect and has the potential to cause discomfort. But when used responsibly, it can highlight important elements of design. Avoid using it when advertising expensive products to men because it is perceived as a childish color. When yellow is used, pair it with dark colors for high contrast.

Green, a color so popular that is has its own movement, is the color of nature and symbolizes growth, freshness, and fertility. It is also a safe color and promotes healing and safe passage. Dark green reminds us of money, whereas yellow-green can indicate sickness and discord. Using green may also signify that your product is environmentally friendly.

Blue is a cool color that connotes confidence and safety, making it a helpful color for financial and medical institution mailers. It can also be used for products and services related to water, cleanliness, and sky. Of course, for some products, blue should be avoided. Blue is not the best color for food products because unlike red, it is an appetite supressor. Blue is also versatile and can work with warm colors to create high impact designs.

Purple is the color of royalty and elegance, conveying wealth and extravagance. Therefore, use it when promoting high fashion, sports teams or luxury items.

White is the ultimate color of purity and cleanliness and carries positive connotations. We associate white with sterility, which makes it a likely candidate to promote hospitals and doctors. It is also appropriate to use white for dairy products and often distinguishes low-fat food items from high-calorie products on the shelf. More regularly, white implies sophistication alongside a high-end price point, especially for high-tech products.

Black, though it is the color of elegance and power, is also associated with more negative connotations, such as death. Although black is primarily used to imply power and provide high contrast when used with other colors. To create a greater statement of power, add sheen or matte to black.