Color

psychology
PREPARED BY: PEDRO CHAN
AND ALVARO GUTIERREZ
INTRODUCTION:
THIS PRESENTATION WILL TOUCH ON
DIFFERENT TOPICS, FOR EXAMPLE,
WHAT IS THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOR?
WE WILL ALSO TALK ABOUT COLORS
AND THEIR IMPORTANCE AND WHERE
WE CAN USE THEM. I HOPE THE WORK IS
TO YOUR LIKING
 ¿WHAT IS COLOR
PSYCHOLOGY?
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOR IS A FIELD OF STUDY AIMED AT ANALYZING THE
EFFECTS THAT COLORS CAN HAVE ON US AND IN WHAT EMOTIONAL OR MENTAL
WAYS THEY CAN INFLUENCE OUR DECISIONS.
IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT CHOOSING COLORS THAT LOOK GOOD COMBINED. WE MUST
ALWAYS ASSESS WHAT MEANINGS THESE COLORS CAN EVOKE IN US. WE MUST
UNDERSTAND THAT THE PERCEPTION OF COLORS MAY BE DUE TO CULTURAL
ISSUES, OUR OWN EXPERIENCE OR THE TRADITIONAL USE THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN
TO COLORS UNTIL NOW. FOR EXAMPLE, LINKED TO TRAFFIC WE KNOW THAT RED
EVOKES ALERTNESS OR DANGER, WHILE GREEN REPRESENTS FREE PASSAGE,
PEACE AND SECURITY. IN THIS SCENARIO, THE EVOCATION OF COLORS IS CLEAR,
BUT IN OTHERS IT CAN BE VERY SUBTLE. MANY CONNOTATIONS CAN VARY BY
CULTURE (ESPECIALLY BETWEEN EAST AND WEST) AND EVEN BY RELIGIOUS
BELIEFS.
"THE COLORS"
¿WHAT IS THE COLOR?
COLOR IS THE IMPRESSION PRODUCED
BY A TONE OF LIGHT ON THE VISUAL
ORGANS, OR MORE ACCURATELY, IT IS A
VISUAL PERCEPTION THAT IS
GENERATED IN THE BRAIN OF HUMANS
AND OTHER ANIMALS WHEN
INTERPRETING
 COLOR MIXING CHART
THE BASIC COLORS ARE RED, BLUE AND YELLOW
(THE PRIMARY ONES) AS WELL AS WHITE AND
BLACK. FROM THE COMBINATIONS OF THE
PRIMARIES WITH EACH OTHER, SECONDARY COLORS
(GREEN, PURPLE AND ORANGE) CAN BE OBTAINED
AND THE MIXTURE OF A PRIMARY WITH ITS
ADJACENT SECONDARY WILL GIVE A TERTIARY
COLOR (ORANGE YELLOW, GREENISH BLUE, ETC).
THIS IS ACHIEVED BY MIXING ALL THESE COLORS IN
DIFFERENT PROPORTIONS, IN ADDITION TO WHITE
AND BLACK.
 MONOCHROME COMBINATION
AS ITS NAME SUGGESTS, THIS COLOR RANGE WILL BE
BASED ON A SINGLE COLOR. MAKE NO MISTAKE, THIS IS BY
NO MEANS A BORING RANGE. WE TAKE A COLOR, THE ONE
WE LIKE THE MOST AND FROM THERE, WE CAN GO UP AND
DOWN THE SATURATION AND OBTAIN SHADES THAT,
STARTING FROM THE FIRST, ARE DIFFERENT FROM EACH
OTHER.
IN ADDITION TO BEING VERY EASY TO MAKE (ALWAYS
REMEMBER TO MAKE THEM STARTING FROM ONE COLOR
AND NOT TAKING TWO OR THREE SIMILAR ONES) THEY CAN
BE VERY USEFUL TO REPRESENT A SPECIFIC MOOD, OR
FOR A PROJECT IN WHICH A SINGLE COLOR STANDS OUT.
 COMPLEMENTARY
COMBINATION
IT IS THE PERFECT RANGE OF COLORS IF YOU ARE LOOKING
FOR CONTRAST. COMPLEMENTARY COLORS ARE THOSE THAT
ARE LOCATED OPPOSITE EACH OTHER ON THE COLOR WHEEL.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE COMPLEMENT OF BLUE IS YELLOW, THE
COMPLEMENT OF GREEN IS MAGENTA, AND THE COMPLEMENT
OF RED IS CYAN. THE USE OF THESE COLOR RANGES CAN BE A
GOOD ELEMENT IF WE ARE LOOKING TO ATTRACT ATTENTION,
THEY ARE NOT GOOD COLORS TO GO UNNOTICED.
COMPLEMENTARY COLORS ARE WIDELY USED IN ADVERTISING,
DUE TO THE HIGH CONTRAST THEY PRODUCE, WHICH RESULTS
IN A CALL TO ACTION.
ANALOGOUS COLOR COMBINATION
THIS COLOR SCHEME USES THREE OR MORE FAMILIES
THAT ARE PLACED NEXT TO EACH OTHER ON THE
COLOR WHEEL. IT IS A COLOR SCHEME THAT WE FIND
IN NATURE WHICH MAKES IT COMFORTABLE AND
CALM.
CREATES MORE CONTRAST THAN THE MONOCHROME
SCHEME, BUT NOT AS MUCH AS COMPLEMENTARY
COLORS. WHEN USING THIS RANGE, IT IS BEST TO
TAKE A PREDOMINANT COLOR, A SUPPORTING COLOR
FROM THE RANGE OF THE FIRST, AND A THIRD COLOR
TO COMPLEMENT AND CREATE CONTRAST.
 COLOR CLASSIFICATION
COLORS ARE CLASSIFIED INTO PRIMARY, SECONDARY
AND TERTIARY. IN ADDITION TO THESE THREE, THERE
IS ALSO TALK OF COMPLEMENTARY COLORS. TO
UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EACH OF
THEM, LET'S SEE WHAT THEY CONSIST OF.
PRIMARY COLORS ARE THOSE THAT CANNOT BE
OBTAINED BY MIXING ANY COLOR.
SECONDARY COLORS ARE THOSE OBTAINED BY MIXING
TWO PRIMARY COLORS.
TERTIARY COLORS ARE THOSE THAT ARE OBTAINED BY
MIXING THREE PRIMARY COLORS OR A PRIMARY
COLOR WITH ANOTHER SECONDARY. THEREFORE, THEY
ARE MORE NUMEROUS, SINCE THEY GIVE RISE TO
MANY COMBINATIONS.
 PRIMARY COLORS:
THE TRADITIONAL PRIMARY COLORS ARE:
RED
YELLOW
BLUE
THEY ARE ALSO KNOWN AS RYB (RED, YELLOW, BLUE) COLORS. WE CAN
APPRECIATE THEM, FOR EXAMPLE, IN RED ROSES, THE YELLOW LEAVES OF
SUNFLOWERS OR IN THE BLUE OF THE SEA.
TRADITIONAL PRIMARY COLORS ARE STILL STUDIED IN THE FINE ARTS,
ALTHOUGH THEY ARE CONSIDERED OBSOLETE BY SCIENCE AFTER THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SYNTHETIC PIGMENTS THAT GAVE RISE TO CYAN AND
MAGENTA. THEREFORE, THIS COLOR MODEL IS A PRECURSOR TO THE CMY
MODEL, SINCE IT REPRESENTS THE CORRECTION OF THE IDEAL PIGMENT
COLORS.
 SECONDARY COLOURS:
SECONDARY COLORS ARE THOSE OBTAINED BY MIXING
TWO PRIMARY COLORS. THEY RECEIVE THAT NAME
PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY DERIVE FROM THE PRIMARY
COLORS.

SECONDARY COLORS DEPEND ON THE COLOR MODEL OR

THEORY THAT IS APPLIED. THERE ARE THREE COLOR
MODELS:

THE TRADITIONAL MODEL OR RYB;

THE CMY OR CMYK MODEL;
THE RGB MODEL.
 WHITE;
IN WESTERN CULTURES, WHITE
REPRESENTS INNOCENCE AND PURITY.
ALSO CLEANLINESS, PEACE AND VIRTUE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, IN SOME EASTERN
AND AFRICAN CULTURES, THE COLOR
WHITE REPRESENTS THE COLOR OF
DEATH.
 YELLOW:
THE YELLOW COLOR REPRESENTS GOLD AND
SUNLIGHT. LIKE THE COLOR RED, IT CAN EVOKE
AGGRESSIVENESS. ACCORDING TO COLOR
PSYCHOLOGY, YELLOW ALSO SYMBOLIZES
ENERGY, JOY, HAPPINESS, WEALTH, POWER,
ABUNDANCE, STRENGTH AND ACTION. YELLOW IS
ALSO ONE OF THE MOST AMBIGUOUS COLORS
BECAUSE IT CAN ALSO REPRESENT ENVY, ANGER
OR BETRAYAL. THE EXCESSIVE PRESENCE OF
YELLOW CAN IRRITATE OUR MOOD, BECAUSE OUR
EYE IS USED TO SEEING IT IN SMALL QUANTITIES.
 RED:
THE RED HUE CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH PASSION,
STIMULATION, STRENGTH, VIRILITY, AND EVEN
DANGER. IT IS AN AGGRESSIVE COLOR THAT
CAPTURES A LOT OF ATTENTION. IT IS BELIEVED
THAT BEING THE COLOR OF BLOOD, WE THEREFORE
ASSOCIATE IT WITH THE SENSATION OF VITALITY,
ENERGY AND AGGRESSIVENESS. WEARING THE COLOR
RED COULD LEAD US TO BEHAVE IN A SOMEWHAT
MORE EXTROVERTED WAY THAN WE ARE USED TO.
 ORANGE:
ORANGE TONES ARE ENERGETIC, BOLD AND
WARM COLORS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH THE
MOST INTENSE TONES. THEY TRANSMIT
VITALITY, ENTHUSIASM, ACTION AND YOUTH.
IT CAN ALSO BE ASSOCIATED WITH
SENSUALITY, THE DIVINE, AND LUST. IT IS A
COLOR THAT IS USUALLY LINKED ALSO WITH
OPTIMISM.
 BLUE:
BLUE TONES ARE USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH
SERIOUSNESS AND CLEANLINESS. BLUE TONES
CONVEY CONFIDENCE, WHICH IS WHY THEY
ARE COMMONLY USED BY BANKS, INSURANCE
COMPANIES AND TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
SUCH AS FACEBOOK OR TWITTER. BEING THE
COLOR OF THE SKY AND WATER, IT ALSO
REPRESENTS TRANQUILITY, FRESHNESS AND
PURITY.
 GREEN:
GREEN TONES EVOKE NATURE,
FRESHNESS, HEALTH, ECOLOGY, ETC.
THE DARKER GREENS TRANSMIT CALM
WHILE THE MORE VIVID ONES ARE MORE
RELATED TO VITALITY. GREEN ALSO
REPRESENTS YOUTH AND HOPE.
 PINK:
SOFT PINK OR PALE PINK TONES EVOKE
CHILDHOOD, SWEETNESS AND
INNOCENCE. HOT PINKS, LIKE HOT PINK,
ARE MORE ASSOCIATED WITH LOVE,
PASSION, AND ROMANCE.
 PURPLE:
PURPLE TONES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH
IMAGINATION, NOSTALGIA, AND SPIRITUALITY.
IT IS ALSO RELATED TO ROYALTY AND EVOKES
HIGH QUALITY. IT CAN REPRESENT
SOPHISTICATION AND ELEGANCE.
 BROWN:
THE BROWN COLOR IS SUITABLE IF WE
WANT TO CONVEY ELEGANCE,
NEUTRALITY, SOBRIETY AND
SIMPLICITY. BEING A COLOR LINKED TO
THE EARTH, IT CAN ALSO EVOKE
NATURE, TRADITION AND ORIGIN.
 BLACK;
THE BLACK COLOR EVOKES ELEGANCE, LUXURY,
SOBRIETY, AUTHORITY. IN ANCIENT EGYPT BLACK
REPRESENTED FERTILITY AND GROWTH. IT IS A COLOR
THAT HAS A LOT OF STRENGTH AND ATTRACTS
ATTENTION. THAT IS WHY, TOGETHER WITH THE
COLOR RED, IT IS USUALLY USED IN BUTTONS AND
CTA'S (CALL TO ACTION). THE COLOR BLACK ALSO
HAS SOME NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS, AS IT IS
ASSOCIATED WITH DEATH, EVIL, AND DESTRUCTION.
DUE TO ITS CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH DARKNESS, IT
COULD ALSO SYMBOLIZE MYSTERY AND THE
UNKNOWN.
 GOLD:
IT IS THE COLOR ASSOCIATED WITH
ABUNDANCE, PROSPERITY AND WELL-BEING,
AS WELL AS MASCULINE ENERGY, IN THE
SAME WAY THAT SILVER (AND THE MOON)
ARE RELATED TO FEMININE ENERGY. IT
USUALLY HAS THE QUALITY OF IMPROVING
ANY MOOD.
 GRAY:
IT IS COMMONLY USED IN TYPOGRAPHY
WITHIN LOGOS DUE TO ITS NEUTRALITY AND
WORKS WELL WITH MOST OTHER COLORS. IT
IS ALSO WIDELY USED IN THE AUTOMOTIVE,
TECHNOLOGICAL AND JEWELRY SECTORS DUE
TO ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH METAL. IT IS
ASSOCIATED WITH: HUMILITY, AUTHORITY,
RESPECT, PRACTICALITY AND STABILITY.
Thank you
for your
attention