When it comes to selecting a suitable colour for your there has to be consistency with your brand. But what colours should you go for when designing an advert that conveys your brand image and the product or service you are trying to promote?
Choosing the colour for your adverts not only depends on your brand image but also the audience you are trying to reach. It is important to remember that different colours mean different things in different cultures.
Like it or not, you will also have to bear in mind the traditional gender preferences for different colours. Colours that are thought of as ‘masculine’ are generally darker colours such as black, brown, blue, green whilst ‘feminine’ colours include pink, light red, light orange and yellow.
Factors Affecting Your Colour Choice
The colour you ultimately choose for your sign depends on the following factors:
- Consistency with your brand
- Target demographic (age, gender location)
- The surrounding environment
- The type of product/service that is being sold
- How far away the sign will be from the people viewing it
Understanding the Role of Culture in Colour
Although consistency with your brand and demographics are fairly straight forward for most organisations, understanding what colours mean in different cultures is more of a challenge.
Imagine using the colour yellow for a gift shop in Latin America where the colour in that region represents death or having a sign with someone’s name written in red in China is taboo.
Once you have considered all of the above then you can decide on the look and feel of your advert in regards to colour of both the background and any text elements of your sign.
Real Examples of Sign Colour Contrast
Take a look at the below examples of signs, the number below the text represents how visible the text is on certain backgrounds. We have shown some of the best colour combinations, but it isn’t hard to imagine how orange text on a red background would clash and be hard to read.
As can be seen the background and text font has a huge bearing on how people perceive the sign. The yellow background with red text gives out a sales image and the white background with grey text conveys are more important message. The red background with yellow text could indicate a warning.
The Psychology of Colour Choice
Choosing the right combination of colours is an art in itself.
But what are the psychology behind the colour of signs?
Setting aside cultural, gender and age differences, why do different colours indicate different things? Why can the choice of colour for an organisations logo or advert make or break an organisation?
The answer comes down to how we relate colour to certain things. Red and yellow in a restaurant can indicate fun and liveliness whilst a black and dark green restaurant could indicate expensive and high class.
Regardless of the type of you want, the colours in addition to the design can make or break your business so plan for it carefully. Once the sign is out and the message is conveyed, it is difficult to make amends.