June 24, 2015
Almost Everyone can definitively say they have a favourite colour. It’s one of the first things we are asked at school and one of the tools we might even use to choose friends from a very early age. Whichever colour you choose as your favourite has something to say about you, your type of personality and the emotional triggers you gravitate towards.
What’s Your Favourite Colour?
Let’s look at some choices from our team at SplitMango:
When I took this poll at work I was surprised to see that the majority of us said Green is our favourite colour with Blue coming in a close second. I expected to see more of a variety, but interestingly enough we all had elements of green and blue.
How do these colours relate to emotions and which are triggered by the 6 major colour groupings?
Green:
- Hope
- Aspiration
- Growth
- Advancement
- Refreshing
- Original
- Balance
- Harmony
- Reassurance
- Support
Blue:
- Trust
- Confidence
- Honesty
- Loyalty
- Integrity
- Authority
- Composed
- Calm
- Intelligence
- Skill
Purple:
- Creativity
- Imagination
- Spirituality
- Devotional
- Individuality
- Personal
- Quality
- Class
- Royalty
- Greatness
Red:
- Excitement
- Adventure
- Energy
- Strength
- Passion
- Affection
- Action
- Activity
- Desire
- Ambition
Orange:
- Optimistic
- Hopefulness
- Uplifting
- Inspiration
- Rejuvenating
- Renew
- Friendliness
- Kindness
- Fun
- Enjoyable
Yellow:
- Confidence
- Determination
- Optimism
- Assurance
- Friendliness
- Welcoming
- Enthusiasm
- Eagerness
- Happiness
- Joy
Just like colour spectrums there are small areas of overlap as well as you can see above.
These lists of emotions can give insight into how we want to feel or how we generally feel throughout our days. For myself personally I am definitely the most content when I’m learning something new, in a positive environment. If you look at the emotional triggers of the colour Green they align very closely with my own view of my personality traits.
Blue is another large part of our favourite colour choices here at SplitMango. Inside the psychology of blue we find emotions such as Trust, Honesty, and Authority. These are commonly reflected throughout large businesses, airlines, and hospital branding. Blue is a solid foundation for a business to be built upon in those types of industries.
What About Your Business?
Look at your business or maybe your favourite place to shop and dissect the emotions behind the colours chosen to reflect that brand. Most companies use colour to reach it’s target audience in a specific way.
- What emotions does the brand communicate to its customers?
- Do the colours you like and their associated emotions align with that business?
- Do these general theories apply to your personality?
Using one colour is not a steadfast rule as seen with companies like Google who have used multicolored branding for a long time. Perhaps multicolored branding helps you feel what you want to and see what you want to. Providing more opportunity for a business to reach a larger audience on a more personal level.
How This Knowledge Helps You Today
Understanding your favourite colour might help you understand your character better, but these are only references to be used as a guide. They are meant to provide insight into your daily life when you’re thinking about what to wear for an interview, business card colours, a blog post image or something entirely different. Consider what emotion you are trying to convey and what the end user wants to feel and you can make an educated decision that should give you more confidence in the task at hand. We’ve only scratched the surface of colour psychology here, and there’s lots more out there to learn.
Thanks for reading!