How the Colors in Your Design Influence Thoughts and Emotions

Raise your hand if you are a nonprofit communications director who has been formally trained in graphic design. OK, you three don’t need to read this blog post. (But if you want to guest post for us, give me a shout!)

But we know the majority of you are not trained designers and graphic design is just a necessary part of your everyday work as a nonprofit communicator. I recently shared 7 Top Graphic Design Tips to Use When You Aren’t a Designer to help. Those graphic design tips were:

1. Keep It Simple
2. Create a Color Palette
3. Pick Fonts that Work Together
4. Embrace White Space
5. Use the Grid Lines for Accurate Alignment
6. Learn About Visual Hierarchy
7. Have a Brand and Style Guide

Today we are going to talk about how the colors you choose can affect your readers and followers. According to Gabriela Pichardo, MD, colors can affect:

• Your Memory
• Your Libido
• Your Relationships
• Your Internal Clock
• Your Emotions (which we will get into more below)
• Your Creativity
• Your Reaction Time
• Your Energy Level
• Your Appetite

So there seems to be a lot at stake when choosing your color palette other than “Ooooh pretty!”

How these colors affect mood and marketing:

Red

• Strong emotions, increased passion and intensity
• Impulse buying, sense of urgency

Blue

• Calm, relaxation
• Trust, security, loyalty

Yellow

• Happiness, encourages communication
• Optimism, attention-grabbing

Orange

• Excitement and enthusiasm but suggests caution
• Boosts impulsive decisions, friendly and cheerful brand

Green

• Health, money, nature
• Wealth, organic products

Purple

• Royalty and luxury
• Creativity and wisdom, beauty brands

For more (and a handy guide) on how colors can help or hurt your nonprofit marketing, use this great infographic Colour Psychology in Marketing from giraffe social media.