Colours affect us every day; they can make us remember memories good and bad. When consulting clients on colour choices for their brands, I illustrate my point by asking how different they would feel entering a room painted soft yellow, or a room painted in deep black and violent red.

The feeling would be different. If you like the colour and you feel comfortable with it, you will stay longer and be more likely to return to that room.

Colours can mean different things in different contexts, below are a list of colours and their most commonly associated feelings in relation to business.

Red

Call to action colour, decision making, exciting, inspiring

Blue

Confidence, authority, masculine

Light Blue

Corporate, professional, safe, cold/cool distant

Orange

Playful, creative, friendly, warm (not intimidating), different

Green

Gender neutral, natural, nature, growth (growing wealth)

Lime Green

Modern, technical

Purple

Feminine, emotion, kindness, understanding, compassionate

Pink

Feminine, attention-grabbing, confident, new-age/modern

White / Beige

Classy, elegant, exclusive, calm, pure, honest, transparent

Yellow

Attention, sale, cheap, take action (via excitement), young, fun

Brown

Earthy, grounded, non-confrontational, non-judgemental

Black

Professional, serious, exclusive, private

Grey

Modern, understated, non-confrontational

The right colour choice is just another way for you to more clearly communicate the message of your brand. What is it that makes you different? What do you do better? What is specifically lacking in your industry which you have?

Blue may not be the best colour choice if you want to be seen as friendly, caring and understanding. Yellow may not be the best choice if you want to appear professional, serious, and exclusive.

What colours have you chosen for your business, and using the feelings listed above, what do they say about your business? Do these things separate you from your competition?