In 1991, an article in Forbes magazine about how orange affects consumer choices concluded that orange meant cheap. (Note: “Cheap” in this case meant a good buy for the money.) It's worth noting that there are many shades of orange – and different meanings.
Yellow is also a color that is associated with cheap.
Finally, yellow is associated with bargains and frugality, so if your brand is all about discounts, great pricing, or value, yellow may be right for you.
Our first secondary color on the list, orange represents creativity, happiness, freedom, and success.
Dull shades, such as gray and dark browns indicate poverty.
In color psychology, grey represents neutrality and balance. Its color meaning likely comes from being the shade between white and black.
The color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and magic.
The color of sunshine, yellow brings about positive feelings. Joy, happiness, and hope are all within yellow's domain. It can boost confidence, curiosity, and even improve learning.
The color brown is usually perceived as neutral and natural. Because of this, brown is thought to evoke feelings of warmth, security, and earthiness. Brown does a fantastic job of conveying emotions related to the natural world, as well as connoting organic, wholesome feelings in general.
Blue (Primary Color) #
Blue is often associated with sadness in the English language. Blue is also used extensively to represent calmness and responsibility. Light blues can be refreshing and friendly. Dark blues are more strong and reliable.
(Yellow symbolizes happiness, optimism, positivity, and intellect) You won't see yellow representing high-end or luxury brands, however, as the color signifies affordability, not luxury.
It's often used to represent creative companies too. In some cases, orange can symbolize affordability, so it may be used to advertise a sale. However, too much orange may make a company seem cheap, which could lose the interest of potential customers.
Red and orange seem to be the clear winner when it comes to eye-catching colors. These colors tend to stand out and are therefore used on many warning signs or safety equipment. Yellow is another color that comes in a close second to red and orange in popularity.
The Color Psychology of Purple
Purple is often used to show luxury, loyalty, courage, mystery, and magic.
Red is more effective for impulse purchases, so it's a common buy button choice on ecommerce websites. But it's more effective for B2B software vendors too. When HubSpot A/B tested CTA button color for Performable, red out-converted green by 21%. Red seems to perform best across the board.
Orange symbolizes energy, vitality, cheer, excitement, adventure, warmth, and good health.
The spiritual meaning of beige symbolizes simplicity, comfort, wisdom and trust. A person that loves beige is a person that is sensitive, determined, resilient, and dependable.
Green is the color most commonly associated in the United States and Europe with springtime, freshness, and hope. Green is often used to symbolize rebirth and renewal and immortality.
A shield, in and of itself, represents honor and protection. A yellow and brown shield accentuates those noble qualities.
Blue is seen as conservative. Red is power and aggression. Brighter colors such as yellow and orange represent warmth not only with emotions but also with temperature. Cool colors are blue, green, black or any color with a dark shade.
Evil, death, grief, mourning, the occult. Mystery, bleakness, heaviness, depression, rebellion, fear.” A color of many sentiments.
For instance, light purples are associated with light-hearted, romantic energies, while darker shades can represent sadness and frustration. In some parts of Europe, purple is associated with death and mourning.
The color pink, for example, is thought to be a calming color associated with love, kindness, and femininity. Many people immediately associate the color pink with all things feminine and girly. It might also bring to mind romance and holidays such as Valentine's Day.
Purple's association as the colour of royalty and wealth dates way back to ancient realms. Cyrus the Great – founder and king of the first Persian Empire – wore a purple tunic as his royal uniform.
Since red is the color of blood, it has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger, and courage. Modern surveys in Europe and the United States show red is also the color most commonly associated with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love, and joy.