How Colours Communicate in Business Documents

Have you ever been strategic with the colours you include with your print documents? According to psychologists, the colour(s) you use will have a direct effect on how the recipient feels about what they see.

Selecting the appropriate colours for your communication can have positive business benefits such as:

• Faster Payment
• Improved Memory Recall
• Enhanced Quality Perception
• Reader Focus
• Likeability of Message

To help you make your colour documents more compelling, we thought you might like to know which colours you should use to get the “psychological edge” that suits your message.

Here’s how colours translate to most people:

RED is a very strong colour that is often used to gain reader attention and urge them to take action. Using red also tends to exude warmth, love, anger, danger, boldness, excitement, speed, strength, energy, determination, desire, passion and courage.

ORANGE is formed by combining yellow and red together creating a bright and warm colour. For many, orange represents fire, the sun, fun, warmth and produces feelings of cheerfulness, low-cost, affordability, enthusiasm, stimulation, creativity, aggression, food and Halloween.

YELLOW Yellow can be a very effective colour to use if you are looking for an attention-grabbing effect. It also communicates feelings of comfort, liveliness, hunger, optimism, summer, liveliness, intellect, happiness and energy!

PINK tends to be a colour often associated with feminine audiences. This colour is very popular with younger children and conjures feelings of love, caring and nurture.

GREEN has become more and more popular in business with connections to recycling and other environmental sustainability initiatives. Using green will also convey durability, reliability, luxuriousness, optimism, well-being, nature, calm, relaxation, springtime, safety, honesty, optimism, harmony and, of course, freshness.

BLUE will communicate feelings of peace, professionalism, loyalty, reliability, honour and trust. The latter few being the reasons why so many large organizations have selected a blue logo. Using blue can also convey coldness, winter, depth, stability and professionalism to audiences.

PURPLE is another colour you can use as an alternative to black to communicate feelings of power, royalty, nobility, elegance, luxury and sophistication. Additionally, the colour purple will also convey to your reader feelings of mystery and magic!

GREY can be an effective choice to convey feelings of traditionalism, intelligence and seriousness. Conversely, grey can also be used to minimise text to make it appear dull and uninteresting compared to stronger colours.

BROWN is viewed as a wholesome colour that resonates with many people as relaxing, confident, casual, reassuring, natural, earthy, solid, reliable, genuine and endurable. The colour brown tends to be connected with autumn.

BLACK has always been a popular colour in printed documents when looking to convey feelings of elegance, sophistication, formality, power and strength.

WHITE is a core colour that creates a feeling of cleanliness, purity, newness, peace, innocence, simplicity and sterility. The colour white is also a popular choice to summon thoughts of snow, ice and cold.

Printing in colour can make your message more interesting and can help grab your reader’s attention or compel them to take further action.

Contact your local Cartridge World today to learn how we can help with your coloured printing solutions!