The electric color of a sexy dress. Colors that jump out in commercials we watch. Colors that populate a room we walk into: We all respond on some emotional level to color. Without realizing it, the rainbow of colors in our world can have a profound effect on how we feel not only physically, but emotionally.
What am I talking about? It’s been documented that the temperature of your body can go up or down depending upon the color of the room you’re in. Take blue—it can not only lower your temperature, it can also slow pulse rate and reduce appetite. And how does blue affect our moods? Dr. Morton Walker, in his book The Power of Color, says blue represents peace, calm, stability. It’s a great business color because it reflects reliability. Is it any wonder that companies and network television stations choose colorscapes that are dominated by blue?
Color is so powerful, in fact, that you don’t even have to see it to evoke an emotion. Think of the song Lady in Red, Chris De Burgh’s No. 1 hit from 1986. Every woman wanted to feel that that song was being sung about her: “The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek. There’s nobody else here, just you and me.” Chris was not singing about the lady in lavender or the lady in pink or the lady in yellow. It had to be the lady in red. You could see the image so clearly—a sensual woman slow-dancing in a flowing red dress.
So you can see the potential that color would have in the business world! When it came to deciding on the color scheme for our company, RSVPstyle, right away I knew one of the colors would be red. Of all of the colors, red is the one we pay the most attention to. It’s powerful, dynamic, warm (like us—an exciting startup!). The opposite of blue, red increases your blood pressure and pulse rate (also like us—we motivate people to learn!). Red gets your adrenaline going. It’s the color of excitement. And it definitely gets your attention!
But we paired our red with brown—dark, warm, earth brown, which gives off a feeling of being wholesome and sheltering. Substance and home are other words that are associated with the color brown. Dark brown can be rich and comforting (like chocolate!).
When it comes to branding and packaging, it’s very important to consider the colors we’re choosing and the combinations that we put together to send the right message to the consumer we’re trying to attract. We started our company to get people excited about learning to design and decorate their own spaces—a fun, easy, accessible new approach to an age-old question. And we want to underscore the message that we understand that people’s homes are their pride, their sanctuary, the place where heart and family reside. We think our choices of red and deep brown manage to convey both messages at the same time.
And how about inside our homes? In my next column, we’ll explore what comforts and surprises different colors can add to different rooms.
For more on color, you can get our affordable Starter Set which includes our 3-disc DVD and Training Guide with lots of helpful tips. You can also log onto our FREE website at http://www.rsvpstyle.com/ for more information.
