Colors can make us feel happy or sad, and they can make us feel hungry or relaxed. These reactions are rooted in psychological effects, biological conditioning and cultural imprinting.
That’s why it’s important to understand the psychological effects colors might have on an average person as well as the fundamentals of color theory and the meanings of colors.
In this article we explain how colors make you feel and what impact colors can have on our emotions.
Colors and emotions
The way different colors can affect emotions depends largely on a color’s brightness, shade, tint or tone and whether it’s cool or warm toned. Let’s take a look at some of the effects colors can have on how you feel:
Warm colors
Red, orange and yellow are next to each other on the wheel and are all warm colors. Warm colors often evoke feelings of happiness, optimism and energy. However, yellow, red and orange can also have an attention grabbing effect and signal danger or make you take action (think stop signs, hazard warnings and barrier tape). Red can also increase a person’s appetite.
Cool colors
Cool colors include green, blue, and purple. Cool colors are usually calming and soothing but can also express sadness. Purple is often used to help spark creativity as it’s a mixture of blue (calm) and red (intense). If a company wants to display health, beauty or security, incorporate these colors.
Warm colors. Illustration by MWart.
Cool colors. Illustration by Marrieta.
Happy colors
Happy colors are bright, warm colors like yellow, orange, pink and red. Pastel colors like peach, light pink or lilac can also have an uplifting effect on your mood. The brighter and lighter a color, the more happy and optimistic it will make you feel. Another way colors can create happy emotions is by combining multiple primary and secondary colors together for a youthful, colorful effect.
Sad colors
Sad colors are colors that are dark and muted. Black and grey are the quintessential sad colors, but dark and muted cool colors like blue, green or neutrals like brown or beige can have a similar effect on feelings and emotions depending on how they’re used. In Western cultures black is considered the color of mourning, whereas in some East Asian countries it’s white to emphasize purity and rebirth.
Calming colors
Cool colors like blue and green can make you feel calm. Pastel colors and particularly cool toned pastels like baby blue, lilac and mint have a calming and relaxing effect. Neutrals like white, beige and grey can also make you feel calm. The fewer colors you combine and the more simple and pared back a design is, the more calming it will feel.
Energizing colors
Strong, bright colors and neon colors can have a powerful effect on emotions. Colors like bright red, bright yellow and neon green can feel energizing and make you feel more alert, but can also be irritating on the eyes. These colors will grab your attention and stand out from their surroundings. Highly pigmented, strong colors like royal blue, turquoise, magenta and emerald green can also have a stimulating effect and make you feel refreshed and energized.
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