“Blue sky thinking”, “feeling blue”, “wild blue yonder”, “bolt from the blue”. What does blue mean to you?

Trend forecasting agencies and commercial companies such as Dulux are predicting blue as colour for 2013. Whilst Dulux promote Indigo as their colour of the year, colour trend forecaster Global Mix observe the migration of blue from turquoise and sky blue through to a deep petrol blue.

Often cited as the worlds’ favourite colour, blue can appear to have calming reflective qualities. Strong blues stimulate clear thought, a useful colour where intelligence, logic and communication are required. Lighter and softer blues calm the mind.

Trust and efficiency are qualities often associated with blue and perhaps therefore why it is a colour that is so often synonymous with corporate branding.  The lighter, brighter blue of Barclays bank logo seems friendly and appealing, but is it the right kind of blue which tells us that they can be trusted with our money?  The strong mid blue of the NHS logo and darker Boots blue look more business-like and efficient.

  

Blue can also be accused of appearing cold and unfriendly. Ideally I think using more than one colour in a brand logo offers an opportunity to communicate more than one message. For example, I like the Robert Dyas logo. Here a deep teal blue is used with a more vibrant green and lighter blue. There’s something both reassuring and trustworthy about this combination given by the brighter, friendly green and earthier blue.

 

 

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Exploring colour in your world – one day workshop 26th January Guildford, Surrey

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Colour psychology for graphic design and communication – 2 day course 17th & 18th January Guildford, Surrey

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Colour psychology for interior design – 2 day course 21st & 22nd February Guildford, Surrey

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Just opened at Gatwick, Jamie Oliver’s new restaurant and food concept combines Jamie’s Italian, bakery and a Union Jacks bar with a new food-to-go brand inspired by ‘the joy of flying.’ (The brands’ red and blue colours also neatly associate with what could be described as Britain’s national airline – British Airways!).

Now of course this is THE year for ‘Brit branding’, and so many products from food to clothing and home wares seem to be wrapped in the red, white and blue of the national flag but what do these colours really represent to us? Are they the most appropriate colours to communicate how special and different any product is and appeal to its target market?

The use of colour is an opportunity to communicate the values of the brand. Red and blue are not usually the first colours you would think of to associate with food. The ‘male’ properties of red, and conservative but trustworthy elements of blue in this particular palette combine to give a slightly more traditional look to the design.

I like that the brown packaging style and design seems to marry both the rustic look of Jamie’s Italian with the quirkiness of the Union Jacks restaurant themes. ‘Rustic’ and ‘quirky’ are qualities we more often associate with a palette of muted, off-beat, yellow based colours which being more ‘earthy’ tend to link more in our minds with food. A slightly more orange/red (uncoated) colour such as Pantone 173 would put a little more emphasis on ‘enjoyment’ and our feelings of feeling comfortable or satiated. Adding a little more warmth to the blue with the addition of a little yellow takes it to something like Pantone 7470 which will also sit a little more comfortably with this palette, moving it a little closer to the product proposition (food) and maintaining integrity of both the product and the brand. The colours still retain close enough links to traditional Brit branding and look great with the rustic look of the brown packaging material too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other articles you may also like:

3 quick tips for using colour in branding

Going green – McDonald’s?

Red and the Virgin empire

 

 

There is no doubt that 2012 is officially the year in which the UK is officially ‘trending’. Following on from last years’ Royal Wedding, we have just enjoyed the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and are preparing ourselves to host the Olympics. The colours red, white and blue have manifested themselves across all manner of product design and memorabilia.

However, it’s not just the colours of our national flag that have been trending for a while now, but attention has turned towards the personal colour palette of the Queen herself. Whilst Pantone and London advertising agency Leo Burnett have launched a limited edition Diamond Jubilee colour guide commemorating some of the Queen’s most memorable fashion colour choices, D.I.Y store and paint retailer Homebase have identified several paint colours inspired by the Queen’s colour choices that have been “flying off the store’s shelves”.

All these colours share common characteristics in that they are soft, light, blueish tones. These are typical colours we describe as being a ‘summer’ palette, their slightly ‘bleached’ out delicacy mirrors many of the colours we see around us in the natural world at this time of year. A summer personality is described as calm, balanced and understated. Classic, they appreciate quality and good design.

The colours blue and pink appear to dominate the Queen’s palette and the palette as a whole expresses her personality. Whilst blue can appear quite authoritative, softer hues can be soothing and inspire trust. Soft and approachable, a summer pink, (the ultimate feminine colour!) expresses the part of one’s personality that is nurturing and empathetic.

This palette of colours work well for a sophisticated, perhaps classically inspired interior. Softer blue can be mentally calming and so useful to consider in rooms where rest or quiet contemplation is required. Pink is physically soothing, and worth considering for bedrooms and bathrooms .

Other colours from the Homebase range that work well with this palette are: Meadow, Sky, Summer jasmine, Oyster, Mocha, Pebble, Dove grey and Putty.

Find out more about colour and your personality at in:colour’s ‘Exploring Colour in Your World’ workshop Saturday 21st July 2012! Click here for details!

Continuing the theme of ‘red’ I wanted to talk about the effect of colour in branding and design.  When we think of ‘Mega-brand’, Virgin, the colour we will associate with any of its products, is red. But how do we perceive this colour in relation to the brand – does red accurately convey the values and qualities of the Virgin ‘empire’, the third most recognised brand in the UK?

The Virgin Brand

Diverse and independent, Virgin’s businesses are licensed and branded under the Virgin group banner. The customer franchise is strong and applied to a vast range of businesses across sectors including music, finance, leisure, travel, communication and cosmetics.

Customer service oriented and fun, the Virgin ethos believes in delivering quality, innovative and value products whilst being authentic. The company values are listed as such:

• Fun – enjoyment and humour
• Value for money – simple not cheap
• Quality – attention to detail, not expensive for the sake of it
• Innovation – challenging convention, but not for the sake of being different
• Competetive challenge – responding to consumer needs, not being irrelevant
• Brilliant customer service – delivered by empowered, professional people

Colour cohesion is important in brand design to communicate authenticity. Research in to the relationship between marketing and colour has found that colour increases brand recognition by up to 80%. Taking a look at some of the logos for different Virgin branded products and services, it’s apparent that as much diversity exists in the colours of the different brands as in the Virgin group itself. Criticism exists that Virgin’s multi brands don’t make a comfortable fit visually or culturally. Are we becoming confused as to who Virgin are anymore?

Because overall the ‘business personality’ of Virgin would appear youth-orientated, fun, confident and with its roots based in music, communication and travel; I would be looking at hues from a light, clean, fresh palette of yellow based colours to mirror these qualities (spring).  I would choose different hues within this group to express the individual qualities of the brand products maintaining both visual and brand integrity.

While the colour red fits the bill for expressing any qualities in branding relating to action, courage, movement and energy;  the qualities of fun and value for money are best represented by the colour orange, a hue combining red and yellow linking physical colour red’s action with yellow’s confidence. Orange relates to our feelings of comfort and enjoyment. There seems to be confusion in what the Virgin red is? (Slightly orangeish Pantone Warm Red C would work best).

‘Quality’ is best represented by the colour purple, and ‘innovation’  best represented by turquoise blues. Some gravitas is required within these brands, particularly in Virgin’s finance venture – Virgin Money. We want to trust that this fun, forward thinking brand can be trusted with our money, so slightly stronger (spring) blues ought to be considered to communicate trust and efficiency!

Learn more about how colour affects branding and our daily lives in our one-day workshop – click ‘Exploring Colour in Your World’ Satuday July 21st 2012

Reported recently – Cardiff City football club’s association with their team colour has been threatened with change by the club’s Malaysian owners who want to change the colour of the team kit from blue to red.

Whilst Cardiff City Supporter’s Trust are concerned with the implications of “changing a century of tradition”, the club’s Malaysian owners believe red to be a more dynamic colour and also a significant colour for Wales.

Although colour is important to visually differentiate teams on the playing field, it can also have a very positive effect on the performance of a team. Here in the UK, three of our most successful football teams, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool F.C., wear red as their team strip. Red is a very ‘physical’ colour representing the qualities of courage, stamina, activity and strength.

Much heraldic and cultural symbolism is associated with colour, and in Malaysia culturally, the colour red represents the very same values as those it represents in colour psychology.

The colour of Cardiff City’s current team strip, blue, relates to the mind and ‘logical thought’. In terms of colour psychology therefore, the team’s strength may be in their ability to ‘out-psych’ the opposition or develop a better strategy for play. Culturally the colour blue in Malaysia represents truth, loyalty, perseverance and justice. It may be the view of Cardiff City’s owners that whilst (blue) team loyalty is commendable, the red qualities of strength, courage and stamina are going to win them the game!

Explore Colour in Your World

What is colour? Why does it have an effect on us and how can we harness it’s effects?

A one-day workshop for all those interested in finding out more about colour – Saturday July 21st 2012

click here for more details and to book