Since its unveiling last month the Olympic logo has caused much comment from the design world and the public, so,  I thought I would chuck in my two penneth worth and add my comments to the fray.

Radical. Inelegant. Brave. Brash. Original. Outdated. Unreadable. These are some of the words that have been used to describe the design community’s reaction to the unveiling of the new 2012 Olympic brand logo.

Controversial it certainly is. The unexpected colours and design combine to make one react with shock. The logo is expected to ‘evolve’ the closer we come to the Olympics in versions of other colours – blue, green and orange. All use the colour yellow which reinforces a message of optimism and confidence and therefore is a good colour to use in this context. However, the first noticeable thing about the unveiled version is well, how very PINK it is.

The Olympic logo – girl power?!

Traditionally the ultimate ‘feminine power’ colour this particular strong magenta hue shrieks at us like the over competitive mum entering the parent’s race at school sports day elbowing her way to the front and claiming the prize – and indeed this colour might not look out of place championing a female only Olympics!

Psychologically we associate pink with the ‘female’ qualities of nurture and care, it is also a physically soothing colour. Some products that we associate with the colour pink might often be female orientated – even household, medical or skin related such as cleaning agents, plasters, face creams and stomach preparations etc.

For example, one such product – Vanish Oxi Action  has a very strong magenta pink container appealing to the female/powerful/cleaning mode of our psyche. This deeper hue of pink has undertones of red and blue that subconsciously underpins its qualities of strength and efficiency.

In another example of girl power, the company ‘Sheila’s Wheels’ aims its services at the ‘pink purse’ communicating its female only car insurance products through the use of a bright version of this colour. A division of the company Esure, the Sheila’s wheels product developed from research and strong opposition to the EU directive that would have seen women forced to subsidise men through their car insurance premiums. Women were found to claim less, are responsible for far fewer driving convictions and in short have an attitude towards their cars, driving and other road users that is often far more considered than those of their male counterparts – in short we care more.

But, apart from the mistaken use of the colour pink, where I think this logo misses the mark is in its use of colours from 3-4 different colour palettes thereby presenting mixed messages. The design style (text and shape etc.) belongs to a psychological ‘colour personality’ (winter) whose qualities are technical, efficient, forward thinking, powerful, and logical; not perhaps wholly representative of the qualities we might associate with the Olympics?

A group of colours that I think equate more with the values we associate with the Olympics would be from the springpalette. Psychologically these warm, light and clear colours far better convey the qualities of movement, high energy, speed, extroversion, optimism and excitement.

Tip: Colour is the first and most significant part of your message. Think about capturing the core value of your business and reflecting that in the colours that you use for your branding. Take a look at some of the meaning and effects of the different colours here.

Hello! Have any of your New Year resolutions included the one about watching what you eat? Thought so! However, it seems that no sooner have we got over the excess of Christmas than we are surrounded by the further temptation of the ‘choc-fest’ that is Valentines. This is the day that we celebrate romance and associate with declarations of love and the giving of hearts and flowers.

I thought you might be interested to know a little of the background to this tradition.The origin of the celebration of Valentines Day is said to have had its roots in the times of the Roman Empire and the pagan Feast of Lupercalia. Each year in the month of February the shepherds would gather to praise their god Lupercus, in the hope that he would protect their flocks from the wolves that prowled around Rome.

The fertility goddess Juno was also honoured as part of this ritual. Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses, Juno was associated with the moon and with all aspects and cycles of womanhood. The festival of Matronalia celebrated this goddess of childbirth, motherhood and women in general. Women would participate in rituals at the temple and would receive gifts from their daughters and husbands whom were expected to offer prayers for their wives(!).

In these times the lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. But, on the eve of the festival of Lupercalia a match-making custom took place where the names of young girls would be written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl’s name from the jar and they both would then be partners for the duration of the festival.

However it was the actions of Saint Valentine, a priest in Rome at this time, whose name also became synonymous with this ancient custom when coming to the aid of marrying couples in secret, led to his death at the hands of  Emperor Claudius II in 270AD.

Through the ages many different ‘Valentines’ traditions have continued including the custom of sending our ’sweethearts’ loving messages on this day. The colour that we associate with ‘love’ and it’s qualities of nurture, romance and compassion is the ultimate universal ‘feminine’ colour – pink.

Wearing shades or tones of pink emphasise our approachable, soft and caring qualities and wearing the right pink will make you appear quite ‘alluring’ – even attracting the attention of a possible mate! Lighter pinks seem to us softer and sweeter, perhaps more gentle. Brighter, clearer pinks can be seen as more youthful and fun. Dynamic hot fuchsia or magenta pinks are stronger and more assertive. Deeper pinks or red-pinks can seem more passionate.

More likely than not when we think of romantic thoughts our mood can be described as ‘in the pink’ meaning happy and in the best possible health. Many cosmetic and some skin related healthcare products will be packaged in pink. In colour psychology the colour pink also represents the physical self, reminding us of skin it is physically soothing so it can be a colour to think about using for the bathroom where of course we are in the ‘psychological mode’ of thinking about our bodies. Similarly you might like to consider using shades of pink in your bedroom where you get dressed, apply skincare and make-up. Warmer orangey-pink tones are more ’sensual’ colours to use in the bedroom and can remind us of warm sunsets before the darkness of night-time settles in.

Warm orangey-pink tones are more sensual

Which are your most ‘romantic’ colours?

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