A new study by scientists from Newcastle University further supports the theory that our colour preferences goes far beyond cultural significance and link to a deeper understanding at a primal level.

Professor Anya Hurlbert of Newcastle University asked adults from different cultures to choose their preferred colour from pairs of coloured rectangles which revealed that females have a preference for ‘redder’ colours. The results seem to support the theory that evolution may have driven women’s preference for the colour pink. Professor Hurlbert suggested that in human development women were the primary gatherers and would have recognised the colour to indicate riper fruit. Pink also is an indication of good health when choosing a mate. From Barbie pink to sugar pink; rose, candy, magenta and salmon are also all variations of the colour pink which at its base is a combination of the colours red and white.

But its symbolism is complex. Until the early part of the twentieth century the colour pink in art was considered a dilution of red and associated with more male qualities. It’s not certain when or why the association of pink switched from male to female but it is thought that social, cultural and political changes influenced fashion and colour trends.

Essentially at a primary level pink relates to the skin.  Regardless of your skin colour, some part of your body is pink. There may be further strong primal links to the female anatomy and its processes e.g. birth, linking to nurture and care. Hence our associations with pink also to the qualities of love.

Pink used in branding

A trawl through various branding identities shows the emphasis on pink being used for products and services when specifically targeted to a female audience. Some companies will almost lazily plaster a product with pink in an effort to appeal to the ‘girls’. However, different types of pink will better appeal to different types of audience.

The car insurance company ‘Sheila’s Wheels’ dominant use of pink throughout brand advertising makes things totally clear – the service is just for the girls!

                 
Breast cancer charities www.breatcancercare.org and www.breastcancercampaign.org both use the colour pink in different ways to express different feminine qualities. The softer bluish pink of Breast Cancer Care communicates a more empathetic message whilst the feisty strong pink of Breast Cancer Campaign demands ‘donate now’!

                 

The London based brand, Thomas Pink, create shirts and accessories now sold all over the world. The original Mr Pink was an 18th century London tailor who designed the iconic scarlet hunting coat worn by Masters of Foxhounds. The coat became referred to as PINK, in honour of its originator. The brand uses its namesake colour with the thought that black perhaps adds gravitas and diminishes any overly feminine connotations. However, I think the reverse is true. The very grown up seductive combination of black and pink speaks more about ‘feminine mystery’ as used in successful upmarket lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.

                  

Because pink relates so well to the skin, it can be physically soothing; it obviously lends itself to skincare or even health related products. The product Pepto Bismal’s lurid pink liquid offers relief from livid insides.

 

Tips on using pink in branding

1)      Think a bit more outside the box than just ‘will this appeal to a girl/woman’ if I use pink? Consider the qualities and an association around the principle of femininity i.e. does this product/service need to communicate that it’s:

• Physically soothing
• Caring or nurturing (for the client physically or personally)
• Romantic

2)      What else does the product message need to communicate?

• Think about the type of pink. Softer, lighter pinks have different qualities to vibrant and dynamic magenta or reddish pink

• Consider the other colours you use with pink. Yellow (as in Pepto Bismol branding) inspires confidence. Black (Agent Provocateur) adds some mystery and seduction.

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!

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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