Colors have a big impact on people. Look around you. Countless of color theory experiments have been made through time. For example this simple test done with school kids: The scientists had two groups of children wearing outdoor jackets. One group of kids were lead into a room painted a cool blue and the other group in a red room. Every single time this test was done, the “red group” would start taking off their jackets and then play, while the “blue group” would start playing, but keep their jackets on. Of course, both of these rooms had the same temperature.
Heritage and culture also plays an enormous role in the way we perceive different colors. A personal example would be that in Denmark the color yellow is without a doubt a “discount” color when it comes to retail and shopping. Pretty much every single store having a sale will display a yellow sale sign, so it would be completely unheard of to for example create a high-end food chain identity using yellow as the primary color.
It’s out of the questions to design a product line without producing three to five different color versions. This is simply because people are attracted to different colors and to reach a broader audience …yes, you create a shampoo and make three different packaging choices based on the fragrance.
I always pick the green one. If it’s green, I’ll buy it.
Smashing Magazine has a great article on color and the meaning of color. Go ahead, read it. Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color
