Colour defines our world and gives definition to the objects around us. In nature you will find a greater variety of colour than man can possibly create. The human reaction to colour is based on nature's symbolism but the human psyche is what interprets these colours and gives them meaning.
Colour, without our realizing it, can have a profound effect on how we feel both mentally and physically. Ancient Egyptians and also the Native American Indians used colour and coloured light to heal. Below are some emotional associations that humans tend to have with certain colours. These are important to keep in mind in order to create the mood you are seeking.
A very important aspect of our visual experience is colour. The colour has a sensing mechanism of the eye and brain. Yet the nervous impulses of the colour channel don't only go to the brain. Some pulses travel to the pituitary and pineal glands through the hypothalamus. It is logical to assume that what we see, especially colour, can affect the systems of the body. Psychologists and physiologists believe this to be true and are investigating exactly what each colour can do to our bodies.
Red
Physiological Effect: Red has been shown to increase blood pressure and stimulate the adrenal glands. The stimulation of the adrenals glands helps us become strong and increases our stamina. Pink, a lighter shade of red, helps muscles relax.
Psychological Effect: While red has proven to be a colour of vitality and ambition it has been shown to be associated with anger. Sometimes red can be useful in dispelling negative thoughts, but it can also make one irritable. Pink has the opposite effect of red. Pink induces feelings of calm, protection, warmth and nurture. This colour can be used to lessen irritation and aggression as it is connected with feelings of love. Red is sometimes associated with sexuality, whereas pink is associated with unselfish love.
Red is the colour that we pay the most attention to. It is the warmest and most energetic colour in the spectrum.
We associate red with love, valentines, danger, desire, speed, strength, violence, anger, emergency exit signs, stop signs and blood.
Red can evoke a fight-or-flight response, raise blood pressure and make the heart beat faster.
Red has more personal associations than any other colour. Recognized as a stimulant red is inherently exciting and the amount of red is directly related to the level of energy perceived. Red draws attention and a keen use of red as an accent can immediately focus attention on a particular element.
How the colour red effects us mentally and physically
* Increases enthusiasm
* Stimulates energy
* Encourages action and confidence
* A sense of protection from fears and anxiety
Orange
Physiological Effect: Orange has proven to be a stimulus of the sexual organs. Also, it can be beneficial to the digestive system and can strengthen the immune system.
Psychological Effect: Orange has shown to have only positive affects on your emotional state. This colour relieves feelings of self-pity, lack of self-worth and unwillingness to forgive. Orange opens your emotions and is a terrific antidepressant.
Orange is a combination of yellow and red. Orange is considered a warm colour like red, but to a lesser extent; orange expresses energy. It has luminous qualities and has been used for attention-getting purposes, such as on caution signs.
Orange brings up memories of fall leaves, pumpkins and Halloween. It symbolizes balance, warmth, enthusiasm, vibrancy, flamboyancy, and is demanding of attention.
Orange, a close relative of red, sparks more controversy than any other hue. There is usually strong positive or negative association to orange and true orange generally elicits a stronger "love it" or "hate it" response than other colours. Fun and flamboyant orange radiates warmth and energy. Interestingly, some of the tones of orange such as terra cotta, peach or rust have very broad appeal.
How the colour orange effects us mentally and physically
* Stimulates activity
* Stimulates appetite
* Encourages socialization
Yellow
Physiological Effect: Yellow has proven to stimulate the brain. This stimulation can make you more alert and decisive. This colour makes muscles more energetic and activates the lymph system.
Psychological Effect: Similarly to Orange, Yellow is a happy and uplifting colour.
It can also be associated with intellectual thinking: discernment, memory, clear thinking, decision-making and good judgment. Yellow builds self-confidence and encourages optimism. However, a dull yellow can bring on feelings of fear.
Yellow represents joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, gold, philosophy, dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal, jealousy, covetousness, deceit, illness, hazard, spirituality and inspiration.
The yellow rose is a symbol of friendship, less passionate or threatening than red ones
In Asia yellow is sacred, and imperial.
Yellow shines with optimism, enlightenment, and happiness. Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future. Yellow will advance from surrounding colours and install optimism and energy as well as spark creative thoughts.
How the colour yellow effects us mentally and physically
* Mentally stimulating
* Stimulates the nervous system
* Activates memory
* Encourages communication
Green
Physiological Effect: Green is said to be good for you heart. On a physical and emotional, green helps your heart bring you physical equilibrium and relaxation. Green relaxes our muscles and helps us breathe deeper and slower.
Psychological Effect: Green creates feelings of comfort, laziness, relaxation, calmness. It helps us balance and soothe our emotions. Some attribute this to its connection with nature and our natural feelings of affiliation with the natural world when experiencing the colour green. Yet, darker and greyer greens can have the opposite effect. These olive green colours remind us of decay and death and can actually have a detrimental effect on physical and emotional health. Note that sickened cartoon characters always turned green.
Green, one of most-often cited favourite colours. It represents nature, environment, health, good luck, renewal, youth, vigour, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy, inexperience, envy, misfortune.
Green occupies more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye and is second only to blue as a favourite colour. Green is the pervasive colour in the natural world that is an ideal backdrop in interior design because we are so used to seeing it everywhere. The natural greens, from forest to lime, are seen as tranquil and refreshing, with a natural balance of cool and warm (blue and yellow) undertones. Green is considered the colour of peace and ecology. However, there is an "institutional" side to green, associated with illness or Government-issued that conjure up negative emotions as do the "slimy" or bilious greens.
How the colour green effects us physically and mentally
* Soothing
* Relaxing mentally as well as physically
* Helps alleviate depression, nervousness and anxiety
* Offers a sense of renewal, self-control and harmony
Blue
Physiological Effect: In contrast to red, blue proves to lower blood pressure. Blue can be linked to the throat and thyroid gland. Blue also has a very cooling and soothing affect, often making us calmer. Deep blue stimulates the pituitary gland, which then regulates our sleep patterns. This deeper blue also has proved to help the skeletal structure in keeping bone marrow healthy.
Psychological Effect: We usually associate the colour blue with the night and thus we feel relaxed and calmed. Lighter blues make us feel quite and away from the rush of the day. These colours can be useful in eliminating insomnia. Like yellow, blue inspires mental control, clarity and creativity. However, too much dark blue can be depressing.
Blue represents peace, tranquillity, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, cold, technology, and depression.
Blue can "slow the pulse rate, lower body temperature, and reduce appetite." Blue is considered a business colour because it reflects reliability.
In China, blue is associated with immortality.
In Colombia, blue is associated with soap.
For Hindus blue is the colour of Krishna.
For the Jews, blue symbolizes holiness.
In the Middle East blue is a protective colour.
Note: Blue is often considered to be the safest global colour.
Blue is the overwhelming "favourite colour." Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed. The colour of sky and the ocean, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives. As the collective colour of the spirit, it invokes rest and can cause the body to produce chemicals that are calming; however not all blues are serene and sedate. Electric or brilliant blues become dynamic and dramatic, an engaging colour that expresses exhilaration. Some shades or the overuse of blue may come across as cold or uncaring. Blue is the least "gender specific" colour, having equal appeal to both men and women.
How the colour blue effects us physically and mentally
* Calming and sedate
* Cooling
* Aids intuition
Purple
Physiological Effect: Violet has shown to alleviate conditions such as sunburn due to its purifying and antiseptic effect. This colour also suppresses hunger and balances the body's metabolism. Indigo, a lighter purple, has been used by doctors in Texas as an anaesthesia in minor operations because its narcotic <"A soothing or numbing agent.">qualities
Psychological Effect: Purples have been used in the care of mental of nervous disorders because they have shown to help balance the mind and transform obsessions and fears. Indigo is often associated with the right side of the brain; stimulating intuition and imagination. Violet is associated with bringing peace and combating shock and fear. Violet has a cleansing effect with emotional disturbances. Also, this colour is related to sensitivity to beauty, high ideals and stimulates creativity, spirituality and compassion. Psychic power and protection has also been associated with violet.
Purple represents royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, and mourning. Purple is considered an exotic colour.
Purple dye was made from the mucous gland of a snail. It required thousands of snails to yield 1 gram of dye causing it to be a colour only nobles could afford.
Purple embodies the balance of red simulation and blue calm. This dichotomy can cause unrest or uneasiness unless the undertone is clearly defined at which point the purple takes on the characteristics of its undertone. A sense of mystic and royal qualities, purple is a colour often well liked by very creative or eccentric types and is the favourite colour of adolescent girls.
How the colour purple effects us mentally and physically
* Uplifting
* Calming to mind and nerves
* Offers a sense of spirituality
* Encourages creativity
Brown
Psychological Effect: Brown is the colour of the earth and ultimately home. This colour brings feelings of stability and security. Sometimes brown can also be associated with withholding emotion and retreating from the world.
Brown says stability, reliability, and approachability. It is the colour of our earth and is associated with all things natural or organic.
How the colour brown effects us physically and mentally
* Feeling of wholesomeness
* Stability
* Connection with the earth
* Offers a sense orderliness
Black
Psychological Effect: While comforting and protective, black is mysterious and associated with silence and sometimes death. Black is passive and can prevent us from growing and changing.
Black is the absence of light and therefore, of colour.
It represents power, sexuality, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, fear, evil, anonymity, unhappiness, depth, style, evil, sadness, remorse, anger, underground, good technical colour, mourning and death.
Black is authoritative and powerful; because black can evoke strong emotions too much can be overwhelming. A classic colour for clothing possibly because it makes the wearer appear thinner and more sophisticated.
How the colour black effects us physically and mentally
* feeling inconspicuous
* a restful emptiness
* mysterious evoking a sense of potential and possibility.
White
Psychological Effect: White is the colour of ultimate purity. This colour brings feelings of peace and comfort while it dispels shock and despair. White can be used to give you a feeling of freedom and uncluttered openness. Too much white can give feelings of separation and can be cold and isolation.
White is what we see when all colours come together in perfect balance.
It represents reverence, purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, birth, winter, snow, good, sterility, and marriage.
We use white in figures of speech like "pure as the driven snow" or "a white lie." We associate white with the good guy in old western movies.
In Japan, white carnations signify death.
In eastern cultures white symbolizes coldness and sterility.
White projects purity, cleanliness, and neutrality. Doctors don white coats, brides traditionally were white gowns and a white picket fence surrounds a safe and happy home.
How the colour white effects us mentally and physically
* aids mental clarity
* encourages us to clear clutter or obstacles
* evokes purification of thoughts or actions
* enables fresh beginnings
Grey
Psychological Effect: Gray is the colour of independence and self-reliance, although usually thought of as a negative colour. It can be the colour of evasion and non-commitment (since it is neither black nor white.) Gray indicates separation, lack of involvement and ultimately loneliness.
Gray is timeless, practical, and solid. A longstanding favourite suit colour, grey can mix well with any colour. Although well like and often worn, people rarely name grey as a favourite colour possibly because Gray also is associated with loss or depression.
How the colour black effects us physically and mentally
* unsettling
* expectant
