Color Has Power - Our Responses to Color!

If there's one thing I love about being human (among other things) it's the fact that I can see in color. Now,... that may sound so insignificant, but imagine if you were deprived of your sight or even deprived of your ability to see color. Imagine if there was no color in the world. To me, a world without color is like a world without emotion, without definition.

Color does something that makes the world the rich, bountiful experience that it is. What's interesting is that color not only *colors* (pardon the pun) our world, but it also kindles powerful emotional and psychological reactions in us. Advertisers, manufacturers, interior designers know this - which is why certain products for sale are packaged in a particular color, or why a designer would choose a particular color scheme for a space. Why and how then do people respond to color?

First of all, color vision is an intriguing phenomenon. For one thing, it only exists in our brains. The ability to see color is actually our brain's ability to interpret certain patterns of light and frequencies of light as a particular color.

Confusing? Let me put it this way.

A green leaf is not really a *green* leaf. Rather, we have named the frequency of light shining from the leaf as *green* and have culturally and scientifically accepted it as such. Human beings also have the ability to tell colors apart because we have the ability to perceive the difference between light frequencies. We then use LANGUAGE to describe these differences, naming them green, or blue, or yellow, or orange, or purple. Since much of color recognition lies in the brain, tests have also shown that the body responds physiologically when particular colors are experienced or seen. Scans show that our skin, blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, and the blinking of our eyes changes depending on what color we see. These physiological responses, in turn, translate as feelings or emotions.

We can then say that different colors evoke different reactions in the viewer. And, since we have the facility of language, and the constant need to interpret our experiences, we then place meaning into these reactions. For instance, when we see the color yellow, it evokes in us a reaction akin to joy or euphoria. Which is why we say that yellow is a *happy* color.

Interestingly, a lot of the meaning we place on colors can actually be dependent on our culture. Let's take for example the color *white.* To the Western world, white is a symbol of purity, virginity and cleanliness - hence, women wear white at their wedding. Did you know, however, that white is a symbol of mourning in many Asian cultures? If you live in China, then, white would be what you would wear to a funeral! Thus, the Chinese people believe that white denotes sorrow, grief, even, horror.

Studies have also discovered that gender plays a huge part in how we respond to color. Instinctively, we have assigned particular colors for particular genders. We dress baby girls in pink and baby boys in blue. For some, assigning colors for a particular gender is a hotly debated topic. But what the scientific studies say is that men would respond to certain colors differently from women. Men really do prefer blue more than women would. And women would generally prefer lighter colors than dark ones.

When men and women were placed in rooms with particular color schemes, heart rates would go up or down depending on what the color scheme was, and depending on gender! What this confirms is that color affects people on a subconscious level.

While culture, environment, gender, socio-economic status, even our age are some of the most important factors why color affects us the way it does, we cannot deny that we have a physiological and psychological response to color. Here are some common colors and what research has said about our response to them:

RED - Research shows that red is the very first color an infant discerns. More than that, red actually stimulates brain development in babies! Red is also known to enhance our taste buds, hence the plethora of restaurants painted in red, and we do have a tendency to stay in red environments longer.

PINK - While there is a gender bias for pink as the color for what all little girls are made of, pink has been used in prisons because it is, in fact, a calming color which reduces stress and anger. Other than that, pink also communicates "value" which is why pink is the color of choice for brands that promote a lot of "bling."

BLUE - What's interesting about blue is that it is not commonly found in food found in nature. Perhaps this is why the color blue acts as an appetite suppressant for us. Very few restaurants are painted in blue. But a lot of hospitals, clinics and spas are - precisely because it causes the brain to release tranquilizing hormones. Blue is also the color of fantasy on one hand and credibility on the other. Since blue dye was difficult to come by in ancient times, blue has become associated with positions of wealth and authority.

YELLOW - We all know it - yellow attracts attention. Partnered with black, it communicates caution or danger, perhaps because bees that sting and poisonous snakes carry yellow and black markings. Yellow, however, causes eye fatigue and irritation since it can be overly stimulating visually. Babies cry more and adults lose their temper faster in yellow rooms. Research also shows that yellow is highly visible in traffic hence, school buses are painted yellow, avoiding accidents. Dieters and gym buffs love yellow because it actually speeds up metabolism.

There are numerous other nifty things we can learn about color. In fact, there's so much information out there that it merits another article! In Part 2, I will be discussing how color is actually light and how it can be good for us plus another list of colors and our psychological and physiological responses to them. Stay tuned!

References:

1.) Kim Andersen. "The Power of Color." Article online at http://www.techexchange.com/thelibrary/powerofcolor.html

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