The Power of Color Association in Packaging

The Power of Color Association in Packaging

Dr. Iko A. Avital

One of the most important elements of brand identity is packaging, and company image is all about the appearance of packaging. A Visuals Packaging Designer develops graphic concepts in harmony with chosen strategy to reinforce the product brand and create a cohesive identity for all the company products. I have spent about 30 years in this packaging design category; it helped me to explore my understanding of today consumers: they became a more and more aware and self-assured shoppers. One reason is the greater accessibility of information and shopping options. Broader range of media options in communicating to consumers: cable TV channels, internet stores, malls; and a broader range of delivery options as well like home shopping channels, telephones buying, electronics kiosks. In a medium size supermarket one product has only a quarter of a second to catch consumer eyes. When consumer pushing a trolley around, his eyes are constantly darting from one package to another, taking in a steady stream of information, and settling on the brands just long enough to give him time to reach out hand and peak them off the shelf. The key question to ask here is: what is the color role in shopper’s decision? Color plays a number of important roles in the marketing of a product. Research has shown that it is color that first attracts the shopper’s attentions to a particular brand. Color also maintains the shopper’s interest and is identified with that product ever after in the shopper’s mind. Color is the most powerful visual component of any package.Because we attach specific qualities to certain colors, consumers instantly pick up messages put out by the manufacturer. Because we so strongly associate certain colors with specific concepts or images, the colors themselves have come to embody those ideas - so much so, that a color is often sufficient in itself to communicate the message of the image it represents. Designer recognize the power of color association in packaging and put it to use in their work. They know that in the packaging of merchandise it is essential to match a product with the appropriate color in order to get the right image across and to attract the right consumers group.

After reading these lines let’s play; Close please your eyes for a second, than try to imagine only one shelf in your neighborhood supermarket, a shelf without any package graphics: no brand, no colors, no images, no texts - just anonyms packed products in boxes and bottles. Could you workout this task? I argue that you probably can not. You can see and remember but colors, because humans simply cannot avoid reacting to color. Typically, we see the world as having a rich tapestry of colors or colored forms: fields, mountains, oceans, cars, clothing, fruits, plants, animals, buildings, and so on. Colors are important in both identifying objects, i.e., in locating them in space, and in re-identifying them. So much of our perception of physical things involves our identifying objects by their appearance, and colors are typically essential to an object’s appearance, that any account of visual perception must contain some account of colors.

Color is a powerful tool for products manufacturers. Color surrounds us and influences us every day of shopping, can affect consumers psychologically and economically. Color acts on human bodies, minds and emotions, it influences moods and feelings, triggering deep and subtle responses on consumer subconscious level: it can sway thinking, spur action and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe, raise blood pressure or suppress the appetite. It has been estimated that up to 60 percent of the acceptance or rejection of a product or service may be related to its color. As colors stimulate the nervous system in their own individual ways, they can even affect a shopper’s perception of passing time. For example, an hour appears to fly past when spent in a red environment, whereas the same hour in a space designed a restful shade of green seems to stretch out far beyond its statutory sixty minutes. Each color has its own properties and exerts its individual influence, subtly impacting on shopper emotions and behavior. Perhaps the most difficult tasks for color researchers is the work done on color trends. A veritable army of researchers poll customer preferences looking for indicators of changes in taste when it comes to color. This information is fed to color forecasting firms that then define color popularity for the coming season in fashion design or in food packaging: which color is the “hottest,” which is holding steady and which is yesterday’s news. Businesses in every industry then develop color strategies around these color “guesstimates”. In packaging graphics the main color tasks are: to build up a product I.D., to differ the visual impact from competitors on shelf in the category, and to familiar the brand to consumers. When done well, color combinations go unnoticed, the subconscious simply records a pleasing picture; but when colors clash the effect is jarring and noticeable. The rapidity of change in color tastes appears to be dependent on the industry: Fashion colors change quickly, interior design much more slowly, packaging design update, from time to time, the “fresh look” of the products packaging.

Despite the fact that color psychology is still a relatively new science and not well understood, an entire segment of the business world is focused on color and shoppers’s emotional responses to it. Color psychology research is challenging because human emotions are not very stable and the psychic make-up of human beings varies from person to person. Designers manipulate colors to communicate and to influence mood and feeling. Color communication occurs at the most subconscious level; Research has shown that some color responses are not only powerful, but also near universal. People are indoctrinated that red means “stop” and green means “go” to the point that a flash of red has you stepping on the brake. Other color responses are entrenched in a country’s culture. There are also cultural issues with colors. In Europe and North America, white is associate with youth, marriage and beginnings, in Japan and India white is the funeral color. Color has long been used to represent affiliations and loyalties (e.g., school or regimental colors) and as a symbol of various moods (e.g., red with rage) and qualities (e.g., worthy of a blue ribbon). A well-known use of the symbolism of color is in the liturgical colors of the Western Church, according to which the color of the vestments varies through the ecclesiastical calendar; e.g., purple is the color of Advent and Lent; white of Easter; and red of the feasts of the martyrs. There is also color psychology to consider: Reds, oranges and yellows give a feeling of warmth while greens, blues and violets are perceived as cool colors. Younger audiences respond well to warmer colors while mature audiences prefer the cooler colors. Different professions respond differently to color. Red may excite moviegoers, but it is negative to accountants, healthy to doctors and danger to engineers. Yellow is happiness to movie- goers, importance to financiers, jaundice to medicos and caution for engineers. Pale green represents calm repose.

Choice of package color, whether it will be for food, household appliances or toys, can set the mood and effect the viewer in many ways. Knowing how certain colors reach a particular target market or elicit a specific emotional response is important for the designer. In packaging design there is a basic color toolbox terminology - Hue: any pure color, with the exception of Black or White. Chroma: The chromaticity of a color is its saturation or intensity. For example if we are using an RGB palette a high chromaticity blue might be 0,0,255 or Red has a higher chromaticity than pink. Value: The value of a color is its ‘lightness’ or ‘brightness’. Now it might seem that chroma and value are the same thing but they are not. For example, if you take two high chroma colors like Blue and Yellow, Yellow has the higher value than blue because its ‘brighter’. Tone: any hue mixed with a grey (a neutral of black and white). Tint: a hue mixed with white. Shade: a hue mixed with black.

Package interface graphics try to use the effects and moods of color: ‘Cold’: Colors like Blue, green and Blue-green are associated with cold, and calm. Using these colors to promote a feeling of austerity, cleanliness, invigorating freshness, coldness. ‘Cool’: Blue is the base for these colors but added are reds and yellows to bring out a wide range of color from minty green to a soft violet. These colors help promote a feeling of calm, serenity, trust and relaxation. ‘Hot’: Red is the highest chroma color there is…simply put it is the most powerful hue. A hot color may evoke strong emotional responses, and has been known to stimulate physical activity and sexual desire. Use hot colors if you are wanting an aggressive feel or want something to really stand out amongst others. Note: Even though red is the strongest of hues, placing a high chroma yellow in any designsd or work of art will draw the eye first. ‘Warmth’: Based in Red but softened and suffused with orange and yellows. Warm colors are often used to suggest comfort and warm heartfelt emotions. ‘Darkness’: No these are not the colors of evil. They are often used to reduce space. These colors are also used so that lighter colors can stand out greater and be more effective. These colors are somber, and can suggest melancholy and solidity. ‘Light’: These colors are barely colors at all they exist merely as suggestions and hints of colors. They are the opposite of darkness, and they are often used to open up a space or evoke a feeling of openness. ‘Pastel’: These pale colors are hues tinted with large amounts of white and are very soft in nature. The bring out a mood of innocence, fond memories, and romance. ‘Intensity’: The colors of intensity are high chroma colors and pure - when used seem to scream their message. It is great for attention grabbing. We can not design a package without understating the consumer world of associations, his way of understanding and encoding color semantics.

Henceforth, some of the average psychology color codes: Red: Excitement, energy, passion, desire, speed, strength, power, heat, love, aggression, danger, fire, blood, war, violence, aggression, all things intense and passionate. Blue: Peace, tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, cold, technology, depression, appetite suppressant. Orange: Peace, tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, cold, technology, depression, appetite suppressant. Green: Nature, environment, healthy, good luck, renewal, youth, vigor, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy, inexperience, envy, misfortune. Purple: Royalty, spirituality, nobility, spirituality, ceremony, mysterious, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, mourning. Grey: Security, reliability, intelligence, staid, modesty, dignity, maturity, solid, conservative, practical, old age, sadness, boring. Brown: Earth, hearth, home, outdoors, reliability, comfort, endurance, stability, simplicity, and comfort. White: Reverence, purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, birth, winter, snow, good, sterility, marriage (Western cultures), death (Eastern cultures), cold, clinical, sterile. Black: Power, sexuality, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, fear, evil, anonymity, unhappiness, depth, style, evil, sadness, remorse, anger, underground, good technical color, mourning, death (Western cultures).

The visual store, the world as we see it, is a world populated by decoded colored objects. The power of color is the understanding the consumers ways of encoding colors, its associations that motivate them to buy our products. Colors are visual marketing tool that communicate directly with the hidden personal reasons of decisions: the world of unconscious