Colours affect how we feel and perform | Kinnarps (2024)

Different colours influence us in different ways

Colours affect everything from mood to neurophysiological reactions. Some colours can stimulate conversation and bursts of energy or activity, while other colours encourage serenity, silence or reflection. Everyone is affected differently by colours, and tastes differ depending on who you ask. In other words, it’s very important to know who will be spending time in the spaces and which activities they will be carrying out before choosing colours.

A colour is more than just a colour. It’s important to bear in mind that it can be cold or warm and come in a variety of different shades. In other words, green is not only pleasant, it can be something completely different depending on the interplay between colour, tone, light, cold, warmth and contrast. Even slight differences can alter the perception of a room and its proportions. What looks a certain way on a flat surface can make a completely different impression when applied in a room. The impression can also be altered depending on daylight and lighting. Furthermore, colours affect each other when viewed together, which can change perceptions of the height, width, depth, balance and orientation of the room.

Light and warmth have a profound effect on the way that people perceive colours. You can change the colour and holistic impression of a room considerably simply by altering the lighting. The time of day is also crucial for how we see a colour. A blue colour on a cold, cloudy winter’s day can be perceived as a completely different shade of blue when the sun hits the colour and warms up the room. Light colours have the advantage of absorbing light from the outside, which makes us more alert during the day. Darker colours, on the other hand, block the light, so should be used wisely.Studies have shown that cold colours tend to be valued more negatively and warm colours more positively. Yet cold, cool colours reduce blood pressure and aid concentration.

Colours affect how we feel and perform | Kinnarps (2024)

FAQs

Colours affect how we feel and perform | Kinnarps? ›

Colours affect everything from mood to neurophysiological reactions. Some colours can stimulate conversation and bursts of energy or activity, while other colours encourage serenity, silence or reflection.

How do colors affect the way we feel? ›

Happy, bright colors can increase your mental activity and leave you feeling rejuvenated and energized. This is especially helpful for those dealing with depression or low energy. Conversely, exposure to dark, somber colors can help bring your energy levels down if you're feeling overstimulated or frantic .

Do colors affect your inner feelings how so? ›

Calming versus energizing.

Cool colors are often calming, or at least not overly stimulating. Cool colors can help you feel relaxed or at peace. Likewise, warm colors are often energizing, and they can inspire action, passion, or even appetite.

What are the mental effects of color? ›

Hue, saturation, and brightness affect how you respond to the color in your environment. Red hues cause the most emotional arousal, blue the least, and green is somewhere in between. A color that is very bright and highly saturated will trigger the strongest emotional response.

What are the four psychological colors? ›

There are four psychological primary colours – red, blue, yellow and green. They relate respectively to the body, the mind, the emotions and the essential balance.

How do colors affect the brain? ›

There are three main colors that affect you, those colors being red, blue, and yellow. Red makes you feel strong emotions, blue makes you feel calmer emotions, and yellow brings feelings of happiness because it's often compared in people's minds to the sun.

Does color really affect how you act? ›

It's not just mood and emotions that color can affect. It can also affect performance in very real ways. For example, in a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, researchers found that the color red negatively affected performance on a test.

What color makes you feel calm? ›

Green – Quiet and restful, green is a soothing color that can invite harmony and diffuse anxiety. Blue – A highly peaceful color, blue can be especially helpful for stress management because it can encourage a powerful sense of calm. Purple – In many cultures, shades of violet represent strength, wisdom and peace.

What color means anxiety? ›

The study found that people with or anxiety were more likely to associate their mood with the color gray, while preferred yellow.

What color reduces depression? ›

Red. A very powerful color, red can easily raise energy levels and stimulate moods. Because of its power, it can help combat depression by creating positive thoughts and feelings.

What color stimulates mental processes? ›

Yellow. The color yellow stimulates mental processes, encourages communication, strains the eyes, but also increases cheerfulness. In marketing, it represents optimism, youthfulness, and clarity.

What is the most powerful color in psychology? ›

Red. This powerful color is associated with excitement, energy, power, fearlessness, and passion. In sales, call-to-action buttons use red to empower shoppers to convert because it exudes a sense of urgency.

What is the most aggressive color? ›

Depending on intensity and context, red can also be perceived as "aggressive". In nature, red stands for both warning and attraction.

What are the 6 emotions colors? ›

The color red was most associated with anger, green with disgust, black with fear, yellow with happiness, blue with sadness, and bright with surprise. These associations may be a result of various expressions containing color terms that are used in the English language—for example, “seeing red” or “feeling blue.”

How does color change the feeling of an image? ›

Colors matter because they stir our emotions, influenced by both biology and culture. Our eyes and brain process these hues, making us feel a certain way. For instance, green can be calming, while bright red might signal danger. Cultural experiences also play a role.

How to test if color affects mood? ›

You might locate rooms with different colors in your school, or perhaps use a photography studio with different color backgrounds. Once you got that figured out, ask your test subject to sit in the the room and to tell you how they feel and what kind of feelings they get from the color of the surroundings. Record this.

Can color make you feel or have a mood to it explain your answer? ›

Color affects your mood through different associations. The human brain associates warm colors—such as red, orange, and yellow—with a range of feelings, including passion, comfort, anger, and power.

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