Colour Personalities & Colour Associations

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With exerts taken from the book 'Colour Psychology Today' by June McLeod

RED

Reds crave attention, with a spirit of adventure, they adore a challenge, setting off with a 'gung-ho' and 'can-do' attitude. Their downfall is completing tasks, they are great starters, and can muster lots of support but struggle to complete. Therefore they need the support of a loyal team to see things through to the finishing line.

ORANGE

Independent with a great sense of humour, the orange personality can laugh themselves out of a tight corner, always seeing the funny side of life. But be warned when an orange is on a downer, they can struggle, for a wee while that is, usually they will regather their focus quite quickly and  bounce back as if nothing has happened to the surprise of everyone.

YELLOW

The mimic of the spectrum, blessed with an enquiring mind yellows absorb information and not always in the traditional way. A sponge like absorption occurs with yellow, sensitive to their environment and the people around them, always on akert, not much escapes their antenae.

GREEN

Trust worthy and hard working, greens are the solid providers of the spectrum. For their loved ones, their co workers and their clientelle. No one will go hungry  at their home, they create a nurturing and supportive environment whether at work or home. Comfort, generosity and hard work are associations for green.

SKY BLUE

Not sit-on-the-fence types, sky blues will happily voice their opinions and stand by their principles.Rarely suffer fools gladly, yet they do possess patience and especially when they feel it is genuinely warranted, then they are likely to go the extra mile.

INDIGO

Blessed with a sharp wit and great sense of humour. Coupled with a deep and unique understanding of the unspoken, Indigos will suss out the social or work 'problems', identify the culprit and resolve the problem long before anyone else has even noticed there may be a problem.

VIOLET

Violets will take the necessary risks to make the appropriate changes needed to place the welfare and wellbeing of the whole on a firmer footing.Time management is of the utmost importance to violets.

MAGENTA

Give and demand respect, expect magentas to bail unless they feel passionate about a project as they give their heart and soul to projects that inspire them. When fired with interest and passion their is no stopping them.

BROWN

Determined and focused unless bored then they can become dogmatic and opinionated. The key to keeping a browns interest? keep them involved from the start and through out, commnication is key.

BLACK

With a number of ideas up their sleeve, give them the space and opportunity to voice their thoughts on the project, stand back and listen carefully as there will no doubt be a golden nugget in their somewhere, blacks are renowned for it.

GOLD

With an uncanny insight, most things are an open book to a gold on top form. Alert, lively and performance motivated, sales is the arena for gold.

To reach their full potential give them the space to work on their own initiative.

PINK

Wanting to please, glowing and happy.......most of the time. Pink in the negative is the most manipulative personality, a force to be reckoned with, think twice before crossing a pink. Caring supportive and loving when operating in the positive.

WHITE

Organised and prefers to work alone rather than in close contact with others. Need their own desk space, frustrated if made to share, not because they dont get on with others, they prefer everything to have its place. Messy work areas and home environments will drive them to distraction. The highest number of people suffering from OCD are white personalities.

COLOUR ASSOCIATIONS

Colour psychology is an integral part of life. You can't avoid colour in life, it is everywhere. The more we embrace it and allow it to fill our lives, the more we will come to understand how it affects us and helps us . I is there to give and sustain life, bring balance and well-being. It is incredibly powerful and transformational, especially regarding memory links.

Why do we care about the concept of colour association? How can this awareness help us in business? Colour association can be cultural, national, historical, personal and linguistic, but one thing we can't deny is that it is also visual.

I have carried out colour work with the blind ( see my best selling colour therapy book 'Colours of the Soul'). 

 Colour has impact, and for that reason , the way we use it can create either the right blend for the intended use or not. One of the known ways colour is associated with a country is through the national flag. The most popular colour in a flag is red. Almost 80% of national flags contain red and the least used colour is purple. The most popular tri-colours are red, white and blue.

Colour psychology associations for each culture are interesting to note and important for business. We may be familiar with our own culture symbolism for a given colour and know how people will interpret it here, but if that colour held a different meaning in another country or culture, here is a high risk of giving offence.

 To know the deeper meaning of colour psychology is an effective way to show that you have learnt something about their heritage. It is a way to show courtesy and respect. It is a means to bridge the difference between people and cultures, to show willingness and to meet them halfway. One clear example of this was on the Queen;s Sate visit to Ireland where she wore green ( a highly significant colour worn as a sign of respect and intention for the future).

With more and more business conducted beyond national and continental boundaries, this understanding can make the difference between you and a competitor who doesnt appreciate the importance of cultural colour psychology diversity.

An example is red:

Western - energy, passion, warning, danger, excitment

Eastern - good fortune, fire, prosperity, worn by brides

Chine - ceremonial, vitality happiness, good fortune

India - power, opulence, fear, fire, fertility

Thailand - fire, sunday day of rest, procreation

Japan - danger, frustraion, life, blood, anger, death

Cherokee - honour, triumph, success, virility

South Africa - mourning, life blood, death

Russia - communism, marriage ceremonies, beauty, Bolsheviks

Nigeria - worn by Chiefs, ceremonial colour of the highest order

Aboriginees - the land and earth colour, Uluru, from the red dust, ceremonial colour

Christian - love, passion, sacrifice, blood, death, birth

Hebrew - sacrifice, sin, death, blood.

And here we were just thinking colours were colours ............

LINGUISTIC COLOUR ASSOCIATIONS

This small sample will show the importance of being colour psychology savvy in International Trade, and I haven't even scratched the surface!

Red - red herring, red rag to a bull,red sky at night, in the red, shown the red card, see red, red tape, see the red light, paint the town red, roll out the red carpet, scarlet woman, red-bloodied man, red as a tomato, left red-faced, catch the red eye.