The science that studies color, color combinations, contrasts and harmony, the peculiarities of human perception of color, color language and culture, is called colorism. Also the influence of color on moods and feelings of a man is studied in detail in psychology. Selecting colors for advertising design is always a laborious process. It is necessary to achieve the right accents and combinations, not only to attract the attention of the potential customer to your product/service, but also to memorize it for a long time.
In advertising, color performs a list of indispensable functions. Besides attracting attention, it causes understanding of the offered goods/services, increases memorability of advertising, highlights its most important components, emphasizes the positive features of the product, creates a positive attitude towards the advertisement and the product in general.

How does it work?

• Full-color printed promotional items attract attention more than monochrome, even if they have a laconic design.
• Color memory allows us to quickly recognize goods by the color of packaging, for example the design of packaging for mint gum often contains shades of green, and in search of berry tea we will look for packaging with red, pink, purple shades.
• Color great helps to remember the ad. According to statistics, black and white ads are remembered by 40% of the audience, two-color – 45%, and full color – up to 70%.
• Visible color images, such as photos, graphics, will help to clearly articulate the image of the proposed product.
• Color solutions knowingly guide customers to the prices. Elements of silver, gold, a combination of black and red, blue and silver, purple or green and gold hint in advance at the class of the goods and the status of the manufacturer.

Next, we will present the specific effects of colors in different advertising contexts

RED is the clear market leader in advertising. It evokes a strong emotional response, builds up the consumer’s resolve and urges him/her to immediately buy the product/use the service. If your company does not intend to appeal so openly to customers, you can use shades of red, they cause a more sensible reaction. Purple and burgundy symbolize sophistication and solidity, pink – tenderness. In color combinations, red should be left to lead, so your ads will be remembered better.

YELLOW is one of the solar colors. Stimulates the brain and eyesight, creates an atmosphere of warmth and coziness, increases mood. Yellow is the lightest color in the spectrum, placing promotional text yellow on a dark background will be equally well readable at long distances and not very. As a rule, yellow is used in advertising for children’s products, entertainment, recreation.

GREEN most often symbolizes products and services related to health and areas of medicine, biology, ecology. Psychologists find shades of green soothing and relaxing. That is why green is often used as a background or for logos of medical institutions. If, for example, to serve ads for medical services in shades of red or black, it will seem unconvincing, as in this context, red will be subconsciously associated with blood, and black with grief. In shades of green, the reaction will be spared fear and anxiety.

BLUE symbolizes serenity, peace, and tranquility. Details of blue in promotional products will not catch the eye immediately, but they are guaranteed not to cause aversion.

WHITE is the symbol of purity, the symbol of the beginning. White is the standard background for all promotional products. It does not cause emotions, does not call for purchase.

BLACK is the main color in typography. It is the most suitable for readability of almost any font. Black underlines refinement and gives a sense of mystery in some contexts. Using the technique of “consistent contrast”, all colors can be made richer simply by placing them on a black background. The main thing is for them to be really contrasting. At the same time, do not put a lot of text on a black background, reading will be very tedious.

Of course, what color to choose and what associations it may evoke depends largely on the context, but at the same time, ridiculously chosen color can kill even the most “selling” advertising text.

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