Find out about colour in retail signage and how you can use it to connect with your customers emotions, in this guide from FASTSIGNS® Leeds.
The psychology of colour
It’s a proven fact that colours can change the way we feel about things. Different colours can trigger a range of moods and emotions in humans, making us feel more happy, sad, relaxed or even angry.
The importance of colours in signage is something all businesses should keep in mind. You want to get your message and brand across in the correct way and selecting the right colours in your signage can help you do exactly that.
It’s no coincidence that many attention-grabbing signs (like stop signs) are red, or that health-focused brands tend to use a lot of shades of green. These colours communicate an important, unwritten message to customers, tapping directly into their emotions.
The importance of colour in signage
Colours in signage are key to getting the right message across to your customers. They’re a huge part of how you communicate your brand and values and can influence how people perceive you. Getting it right is important for a whole host of reasons. The right signs can:
- Stand out from the crowd and grab your customers’ attention.
- Make your business instantly more visible and memorable.
- Influence positive emotions in your customers.
- Give your business a great first impression.
- Promote brand awareness, giving your business more authority and reliability.
Using colour to your advantage in your branding and signs can help your customers connect with your messages, ultimately resulting in more business.
How to get your colours in signage right
There are plenty of variables to be mindful of within your signage. Things like font, general design, and the specific messaging you choose to include all have an impact, so it’s important to keep in mind that there’s no simple golden rule to getting it spot on.
However, using colour psychology in your retail signage means you can tap into different feelings and emotions within your customers, so getting that aspect right is great for your business.
Think about what you want your customers to feel when they see your brand. For example, if you want your sign to demand that your customers pay attention, red is a colour that evokes intense emotions and immediately catches people’s eyes. Lots of very famous brands, like McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Lego and Netflix use red in their logos.
Some may favour a softer approach, and blue links to feelings of calmness and security. While less immediately confronting than red, it can nurture a sense of peace and trust within customers. It’s the colour of many trustworthy logos, from finance (Visa, PayPal) and electrical companies (HP, Intel, Samsung) to social media and communications platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Skype).
Choosing signage colours that link to the values of your brand helps create a cohesive identity that taps into your customers’ emotions, ultimately helping them get through the door. Here are some common emotions tied to different colours:
Red – power, danger, love and action.
Blue – calmness, sadness, stability, peace.
Green – nature, safety, refreshment, security.
Yellow – cheerfulness, fun, spontaneity, hope.
Orange – confidence, enthusiasm, energy, excitement.
Pink – sweetness, comfort, joy, innocence.
Purple – wisdom, creativity, royalty, mystery.
Brown – grounding, stability, strength, resilience.
Black – elegance, sophistication, determination, anger.
White – cleanliness, simplicity, purity, brightness.
Choosing colours for your signage that align with your brand is a great way to make sure you’re giving off a great first impression. High-quality signs are one of the best marketing tools a retail business can invest in, and we’re here to help make sure you get it right.
We’ve been providing businesses in Leeds and West Yorkshire with industry-leading signs for 20 years. We can produce and install signs for your business, and our in-house design team can create signs for you that look great and reflect your business’s values.
We hope you enjoyed learning about the importance of colours in signage. If you want to learn more about how we can help your message get seen with branded signs and graphics, get in touch with our team for a consultation or quote.