The color is the message. Keep this in mind when designing a new advertising piece, logo or product. Why pick colors randomly when you can pick them strategically? When big brands decide on a color it is a well thought out choice. Let’s consider some examples of companies widely recognized for their color schemes:

1. Mcdonald’s

Mcdonald’s is well known for its bright yellow and red colors. They are targeting their major audience which is of course children (and in turn their parents), children are known to respond to primary colors. Beyond that yellow triggers feelings of happiness and friendliness and red has been thought to stimulate appetite. No wonder we see this pairing in many popular fast food brands.

2. Tiffany’s

Every women’s favorite “little blue box”- Tiffany’s uses a trademarked shade of “robin’s egg” blue created by the company for its own products. What this means is no company selling similar products can use their special shade of blue. Turquoise has very positive connotations in color psychology, symbolizing communication and clarity of thought as well as balance and harmony. No wonder women get a heart flutter at the sight of those little boxes.

3. Whole Foods

Whole Foods uses green to represent their brand. A strategic choice seeing as green symbolizes nature and the natural world. It also represents health, peace and tranquility. Some other popular brands who use green include Starbucks, Tropicana, John Deere and Animal Planet.

4. Chanel

When black is used as the primary color in branding it has a bold and powerful effect. Black Radiates confidence and sophistication suitable for more expensive products. Other companies also make great use of black, Guinness refers to their dark beer as “the black stuff” with advertisements encouraging consumers to “paint the town black.”

5. Home depot

Orange is associated with fairness and affordability, which explains why you’ll see it at stores offering good value, like Home Depot and Payless. Also, similar to yellow it stimulates feelings of friendliness and cheer.

These are just a few examples of how color delivers messages for the brands we encounter on a daily basis.

Next time you need to decide on a color for any project take the extra time to think about the message you want to portray and how the psychology behind the color can help support that message.