No matter what you are in charge of designing, you are going to have to select a color palette.

Marketing with Color

Advertising: Retail outlets, Showrooms, Offices Schools, Health Care, Churches, Libraries Industrial Facilities, Fast Food Restaurants

Homework: FIELD TRIP: 3 Restaurants, 3 libraries This is assignment 5

· No matter what you are in charge of designing, you are going to have to select a color palette. · The colors you select may be symbolic, they may have cultural implications, they may need to communicate a feeling, they may be the latest trend, or they may just be about beauty, but you will want to select the palette to serve your purpose.

· Advertisers, the retail industry, health care, churches, fast food restaurants, high class restaurants, hotels, industrial facilities, libraries and so on all need to have a color palette selected for them.

· Advertisers will hire a MARKETING FIRM with in-house graphics designers and illustrators · Health care, hotels, libraries, hospitals, restaurants, will hire a design firm or architectural firm to select colors

· Fast food companies sometimes have an in house designer and all of their facilities follow the same format.

· Churches may hire out, but most often they look for professionals and volunteers from within their own church.

· Whether you are hired to design a pickle jar, a perfume bottle, or a restaurant, you need to select the most appropriate colors for the job

· We are going to cover selecting a color pallet for:  Advertising  Retail Industry,  Offices,  Schools  Libraries  Healthcare  Churches

 Fast Food restaurants  Fine Food restaurants  Hotels

 Industrial Facilities

Marketing studies

Brand recognition is 80% color. That means that when we look for a brand, we look for the color first for the most part.

Color accounts for about 85% of why a person decides to buy something. Advertising

· Packaging advertisers use color on products to communicate information about their product. · Many products are colored in the mid-range primaries

· You find secondary colors on a lot of low end products

· A lot of products use complementary colors to help balance the eye by cutting down on the subliminal stress on the eye. It’s good to include some sort of complement in product color schemes. · You will never see meat in a grayish violet color can (would communicate rotten meat)

· Meat in cans typically has lots of red coloring, which communicates fresh meat · You should not see pepper in a cool blue pack (blue communicates passiveness) · Pepper packaged in yellow and red communicates strength.

· You will not see decaffeinated beverages in red cans because red means strength.

· Soft drinks containing caffeine are targeted for the teenagers market and often packaged in red. · Many packs of cigarettes are packaged in red – supposed to make the smoker feel livelier. · Cigarettes packaged in red tend to sell better.

· Yellow and red are probably the most common colors used for packaging in products. · They are supposed to symbolize power and future.

· (Gasoline like the Shell logo)

· White in food products suggests refinement and delicacy. · White flour, sugar and rice require extra processing.

· Flour, sugar and rice packaged in white sell more than the healthier less processed starches. · Blue and white are often used for dairy packaging suggesting coolness and hygiene

· Cleaning products are often packaged in blue and white to suggest cleanliness and freshness. · Some dairy products, like butter, are packaged in gold or silver suggesting luxury,

· Or in yellow and green to suggest country side and freshness

· Golden Brown is an appetizing color used for baking and roasting of bread and cereals.

· Many women’s deodorants are packaged in blue, or white suggesting freshness and cleanliness. · Many household cleaners are also packaged in blue and white to communicate freshness and cleanliness

· We could go on and on with products.

Retail Industry

· The retail industry such as retail stores like Pier One, Cost Plus, Home Makers Furniture, and clothing stores create Vignettes window displays, or Vignettes within the showroom.

· It’s important to be fully aware of color trends.

· You can find out about the color trends by staying involved in professional organizations, reading, going to designer shows or conventions and so on.

· The choice of color must relate to the price levels (some colors are very sophisticated: burgundy, gold, and the combination of gold and black. An upscale retail store display can use these colors successfully, but use them in a vignette in Target and the display colors will look misplaced. · Menswear, is often displayed in a setting of brown wood tones and subdued color. · Women’s clothing benefits from pastels and warm tones.

· The High-tech colors of white black and chrome are often used as back drops for products with technical associations such as electronic or photographic gear.

· Bright colors are used as back drops for sports equipment. · Restrained color complements to sale of expensive jewelry. · Some colors can be used to draw attention to the display.

· Colors stand out against a neutral background like grey, or white or near black. Offices

· More and more business owners and managers realize that the work environment is directly related to job performance.

· Factors that affect job performance are ergonomic factors, space planning, lighting, noise temperature control, and color.

· Many times all of the factors are taken into consideration with the exception of color. · Color sets the mood just like a thermostat sets the temperature.

Correct Lighting: a lighting designer usually does levels of lighting and placement, or a lighting engineer, but the designer must be concerned with the quality of light specified.

· For the best physiological effect, the lamps chosen should be FULL SPECTRUM with the highest CRI available (color rendering index rating)

· Avoid the standard overhead rows of fluorescent.

· To avoid eyestrain office desks should painted in mid tones, or grey. White and black are extremes; the eyes have to adjust constantly, causing eye fatigue.

· Glare also causes eye strain, walls with windows should be light in color to avoid contrast between the brightness from light from the window and dark walls (specify matte work surfaces on work surfaces and walls)

Video Display Terminals

· Lights above computer monitors reflect onto the video monitor and cause eye fatigue. · Off-white walls and bright clothing reflect back into the eyes off the monitor.

· If lighting is too bright, characters on the screen are more difficult to see.

· Corporate design is big business these days. Designers can go overboard with logo colors. They become so concerned with fashion and image that they forget common sense and that the objective is to raise spirits and provide a comfortable environment that promotes productivity.

· The high-tech image using white, gray, and black with some colorful upholstery can look and feel very impersonal.

· When walls are white and desks are black the contrast is 16 to 1, which is extremely fatiguing to the eyes.

· Contrast should be no more that 3 to 1

· Not only is this environment visually unhealthy for the employee, but it is unfriendly to the public. · Just as a company wants a receptionist to welcome clients, or the public, they should also take into consideration whether the building environment is welcoming or unfriendly.

· Austere black shiny tiles surrounded by gray walls communicate machinery not a friendly corporate environment.

· Color specifications for general offices: Walls: No purple, violet, vivid yellow, yellow-green, bright red, white, or gray.

· Best colors are soft yellows, sandstone, pale gold, orange, pale green, and blue green. Schools

· Little thought may go into the emotional, psychological, and learning environment that will effect thousands of children as they pass their years in the school.

· Appropriate color choices differ depending on the age group you are designing for. · Color for the sake of color does not work.

· Your first consideration should be WHAT DO THE CHILDREN NEED: The answer is security, nurturance, caring, and a good learning environment.

· For kindergarten through elementary-school ages, warm bright color schemes that complement their extroverted nature.

· These colors reduce tensions, nervousness, and anxiety.

· Other colors to use are light salmon, soft, warm yellow, and pale yellow-orange, coral, and peach. · Colors of opposite temperatures should be used as accents.

· In preschools and kindergarten, do not substitute color with cartoon drawings pinned onto the walls to reduce a monotonous room experience.

Upper grades And Secondary School Classrooms

· The most suitable colors are beige, pale or light green, blue-green because they permit better concentration by providing a passive effect.

· Side and back walls should be a different color than the front wall to break up monotony. The front color should be a mid-tone green or blue.

Libraries

· Pale or light green creates a passive effect that enhances quietness and concentration. Corridors

· Since students pass through corridors quickly, a broader color range may be used and walls can be painted in different more lively colors.

· ONLY LECTURE ON THE FOLLOWING SCHOOL INFORMATION IF TIME PERMITS.

· Studies have been conducted where children between 5 – 8 rejected white, gray and black, preferring red orange, yellow and violet

· Children between 9-10 rejected gray, dark brown, black and pastel green and blue preferring red, red-orange, and green blue

· Children between 11-12 rejected black, gray, and white, olive, violet, and lilac. · Children between 13-14 preferred blue, ultramarine, and orange.

· One study was conducted where walls in a school were painted warm pale yellow in the direction where children looked.

· The walls that the teacher viewed and the children’s desks were pale blue · In another school, all lights were changed to full spectrum light

· In the third school no changes were made. Colors remained dark brown, gray, off-white, putty and orange.

· In the schools with changes in color or light, the children’s blood pressure declined, children were less aggressive, and IQ’s went up.

· There were no changes in the school where no color or lighting changes were made. Health Care

· Health can include:

· Doctor’s offices (small and large) · Outpatient surgery medical facilities

· Hospital rooms, corridors, waiting rooms, intensive care units, and so on

· In general, a health care facility lobby should be more cheerful and more color can be added there. · Warm colors are usually preferred for hospital rooms because they communicate warmth and hospitality.

· The residential look is best because most patients would much rather be at home than in hospital. · Intensive care rooms should be cooler in color because of the calming effect.

· Often the patient is unconscious or sleeping, but the visitors are mostly close relatives who are typically distressed because of their concern about the patient.

· Operating rooms are mostly white or very light in color, and sometimes green because of AFTER IMAGE problems where the medical staff has to stare at blood (already discussed after image). · Exam rooms should be cool in color to help calm the patient.

· Dermatology exam rooms should be colored in light tints so skin colors can be examined with out any distortion.

· OBGYN waiting areas should be residential looking. · Woman mostly occupies these rooms.

· The colors can be warm or cool

· Pregnant women are warmer because of the extra body weight. Cool colors can make them feel more comfortable. Walls in cool colors are good with warm accents.

· Also, warm tints work in infertility areas also because they radiate hospitality and warmth patients are often tense as they may be going in for news about their condition, or going in for special infertility treatment.

· Warm tones work best in NURSING HOMES. There should be color distinction between floors and beds because poor eyesight may cause tripping accidents when the patient can not determine where the flooring stops and the bed begins.

· Don’t place dark tiles on strong dark contrast colors in floor patterns because the older eye sees the dark areas as holes and can trip. Patients in later stages of Alzheimer’s and or have dementia must feel secure with solid footing and not be caused to feel frustrated due to floor patterns

Churches

· Churches should communicate warmth, hospitality, dignity, and calmness. · The best colors for churches are warm colors in light to mid range tints. · Warm woods communicate a feeling of warmth and comfort.

· Soft lines, and full spectrum lighting should also be used. Fast Food Restaurants

· The objective of fast food restaurants is to sell as much food in as short a time as possible to as many people as possible.

· Stimulation to eating comes from light, odor, color, and sight · In terms of color and light

· Good lighting is essential. Most or all fast food restaurants have three walls of windows which provide lots of natural (full spectrum) light.

· Most fast food restaurants use strong color contrasts in warm colors such as red, yellow, orange, and sometimes blue.

· Most foods reflect warm colors such as orange, red, yellow · Of all the warm colors, red stimulates the appetite the most.

· If you examine fast food restaurants you will find many are similar in color and most include the color RED.

Restaurants (Fine Food)

· Mimi’s restaurant is located where several other restaurants were situated. · The restaurants that were formally located on the Mimi’s spot went out of business.

· In order for a Restaurant to be successful the food, the price, the service and the ambience must be excellent

· The restaurants decoration depends on what the management wants to communicate: Festive, elegant, homey, rustic etc

· Colors that appeal to the appetite must be considered although they should be different from FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS

· Rather than using RED, a FLAMINGO or CORAL color is perfect.

· As a substitute for ORANGE, PEACH or PUMPKIN promote a lively setting. · YELLOW can be very pleasant in breakfast areas.

· Avoid pure or saturated colors as they look cheap.

· Avoid yellow-green colors as this color communicates the color of ROTTEN FOOD. · Avoid white and gray walls with white table cloths as they are cold and austere

· Complementary colors are often used in restaurants (when possible but not always practical) Example:

· Green salad on pink plates makes the green salad look fresher (simultaneous contrast) Complement’s intensify each other when juxtaposed

· If the decorations are elegant, make sure the colors are also elegant.

· If the decorations are more family looking, make sure the colors are clearer

Food Displays (Good information for graphics designers, and designers) · Avoid using unappetizing hues.

· Clear green for produce (keeps the produce looking fresh) · Sea green for seafood (simultaneous contrast)

· Bright yellow for baked goods (association with wheat fields & sunshine) · Pale yellow for dairy (suggesting butter and cheese)

· Dark red-orange for coffee and chocolate

· Turquoise or sapphire blue on a background for meat (simultaneous contrast) · Floors should be subtle so the eye is not drawn to the floor but to the food. Hotels

· When selecting the color palette for a hotel the first consideration should be LOCATION · Guests look for local color

· If the hotel is in the Caribbean where it’s hot, the color palette should be cool whites and near whites with colorful accents for tiles

· If your hotel is in any other place, a warm color palette works better. · West Coast color palettes tend to be light to medium tints in warm colors · East Coast color palettes tend to be richer and more traditional

· Some hotels like TRUMP TOWERS is elegant and very expensive.

· Motel-6 however is inexpensive, and the decoration is modest, but you can have the freedom to explore exciting colors because the color choices do not effect the cost.

Lobbies should be enticing without being overly busy (the lobby is the handshake, which communicates the overall color palette and theme for the entire project).

Corridors

· Corridors should be lively. You can reduce the look of long corridors by using advancing saturated warm colors at the end of the corridor.

Elevators

· Elevators can be more colorful and dramatic because people move in and out of them quickly. There is no time for over stimulation.

Guest Rooms

· Budget determines if the colors and patterns are all the same or if rooms will be decorated differently (sometimes several different patterns for a larger hotel)

· Colors should be warm and inviting

· Limit pattern but maintain a theme if there is one. Hotel Restaurants

· Follow the same guidelines for restaurants already covered Industrial Facilities

· Contrast between floors and walls should be minimal to reduce eye-strain. · Walls with windows should be lightly colored to reduce glare.

· Color schemes in hot work areas should be cool.

· Color schemes in cool work environments should be warm. Locker Rooms

· To set a positive mood for employees, there should be good lighting and colored lockers nicely arranged.

Restrooms:

· Avoid dark colors since they have the tendency to look dirty. · White or light colors communicate cleanliness.

Safety Colors

· Red: dangerous chemicals, fire-protection equipment · Orange: danger if used on machinery parts.

· Yellow: suggests caution or hazard · Green is the basic color for safety · Blue: electrical control