Today we’re covering the colour PURPLE .
Colour is really important in design. There are only 11 basic colour terms although there are MILLIONS of colours so it’s essential to spend some time looking at your colours and making sure that they create the right impression for your business.
Purple is one of my favourite colours. It’s a very spiritual colour and has associations with faith and the universe. Like green, it‘s a balanced colour as it’s a mix of calming blue and red, which is a very strong, stimulating colour.
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Bright, vivid shades of purple can indicate the future – maybe technological advances or space travel, and deeper shades of purple can help in easing stress and promoting security – it’s a very reflective – thoughtful – colour. Lighter shades of purple – like lavender – have fragile, sensitive and vulnerable qualities. Lilac is more glamorous. These lighter shades are ideal for vintage businesses to create feelings of nostalgia.
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Purple has a mystical quality about it. It stimulates creativity. Purple relates to imagination and daydreaming, contemplation and deep thought, inspiration and individuality. All good reasons why purple is one of my brand colours! I do a lot of thinking and creative work so it’s ideal. It’s also great for meditation and prayer, harmony and stability. Purple can however create too much introversion. The spiritual aspects of purple can also be easily portrayed negatively by creating aloofness so it’s important to be careful.
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Because of its associations with royalty, purple also indicates luxury and wealth, especially when deeper shades are used. This is useful to note if you are selling a premium product. Cadbury is well known for being a deep purple, a colour introduced originally for Milk Tray in 1915 to show an indulgent, high quality product. Purple can demand attention – so can be great for drawing attention to something – but can also appear authorative or arrogant if used wrongly.
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Darker, deeper – indigo – shades of purple are also great for indicating integrity, intelligence and sincerity. If you want to show someone that you mean what you say and you are trustworthy then purple could be a good colour to use here.
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Do you have purple in your branding, like me? Do you think you should? Let me know how you’re using purple in the comments below – I’d love to know!
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Also – did you know that I offer a free consultation so if you have any design related questions then you can set up a call with me and I’ll do my best to help you out. This is also a great way to find out if we’re a good fit to work together.