11 Colours: Pink

Colour is really 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. 

This post is all about pink. 

Pink is a colour I don’t care much for. I remember when my daughter was born feeling very frustrated about the amount of pink available and how buying clothes in green and blue and red was really hard! Of course, she loves pink, so I’ve had to accept a bit of it into our home… 

Pink is soothing, peaceful, soft and feminine. Too much of it can be physically draining. It’s about nurture, warmth, tranquility, love, sexuality and survival. 

I wrote about red before – a really strong, action taking, passionate colour – and pink is tint of red, but rather than stimulating us, it’s more relaxing and gentle, naive and compassionate. Pink is the only colour which is actually a tint of another rather than a colour in it’s own right! It’s not known as light red, it’s pink. 

If a deep pink – with more red in it – is used then it can be exciting and fun, passionate, energetic, frivolous and confident. If there’s less red, then it’s more delicate and mature, nurturing, innocent and calming.

Pink is a great colour for the fashion and cosmetics industry because it conveys femininity in a way which no other colour can. 

It’s also represents nurturing. My client Grow up Green sells cloth nappies which is not only an environmentally friendly (green) business but also a very nurturing business as it’s all about providing the best for your child. Nappies are mainly bought and considered by mothers, so the feminine aspect was also really important. So pink was a perfect colour to team with green for this business.

Pink is also a hopeful colour as it’s positive, inspiring and comforting. It calms and reassures us and eases feelings of anger, aggression, neglect or abandonment. With the feminine, nurturing connotations of pink it makes it the perfect colour to be used by various women’s charities. . Pink has a calming effect on nerves and can create physical weakness in large quantities – which I suppose is a positive and a negative of pink depending on where you use it. It’s not a threatening colour. 

Pink is about seeing the best in everything – “rose tinted spectacles” and “everything’s rosy” so it’s very positive.

Teaming pink with dark colours – dark blue or green, grey or black gives pink strength and elegance. Adding light shades – maybe pastel shades – of other colours creates a more  feminine, calming impression and more balance to create relaxation.

Do you have pink in your branding? What colours do you use it with? Or, which companies that use pink do you think do it really well. Please comment below and let me know!