COLOUR AFFECTS

Mission StatementTo bring harmony and objective rationale to the use of colour in all aspects of life – easing the pain of colour selection, saving time, money and uncertainty, and empowering people to get colours right every time... with absolute confidence.

What exactly is colour psychology?

It is the effects of the electro-magnetic radiation of light on human mood and behaviour - a universal, psychophysical reaction, which is not as heavily influenced by culture, age and gender as is generally thought.

It is important to understand that there is a great difference between colour psychology and colour symbolism. Historically, what is often described as colour psychology is actually colour symbolism - the conscious associations that we are conditioned to make. Cultural responses to colour derive from a variety of causes: for example, green is the sacred colour throughout Islam, being the colour of the Prophet's robe; in Ireland it is considered lucky, perhaps because when the world around us contains plenty of green this indicates the presence of water and therefore little danger of famine; in England it is considered unlucky, possibly because of its association with decay and disease.

There are many examples of colour symbolism: purple is associated with royalty for the simple reason that, until relatively recently in our history, it was an extremely expensive dye and only royalty could afford it; red is the colour of blood and has associations with war.