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Business Colour Theory Basics

colour theory for business

As a business owner, it’s likely that you’re always on the lookout for factors that might benefit your business. You’re always going to want to increase productivity, make life better for your employees, and – ultimately – improve your bottom line.

Most business owners will have experimented with various ways of doing improving the overall business. You might have tried using scent in your office to increase productivity, investigating how to improve employee relations, or embarked on a revolutionary strategy for an area of your business. All of these are worth doing, but there’s probably one area that you’ve yet to utilise: colour. While your brand will have colours, and your office will needto reflect those, the decor colour scheme has a huge impact on the wellbeing of your employees.

“Colour?” you may be wondering.
“How can colour possibly help my business?”

Read on, and you’ll find out.

colour wheel for colour theory
colour wheel for colour theory – colours directly opposite are called complimentary opposite and can look amazing with each other in the same tone.

How can colour theory work in business?

Colour Can… Have An Impact On Mood

Any business owner worth their salt will care, very much, about their employees’ mood. The simple truth is that people who are in positive moods tend to be more productive – so caring about your employee mental health is always worthwhile, as well as the simple human instinct to want others to be happy. Colour is integral to this; as xenlife.com.au explain, colour has a huge impact on human mood.

Some colours make us feel happy; others make us feel more reserved and cautious. While everyone has different lifes and dislikes, understanding how colour can intersect with how you and your employees feel while in the office is imperative. This is something you need to be aware of, if you want to get the most out of your workforce. Think hard about your colour choices, from the office wall to the lanyards you buy from lanyardsfactory.com.au. As a general rule, keep this in mind:

  • Bright shades: generally happy and positive
  • Dark shades: can feel oppressive, but a feature wall can add a mood for quiet spaces
  • Soft tones: restful and calming
  • Too much colour: chaotic.

You want your office to seem bright and engaging; even your lanyards can evoke a sense of fun out of even the most mundane of documents. The colours you choose for the company mousepads for example, can be carefully considered along the lines of which colours can increase productivity.

Colour Can… Make Customers More Keen To Buy

It’s true; use colours in the right way, and your customers and clients will be more keen to use your service.

This is something that advertisers – who are often the keenest behaviour observers in the world  – have been using to help “hack” into our minds for years. Green, for example, is a colour that’s used to show prosperity; red is primarily the colour used for sales, as the bold colour increases a desire to spend, making us think that it’s urgent we take advantage of the deals on offer.

Bucking these trends isn’t a sign that your business is innovative, so don’t be tempted to fall for the “originality” track. Make your sales signs red; your business site filled with yellow for happiness. These patterns are repeated over and over again because they work. Your business should be taking advantage of this.

Colour Can… Create An Idea Of What A Business Is

orange office via pinterest.com
brighly coloured office via pinterest.com

If you’re going to hire a service, are you more likely to hire the company that…

A. has bright offices, summery colours, and plenty of natural light in the room?

or…

B. has a dark office, where the walls and ceiling feel like they’re closing in on you?

The vast majority of people will usually opt for option A. Colour has an influence on our “gut feeling”, impacting our decision-making without us even knowing. So if you want to subtly influence your customers towards buying, then use plenty of bright, friendly colours to evoke an engaging, open attitude from your business.

Using colour can improve your business exponentially. Take the time to make the changes, and you’ll see your business grow as a result.

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