Choosing the Most Appropriate Colors for Different Brands & Stores

Consumers are able to make unintentional decisions regarding products or brands in 90 seconds or even less. It is also known to almost all retailers that colors influence purchasing choices of most people. Retail managers spend time, resources and efforts to experiment with colors.

The store color schemes best practices point out that making use of appropriate color tones, techniques and styles resound well with target markets. Aside from this, said system conveys the correct message about brands, leaves a lasting positive impression, and introduces a sense of integrity and quality.

In selecting a store color scheme, determine the age of probable customers along with the type of merchandise. Choose the shades that will please your market’s demographics. The color scheme must also be suitable for items you sell.

In studying color schemes, it is necessary to understand the color theory is a human hypothesis. We must look for ways of defining color; how these are associated with one another; and, modified to become entirely new tints. Early philosophies regarding color were regarded as conjecture. With more information available, all the guesswork started to illustrate the capacity of the human brain to perceive colors more accurately.

Karl Ewald Hering, a German physiologist conceived the first precise theory about color vision. His Color Opponent Process Theory states that the human visual system translates information related to colors by processing indications for cones and rods through an aggressive approach. The cones [Long (L), Medium (M) and Short (S)] overlap to some extent according to light’s wavelengths to which these cones react. Therefore, the visual system can take note of responses more efficiently compared to each category of one’s particular response.

This theory recommends three opponent channels. These are red against green; black against white; and, blue against yellow. Black versus white is colorless or neutral and distinguishes luminance (light-dark discrepancy). Responses to a single shade of an opponent conduit are inimical to other colors. In short, reverse opponent colors are not recognized together. For instance, there is no such thing as yellowish blue or greenish red.

Once you understand the basics, it is not advisable to start with planning and designing your own store color scheme.

It is not always an artistic assessment when it comes to looking for and deciding on your brand color scheme.

There are various theories for color harmony:

• Color scheme founded on analogous or parallel colors – These are any three shades, alongside each other on a 12-piece color wheel although one specific shade dominates. Some examples are yellow, yellow-green and yellow-orange.
• Color scheme founded on complementary colors – These are any two colors which contrast each other directly. These are red and green as well as yellow-green and red-purple. Opposite colors lead to utmost stability and contrast.
• Color scheme founded on nature – Nature makes available an absolute deviation or different approach for color harmony.

With regards to context, it is necessary to figure out how color works compared to other shades and shapes.  This is an intricate area of the color theory.

In store color schemes best practices, color is relative. For instance, orange may be relevant to lotions or shampoos but not appropriate for cars. It is therefore essential to conduct extensive research especially with regards to choices among competitors. In the same manner, you need to understand what one color tries to convey to customers. POS or Point of Purchase sales are quite complicated because a particular item is on the shelf with at least 20 other goods. Opting for a shade that is prominent will definitely help. Find out whether specific colors indicate individual functions or insinuate certain impressions.

A retailer must be realistic in picking out the best brand color scheme. The majority of consumers will distinguish by instinct if the color connects with the trademark. It will turn them off if there is no connection at all. It should be authentic and not only trendy.

In color psychology, this is more of the study of different shades as the basis for human conduct. Colors motivate feelings which are not conspicuous like the taste of food. Colors have symbolic, impassive, and physiological consequences. There is a cooperative automatic response to colors that people get from their elders. Color has a noteworthy effect on the minds of people.

Responsiveness to colors is biased. This is all in the person’s mind. Color is a feeling like the human touch and conventionally set off by physical realism even if it is not tangible. Physical properties make human beings distinguish blue, black, green, red, or white. It is necessary to create a difference between the properties of a particular object and the feeling that these properties cause. Light gets to the eyes which stimulate the sensors. Sensors register images in the brain and convey the sensation to the brain. It is the visual system that establishes the color.

The act of choosing a particular brand color scheme should not only be a matter of preference but what it says about your store. There should also be a sense of unity and balance.

Unity stands for consistency or synchronization among multiple elements of interior design. This blueprint serves as a guide for designers to figure out living spaces. The guide can be confusing without harmony. All elements must be balanced to facilitate the proper transition from one element to another.

Why are all these important for retailers? Do these have something to do with store color schemes best practices? The answer is yes.  Colors are part of the design concept and must be understood by all those in the visual merchandising industry.