Coloe Psychology in Logo Design, Muse Design

Sometimes the universe nudges you on the shoulder and says “Pay Attention!”. I had one of those moments recently after seeing this infographic (right) done by Muse Design in Calgary Canada on Pinterest. It got me thinking about color psychology, which in the field of brand design and strategy is a big part of our work. I think about color all the time. I think about it when I’m on the subway, or opening up a (overly) packaged something or other. What’s odd is how people try to pigeonhole one particular color, or a category of color, and say the qualities of that color have X effect on population Y. While that can sometimes be the case, you can point to this simple infographic here and pick apart it’s many flaws. Like the fact that yellow doesn’t always convey a sense of warmth and happiness. It is also said to cause “excitation” or “agitation”, and the main reason yellow was used so pervasively in the 1960′s through 70′s in restaurant brand design was because some believed the color helped move customers through faster and sold more Happy Meals.

There is loads of psychological research done on color psychology, but a cursory online search brings up oodles of mis-, dis- and conflicting bits of information regarding color.

Why?

Because color is entirely subjective. This difference isn’t just limited to nation, culture or region, but color can also be perceived differently between 2 people in the same room. Perhaps you’ve tried to pick a paint color for a wall in your home or office with a partner or roommate. Then you’ll have seen color compromise in action. The research suggests that there are groups of people that see colors from different vantage points. Some people are “warm-color dominant” and some are “cool-color dominant”. Warm-color subjects are more “visually oriented and outwardly integrated” while cool-color subjects are “thought to feel detached or split off from the outside world”. Is that universal? Certainly not, these studies are often done on a limited group of individuals in a specific cultural setting. However, once you move to animal studies we start seeing the bigger picture and realize that the warmer colors can indeed create excitation or even violence.

So, then is yellow bad or good?

It depends upon the usage. Are you trying to get people to relax at your spa? Well, maybe a bright yellow or red won’t suffice. But, if you’re a bank or a retail location, maybe you want people in and out, or more amenable to opening their wallets. Red could be the ticket. Just look at Bank of America or Wells Fargo. Seems to be working for them right?

But wait, doesn’t red have a negative connotation in the financial sector?

Indeed, in the United States being in the “red” is not a good thing (although many governments would beg to differ as of late). This is a perfect example where color psychology has trumped a cultural definition leading to a successful brand. Of course, years of brand marketing contributes to that success and assists in overcoming any negative connotations the color may imbue. That’s where brand design and management really comes into play. If you only had red with black and white type, more than likely your brand image would be in the gutter. But cheery or even “solid-looking” photography along with complementary colors and messaging help to defray any possible negative associations in this instance.

Certainly color is subjective, that’s clear, but what’s interesting is that color and the way we see color changes over time. In the most recent Radio Lab show, a podcast I am an immensely popular fan of, the universe served up another hint that I should be thinking (and hence writing) about color. As usual there are several stories on the podcast following one theme, this edition being “color”. One of the most interesting stories was the idea that the language we use to describe color can affect how we actually see color. Part of this has to do with culture and how colors are perceived versus how they’re described. For instance, Homer, the Greek writer of the Oddyssey and the Illiad, used certain colors in his tales repeatedly, but some very common colors do not appear at all.  According to William Gladstone a previous Prime Minister of the UK and Homer fanatic, “Black appears 170 times, white appears 100 times, but red clocks in about 13 times, yellow under 10 times, green also under 10 and then realizes something crazy. The color blue…ZERO times.” No blue at all. In fact, all the Greeks appeared to be “color blind”.

Very odd right? Well, it again comes back to language. The way people talk about color influences the way we perceive color. There was no blue in The Oddyssey and Illiad mainly because blue didn’t exist in the same amount that we have in modern times. (Many blue flowers are in fact hybrids humans have created and blue dyes for clothing are very modern by comparison). But what about the sky you say? Well, if you don’t have a word for blue, what would you call the color of the sky? It would be have to be something in your vocabulary. Or you’d have to be told by someone that it is blue. Which is exactly what theoretically happened.

To test this theory linguist and writer Guy Deutscher used the subject his own young daughter. He and his wife decided not to call the color of the sky blue. They DID teach her what the color blue was, they’re not that cruel. But they withheld the concept that the sky is blue. Alma, their daughter, was eventually asked what color the sky was. Guy pointed at the sky and said “What color is that?”. And she wouldn’t give him any answer. She just looked up and was clueless. She couldn’t understand the idea. He kept asking when the sky was only bright blue. Finally she said that the color was “white”. But after a few months she DID say blue, but it still took some time for her to be consistent.

Full disclosure here, and one of the reasons I’m absolutely fascinated by color, I have color deficient vision. I don’t see dark red, green or even browns and dark blues, the same way that 90% of the male population and probably 98% or more of women do (women have the ability to see more colors than men, again, listen to the Radio Lab podcast).  Someone with Color Deficiency lacks a sufficient number of red “cones” in the eye and hence cannot see reds and generally darker greens the way most people do. Some people lack blue or yellow cones and do not see blues or yellows as well, and a very rare condition called achromotopsia leaves the person with no color vision at all. I’m not alone in this obviously and oddly I’m not the only “color blind” designer out there. Tibor Kalman, one of the most famous designers of the 20th Century, was color blind and many famous people are color deficient as well; Bill Clinton, Matt Lauer, Paul Newman, Mark Twain, etc. Some designers are even “out” about their color blindness. Israeli designer Yoav Brill created a moving and inspiring video based upon the “Ishihara” color-test patterns that are so familiar to us all now.

Ishihara - English version from Yoav Brill on Vimeo.

Because of this difference the way colors are experienced by others fascinates me. I constantly wonder what my dog sees, or what a bird sees as well as other humans, including clients. According to Tom Cronin, a “visual ecologist”, and Jay Knight, a vision scientist, humans have 3 cones in our eyes, the cells that perceive color. We see roughly 7 colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet) in the rainbow. Dogs only have about 2 cones, blue and yellow. So they see about 4 colors, mostly blue, green, and a little  yellow. Some birds can see ultraviolet and many more reds than we do. Butterflies see a rainbow that is far more diverse than ours having 5-6 more color receptors, seeing a rainbow with many more colors in the spectrum. But the mantis shrimp has the most complicated color receptor system we know of, having over 16 types of color receptors.

Mantis shrimp image courtesty of planetanimalzone.blogspot.com Photo uncredited

What an amazing array of perception huh? Guess it just goes to show that when working with color we have to keep in mind that there are as many colors in the world as there are people, an animals too. Balancing the needs of a brand with the way color is perceived by the client, the potential audience and indeed by ourselves, the designers, is a challenging thing to do but clearly you can see by our work that we have it down.

Tod Wohlfarth is a Creative Director and Partner at Rockpaperpixel. He splits his time between our  NYC and Hudson Valley offices.

For more reading on color psychology, check out these references:
The Effect of Color on Store Design

The Psychology and Use of Color in Branding and Marketing Design 

Designing For, and As, a Color-Blind Person

Video is exploding all over the internet. The stats are up as consumers increasingly turn towards “on-demand”, multi-device viewing. From their tablets, to their phones and televisions, people are watching more video. And Buzz60, Zazoom’s flagship internet television channel, is off to a rousing start.

Since Buzz60 launched in summer 2011, they have signed 6+ distribution partner deals and seen their views rise from thousands of views a month to 10′s of  millions. The advertising revenue share that comes from that is how Buzz60 profits and they’re on track to be a full profitable company by the end of 2012 (if they haven’t already passed that bar).

Rock Paper Pixel’s is incredibly proud to have created a strong and dynamic brand for Zazoom, but we have to acknowledge all the hard work and talent that has been poured into Buzz60. From the hosts, to the executive and management teams, it truly is an honor to be associated with Buzz60.

Here is to many more years of engaging video content!
Congratulations!

That business is the start-up Zazoom. Jay and the founding partners Tim Minton (former WNBC reporter), Philip O’Brien (manager at CNN, NBC, CBS, Fox, and founder of NY1)  and Steve Bradbury (former executive at MGM, Sony, GoTV) created a vibrant web video network.

“Zazoom produces and distributes video clips created specifically for people watching on tablets, smartphones, laptops and connected TVs. We then use our expertise to help publishers and brands build significantly stronger engagement with their viewers.”

Zazoom CEO Tim Minton talks about what works in web video. from Zazoom on Vimeo.
Zazoom needed a quick brand identity, website and collateral to hunt for investment. Rock Paper Pixel’s designers created a fun brand that screams “entertaining”. With a name like Zazoom, how could you go wrong? Investment came in and their first channel Buzz60 was put into development.

Rock Paper Pixel was invited to bid on the brand identity and website design for Buzz60. The “shows” on Buzz60 consist of 60 second clips about the trending topics of the day and other popular subjects. Four studios were in the running and through no fault of our own we were now officially Zazoom’s studio of record. Given the break-neck pace of 6-8 weeks to create a “dynamic, engaging and entertaining” brand and website unlike any other video site out there, it was a daunting task. But along with Knectar, our development partner of choice, we did it.

Over the next year Buzz60 would see unexpected growth and revenue. They now have 6+ partners that distribute their Buzz60 clips across the internet to thousands of websites. This results in millions upon millions of views. The advertising dollars are now pouring in, creating a very solvent and successful company in a very short amount of time considering.

What’s next for Zazoom? Some bright things in the social engagement realm are on the horizon and again Rock Paper Pixel has had a hand in it. But you’re gonna have to wait to see what happens. All good things come to those who wait.

Read more about the conference below …

THE FESTIVAL

Since 2008, Internet Week has taken place all over the city, thanks to our many partners hosting diverse events in different locations.The result is a critical mass of web-focused events that raises the profile of NYC’s industry as a whole, as well as the partners who participate.

THE 2012 FESTIVAL HEADQUARTERS

Just like in 2010 and 2011, Internet Week NY HQ will be home to stages, a classroom, lounges curated by Design Within Reach, installations from Ivan Toth Depeña in collaboration with Jared Schiffman’s “Spatial Media” class at NYU’s ITP, and more. With 20,000 more square feet of Digital Playground as well as Conference Theater—

Internet Week HQ at 82 Mercer is poised to be the best yet.

Open from May 14-17, attendees can expect to be a part of the ever-changing digital landscape in New York—

hearing from industry luminaries and innovators across two stages and a classroom on the second floor of 82 Mercer. On the ground floor, Internet Week NY will host large-scale ticketed conferences with partners like App Nation.

Passes for the Internet Week HQ are on sale for $65 or $60 if you tweet about us! Sign up sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop!

Please note, buying a pass to the headquarters at 82 Mercer does not give you access to events in the Conference Theater or throughout the City—

the HQ pass grants the holder access to events, speakers, and classroom sessions taking place in the HQ during public hours May 14-17.

CITYWIDE EVENTS

With almost 200 City Wide events in 2011, we’re excited for all of the parties, meet-ups, executive breakfasts, conferences, and networking events that 2012 will bring. This crowd-sourced participation in Internet Week NY is the foundation of the festival, and we value each event as an Official Event Partner of Internet Week NY.

Please visit our registration page to submit your event, or our 2011 calendar to get a feel for past City Wide Events.

FESTIVAL HISTORY

In 2008 along with The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (formerly The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting), Internet Week began as a City Wide festival celebrating the openness of the worldwide web and the digital community in New York. In 2008 and 2009 Internet Week was a foundation of events throughout New York City, before the addition of a central headquarters in 2010.

In the centralized HQ in 2010 and 2011, Chelsea’s Metropolitan Pavilion hosted large-scale installations from companies like Yahoo!, AOL, Google, and Ford in addition to galleries like Can You Draw the Internet, as well as stages, classrooms and a conference theater.

In addition to their own site, Buzz60 distributes their video through a syndication model across the network via various partners. One such partner is YouTube. Rockpaperpixel creates and maintains Buzz60′s YouTube channel.