The Evolution of Branding & The Psychology of Color

When I first started my business, I had this idea in my head that I had to have sleek, minimal branding, to be taken seriously as a designer. I was stuck on black and white and was insistent on using brands like Marc Jacobs for branding inspiration. See the Marc Jacobs, be the Marc Jacobs! So for 4 years, I went with the black and white thing, and wouldn't budge. People told me to try color, but of course I wouldn't listen, I'd just think to myself "Marc Jacobs". I even went out of my way to have a sleek website designed, which was mainly black. I thought, "Oh, so edgy and professional!". I was convinced I had my whole branding thing figured out and was good to go, ready for the big time. 

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

For some reason I refused to give any attention to color and the whole psychology behind color. But why? Why have I been SO resistant!? Everyone knows that human beings react to color emotionally, they are more captivated by color, and it even can trigger other senses and memories. All good things if your wanting to make an impression on someone when your branding! Color has a larger impact on us than we think. Even now when I see a certain shade of orange, I subconciously think of Etsy. It's totally involuntary at this point. So why not try to use color to your advantage? Oh! Here's a great article on the Psychology of Color by the way!

Here's the thing. When you WEAR color, your more approachable, appear more friendly, confident and outgoing. I'm pretty sure this would continue into branding and marketing as well. I feel like it's so clear to me now! I have developed an elegant but, cheeky, and whimsical style to my work, color is the perfect compliment to anything cheeky and whimsical...right? What's taken me so long to embrace color? The world may never know...but it's certainly time to change all that.

 Finally, in the last, hmmm, well I'd say, 6 months or so, I've opened my eyes. I've started shooting my product shots on a carefully chosen array of vibrant hues. I'm working on introducing color into my branding, into my Etsy shop in general, and into my packaging. Unfortunately, I'm not a graphic designer so all these things are gonna have to happen in baby steps, even though I'd like them to just remedy themselves when I snap my fingers...but it's coming along, slowly but surely. That said, I have totally felt that my switch over to color has been great for business thus far, especially on Etsy.

Anyway, here's one of my baby steps. I originally had these simple earring cards printed in black and white...snooze. I find them much more attractive with the color added to them now. I'm feeling the color vibes, and they feel mighty fine. Now, I just need to try to incorporate color throughout my branding and marketing attempts across the board...workin' on it people, I'm workin' on it!

So, how do you feel about my change over to the world of techni-colored earring cards? How do you feel about color? What colors make you feel warm and tingly inside? I'd love to know :)