Colour Effects
Colours can have a variety of effects. They work as vibrations that are absorbed by our organs as well as having psychological and physical effects. They influence our mood and everyday sense of well-being. As reflected light, they function as a vital source of light energy.
Red
Red excites attention, underlies the irresistability and strength of a product, and suggests health, energy, assurance and vitality. Red sparks the appetite and is used in the packing design for sweet as well as hot and spicy products, in order to awaken associations with erotic stimuli.
Blue
Blue is used, for example, in milk products as a metaphor for freshness. The combination of blue and white dominates the exterior of frozen products to suggest cold, freshness and purity. Often it is used in conjunction with green to suggest the natural freshness of a product. Banks and insurance also prefer blue logos, as they symbolize seriousness, trust and steadiness of character.
Green
Astonishingly green is the colour associated with poisonous, inedible materials. This is quite ironic since green is the colour used most often for ecological products- particularly food products. Green promises a level of environmental friendliness. Here one sees, therefore, that colour effects have been influenced by old clichés: as a colour for painting, green was described as 'poisonous green,' because the most beautiful green colour known stemmed from arsenic.
Orange
Before the orange there was no orange. In all languages the name of the colour is identifical to the fruit. Orange conveys a sense of warmth and ripeness in food products. Often companies bind the warmth and heartiness of orange to the seriousness and coolness of blue in their packaging. Orange alone often is connected to the obtrusiveness and cheapness of modernity.