Think of any major brand and you'll probably connect it with a specific color as well as a logo or tagline. That color also makes a deeper impression, giving consumers a "feeling" about the brand. Psychologists and marketers have understood this for decades, and it's standard practice in the branding world to harness the power of color. Well-chosen brand colors stand out and invoke the image a company wants to project about itself. It's important to consider color when selecting custom uniforms or branded clothing for your employees.
Color psychology offers some key insights about how we respond to different colors:
RED
Red grabs attention and represents passion, making it the color of choice for a wide range of brands that want to stress urgency. After all, red means "stop," as in "stop and watch this news report" or "stop and get take out for dinner." In fact, restaurants sometimes use red in their logos, decor and uniform shirts since it stimulates the appetite. And we all know red stands for danger, as fire trucks and rescue vehicles attest—a good reason to use it carefully.
GREEN
Green symbolizes nature, and is a popular color for agricultural and landscaping businesses, healthy living brands and companies that promote their environmental credentials—we've all heard the term "green business." It also represents energy, growth, fertility and prosperity. Many people also experience green as a calming color. You might put that theory to the test with your own office uniform.
ORANGE
Orange is a bold, enthusiastic color that stands for creativity. Brands that really want to make a splash and have something fun and original to bring to the market often go with orange. And if your brand has anything to do with produce or fruit juice, you will probably find an orange polo shirt a natural choice.
YELLOW
Nothing says happiness and optimism like the color of sunshine. However, in branding it's best paired with a darker color. And don't forget it can also mean caution—think of all the "wet floor" signs you see in public places. But if your brand image is upbeat, energetic and innovative, you may want to consider yellow staff shirts with logo embroidery.
NAVY
Blues—especially in darker shades—are associated with competence and high quality which makes them popular with banks as well as many corporate institutions. Many tech firms have also embraced blue, since it implies trust and security. Of course, navy has nautical associations, which is why we at Lands' End, with our maritime heritage, have made it our brand color.
PURPLE
Purple combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red. The color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and magic. It is used across the market by brands that wish to project an image of tradition and authority.
CLASSIC BLACK AND WHITE
You might think black is boring, but it's another color that evokes sophistication, and is associated with some of the world's most expensive, high-end brands—think luxury cars, jewelry and chocolate. On a more down-to-earth level, black can be a practical choice for uniform apparel no matter what business you're in. Black uniform shirts offer a simple background on which your logo can stand out. As for white, a crisp white shirt provides a clean look that also helps your logo make an impression.
You can find plenty of color variations through our catalogs!