THE COLOR OF
MAIL
What Message Are
You Sending?
Theresa Peterlein
Mid-Michigan PCC Industry Co-Chair
National Industry Co-Chair, Postal Customer Council
Advisory Committee
WHAT IS COLOR?
In 1666, English Scientist Sir Isaac Newton
discovered that when pure white light passed
through a prism, it separates into all of the
visible colors.
There are over one million colors that the
human eye can distinguish
Colors in the red area of the spectrum are
know as warm colors
Warm colors evoke emotions ranging from
feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of
anger and hostility.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Colors on the blue side of the spectrum
are known as cool colors and include
blue, purple, and green.
Cool colors are often described as calm,
but can also call to mind feelings of
sadness or indifference.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Color is used both by advertisers and
merchandisers to encourage and tempt the buyer to
take action (purchase a product or service)
Meanings are attached to color in the same respect
that meanings are attached to words
Color can be, and often is, more effective than
words
Color not only enhances appearances but also
influences our behavior
Colors can send a positive or negative message
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Color can calm a crowd
Color can make an athlete work harder
Color is a powerful means of setting emotion,
which is the real driving force behind decision
making.
Use color not just for decoration, but to guide
your viewer’ eyes and attention to the most
important elements in your marketing
concepts.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Color is used to shape and define our lives,
habits, values and our feelings.
Men and women respond to color differently
The colors we chose to wear, decorate our
homes, our gardens, etc. gives us a personal
insight about what is going on inside our
innermost feelings and emotions.
Even in the food we eat, the color is taken into
account by food industries and advertising
companies when packaging and marketing their
products.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Light vs. Dark
In general, light backgrounds create
tidier, uncluttered borders.
For shopping or reading information,
clean, light backgrounds are
suggested, but avoid dull grays
Dark backgrounds can present a cozy,
night-time feeling
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Toys, books and children’s web sites usually
contain large blocks of bright, primary colors –
young children prefer these colors and respond
more positively than they do to pastels or muted
blends.
Blue and red maintain a high preference
throughout life, but other colors drop down the
list as other colors become more preferred – as
one ages, there is a greater liking for blue, green
and purple than for red, orange and yellow
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
WHAT DO THESE LOGOS HAVE IN COMMON?
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
RED
Attention Grabber
Color of Danger and Excitement
Strength
Passion, sex – Red is perceived as the most
sensual of all colors, and as the saying goes
“sex sells”
Speed, Movement
Color of Energy
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
RED
The most physical color in the spectrum, it has been
deeply ingrained in the human mind as a signal to act
or react, to fight or flee.
Red is not a good color to over use, but using a spot of
red in just the right place is smart in many cases – sale
items in stores display red tags
Stimulated people to make quick decisions
Wearing red clothing will make you appear a
bit heavier
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
RED
Stimulates faster heartbeat
The most emotionally intense color
The color red will make you hungry
Red cars tend to get more tickets
Business wise it is associated with debt, but is
great for bolding and accents
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Deep red is connected to wealth, red
wine and the “good life”; they are thought
of as elegant, cultivated, rich and refined.
There is an expectation that deeper
wine colors will be more expensive, but
that can be used to your advantage where
luxury looks are being promoted
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
ORANGE
Associated with playfulness
Vibrant – the most flamboyant color on the
planet
Ambition
Stimulates activity, stimulates appetite,
encourages socialization
One of America’s least favorite colors
For business it is good for highlighting
information on charts and graphs
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
There was literally no word for orange in
Europe until the fruit arrived. Oranges became
known as the fruit of the gods, emperors, kings
and the hierarchy of the church
The mid 20th century saw the popularity of
orange plummet among the elite as the color
was adapted not for fine dining but in fast food
restaurants.
Today, orange has gone uptown, especially
when clothed for both fashion and home in light
to mid peach tones or deeper terra cottas.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
YELLOW
Yellow is the most difficult color for the eye to
take in – it reflects the most amount of light of
any color
Makes you hurry
Business wise it appeals to the intellectual types
and is a good accent
The brain actually releases more serotonin (the
feel good chemical in the brain) when around
this color
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
YELLOW
Raises blood pressure
Catches the eye
Warmth; Cheer; Happiness
Babies cry more in yellow rooms and
tempers flare more around this color than any
other
Husbands and wives fight more in yellow
kitchens
Speeds up our metabolism
Yellow roses are a symbol of friendship, less
passionate or threatening than red ones
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
YELLOW
Brings out creative thoughts (legal pads are
yellow for that reason)
Can be over-powering if over used, but can
also be a very effective tool in marketing to
greater sales
Use yellow to promote children’s products
and items related to leisure
The color of graphic lightning bolts, it
suggests energy and electricity
Some shades of yellow are associated with
cowardice
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
75% of the pencils sold in the
US are painted yellow…why?
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Since yellow is the most visible color of all the colors, it is
the first color that the human eye notices. Use it to get
attention, such as a yellow sign with black text, or as an
accent. The use of yellow in signage, point of purchase
displays and packaging is a significant attention grabber
The combination of yellow and all-powerful black is even
more commanding and the indelible message is deeply
implanted in the human mind to WATCH OUT!
In times of stress, there is an increase in the sale of yellow
foods as people revert to childhood comfort foods such as
macaroni and cheese, buttered popcorn, custard, puddings,
crackers, warm soups, and French fries
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
BLUE
All time favorite color (especially with men)
Truth; reliability; belonging; coolness
Some shades of blue can send a cold and
uncaring message
Blue is an appetite suppressant – weight loss
plans suggest putting your food on a blue plate
Put a blue light in your refrigerator and watch your
desire munchies disappear.
Why? Blue food is a rare occurrence in nature –
there are no leafy blue vegetables, no blue meats
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
BLUE
People tend to be more productive in blue rooms
because they feel calm and focused.
Weight lifters can lift more weight in a blue gym
Over the ages, blue has become associated with
steadfastness, dependability and loyalty (note how
many uniforms are blue)
For business it suggests sanctuary and fiscal
responsibility
Designers use blue to describe ice and minty
freshness
Used to promote products and services related to
cleanliness: water & cleaning products
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
BLUE
Also used to denote crispness and clarity:
clear liquids, such as vodkas or products
having to deal with air or sky: airlines, airconditioning
Good choice when marketing hightechnology or financial services
Light blues associated themselves with
health, tranquility and softness.
Fashion consultants recommend wearing
blue to job interviews because it symbolizes
loyalty
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue twice
as much as any other color
BLUE stands for love, which is why a bride
carries or wears something BLUE on her
wedding day
Blue is the color symbolic of mercy and, as it is
believed that the Ten Commandments were
carved on sapphire tables, blue represents the
highest orders of justice and moral behavior.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
GREEN
Take a walk in the park, even on a dull wintry day,
and you will count more variation of green than you
have thought possible
With a multitude of greens so plentiful in the
world, the human eye literally sees more green
than any other color.
Physically, green affects the nervous system,
causing us to breath slowly and deeply, helping the
heart to relax by slowing the production of stress
hormones.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
GREEN
Associated with envy, good luck,
generosity and fertility, freedom, tranquility,
jealousy
Traditional color of peace
The color of balance
The easiest color on the eyes and can
improve vision
Lowers blood pressure
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
GREEN
Symbolizes a healthy lifestyle
Natural; freshness; money
Dark forest green is associated with
conservative, masculine & wealth
Hospitals use light green rooms because
they are found to be calming to patients.
Green is thought to relieve stress and help
heal. Those who have a green work
environment experience fewer stomach
aches.
Te Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
GREEN
Soothes, relaxes mentally as well as physically,
helps alleviate depression, nervousness and
anxiety, offers a sense of renewal, self-control
and harmony
To create a calming effect or growth image for
your product or service, choose green.
Businesses use it to communicate status and
wealth
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
BLACK
Sophistication
Gives an expensive message
Elegant
Seductive
Mysterious
Intelligence
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
BLACK
Authority; Power; Boldness
Black clothes make people appear thinner
Sometimes associated with evil and grieving
A serious color that evokes strong emotions
Business wise it is great for creating drama and good for
a background color (except on websites, it is very hard
on the eyes)
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
It is easy to overwhelm people with too much black
Adding black to any color renders that color more
powerful, creating an illusion of depth, weight, solidity,
substance, and most often, more subtlety.
Black implies weight – people will think a black box
weighs more than a white one
The color black can target your high-end market or be
used in youth marketing to add mystery to your image
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
PURPLE
Color of royalty
Spirituality
Dignity
Luxury, wealth, sophistication
Use purple carefully to lend an air of mystery,
wisdom and respect
The favorite color of young adolescent
girls
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
PURPLE
In business it is upscale and works with artistic
types
Because it is rare in nature, purple can appear
artificial
When overused, it is associated with putting on
airs and being artificial
Lighter hues, such as lavender and orchid
create a sense of nostalgia, romance or
mystique – well suited to the feminine market
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Purple is a combination of red, which
stimulates, and blue, which calms – combine to
create hues of purples
When it leans towards the blue hues, purple is
considered more spiritual or mystical
When it leans towards its redder hues, it is
considered more sensual.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Bright purples are well suited for children’s
products since they convey a sense of creativity
and playfulness.
PURPLE in a child’s room is said to help
develop the imagination
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
In order to “sell” purple, to the unconvinced, it’s
necessary to skew the shade either to the warm
red or to the cool blue side so that the message
becomes more obvious.
In business it is upscale and works with artistic
types
Maybe add some purple tones to your look for
your premium services in your business?
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
A corporate logo for a business that wants to be
thought of as dependable and forthright, yet at the same
time capable of creative innovation might well consider a
blue purple in a business arena where so many logos
are blue.
At one time considered an old-fashioned, rather
sentimental color, mauve has become less age-related
and more acceptable for male slanted product or
wearing apparel, especially in the smokier tones
Lavenders, long associated with aging and femininity,
have now become more trans-gender and used by all
ages
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
WHITE
The color of Purity (wedding dresses)
The color of innocence
Cleanliness/sterility (doctor’s white coats)
Safety in bright light
Refined, devotion, truthfulness
Projects the absence of color, or neutrality
For business it can be sterile and refreshing
White is bright and can create a sense of space or
create highlights
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
WHITE
Aids mental clarity, encourages us to clear clutter
Where black is thought of as the absence of light, white is
the complete presence of light.
White expresses silence and the almost total lack of sound
White becomes far more friendly and approachable when
combined with another color, especially warm colors, or
when the whiteness is not quite so pure-as-the-driven-snow,
as in cream, ivory, ecru, bone or off-whites.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
PINK
Femininity, gentleness
Softness, well being
Sweet, innocence
Security
The most calming of all colors
Pink drains energy and calms aggression
Often, dangerous criminals are housed in pink cells
For business you must be aware of it’s feminine links
and implications
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Some pinks are called bright and shocking because
that is exactly what they are meant to be-intensely
theatrical, they radiate with high energy exerting a
youthful and sensual force.
Makes us crave sugar
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
BROWN
Symbolizes earth, richness
Associated with reliability; stability & friendship,
politeness, effectiveness, helpfulness
Usually, but always associated with masculine
qualities
In business it suggest less important items
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
BROWN
Use dark browns for creating an air of
richness and sophistication.
Beige and tans to achieve a sense of
soothing and calmness.
Very dark brown can be used in place of
blacks; adding richness and warmth.
Used to promote natural and organic
products
Use with pale blues and greens to achieve a
soft yet earthly feel
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Over the years, brown has become the color
highly favored by sports activities, specifically
hunting, fishing, hiking and camping.
Brown also has an amazing appeal to an
expanded appetite, both in food and drink.
Think chocolate, cappuccino, chocolate
mousse, caramel, and hot fudge…in the context
of coffee or chocolate, brown is often irresistible.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
GOLD
Wealth, Prestige, Expensive
Divine, Luxurious
Opulent, Radiant, Valuable
We have been taught to associated gold with
value, which is exactly what is triggered when we
see it in marketing materials
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
The perception of value is always intensified with the
use of gold
It can seldom be used in marketing materials though,
because it color usually isn’t duplicated well and gets
confused with yellow
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
GREY/SILVER
Cold/Scientific
It also represents cleanliness (kitchens)
Practical
Timeless
Middle-of-the-Road
Some shades are associated with old age,
death, taxes, depression or lost sense of
direction
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Grey is the middle ground between black
and white, truly the perfect neutral
*For that reason, color matching is best
done against a grey background
The color of compromise
A bit of grey can add that rock solid feeling
to your product
For business it is traditional and
conservative
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
The color of intellect, knowledge and wisdom
Because of it’s perceived neutrality, gray does have
some interesting psychological connotations attached
to it
The man or women in the grey flannel suit is the
perfect arbiter. He/she is deemed responsible,
staunch, steadfast, accountable, solid and resolute.
In a logo or brand identify image, a vibrant red or
purple can create the excitement against the quiet
assurance of gray.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Silver is the more exciting metallic sister to gray.
Just as gold is invariable connected to the sun,
silver is inevitably paired with the light emanating
from the moon. (silver was actually referred to as
“Luna” in ancient times)
The color of coins, jewelry and pricier items with a
silvery shimmer establish a perceived value to the
finish wherever it is used.
There is a fluidity of motion attached to silver.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Color Preferences by Gender
A distinctive second to blue, green is a favorite color
of men who prefer brighter shades, while women favor
cool, soft greens.
Women wear brighter more varied colors, while men’s
attire is traditionally less colorful
Purple stands out as a feminine color and is strongly
disliked by men, including lavender and turquoise.
Even though it is acceptable as a clothing color for
men, pink has strong negative associations for men.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Color Preferences by Gender
Female top 3 favorite colors: blue, purple,
green
Female top 3 least favorite colors: orange,
brown, gray
Male top 3 favorite colors: blue, green, black
Male top 3 least favorite colors: brown, orange,
purple
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Among favorite colors, preference for green
decreases with ages for all genders
Among least favorite colors, dislike of brown
and purple decreases with age while dislike of
orange increases with age.
In general, women shop more emotionally and
deliberately than men and respond to
merchandise that really entices them – color
plays a large part in that enticement.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
The effects of color differ among different cultures, so
the attitudes and preferences of your target
audience should be a consideration when you
plan your design of any promotional materials
White is the color of death in Chinese culture, but
purple represents death in Brazil.
Yellow is sacred to the Chinese, but signified sadness
in Greece and jealousy in France.
People from tropical countries respond most favorably
to warm colors; people from northern climates prefer
the cooler colors.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Regardless of gender, it’s the “50 plusses” who have
the most expendable income. They have more
experience in buying, they are the most demanding and
make no mistake about it, they are style and trend
aware.
However, it is also this age group that starts to have
trouble reading the fine print on packages or
in signage – if they cannot read it, they’ll
leave it.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Occasionally, the elderly get confused when
they take various medications, most of which are
small white tablets.
Researchers have found that patients who take
multiple drugs on a daily basis preferred bright
pill colors.
Patients also respond best when color
corresponds with the intended results of the
medicine – example: calm blue for a good
night’s sleep
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Many medications, previously available only with a
prescription are now available as “over the
counter”.
This means that it’s more important than ever for
the products to catch the shopper’s eye and convey
information effectively. Color and design are
extremely critical to the brand.
The cool color range in print is especially
problematic to older eyes, so it’s important to
intensify and brighten the cool colors; separating
those shades by interjecting some neutral tones or
incorporating some contract of warm colors.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Studies have shown that color
accelerates learning, retention and recall by 55-78%
Improves and increases comprehension by up to 73%
Increases recognition by up to 87%; and increases
motivation and participation, moving people to action, by up to
80%
Reduces error count from 55% to 35%
Sells products and ideas more effectively by 50% to
85%
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
When using text and/or graphics:
Limit text to phrases – simply stated and to the
point
Maximize white space between points to avoid
cluttered look
Choose a basic text color that best reflects the
message. For example: red for excitement,
orange to express heat
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Changing a color of a word or phrase within
the body of the text will make the word or
phrase more memorable
Legibility is best served by contrast-light text
on darker background or dark on light
White against a color can provide high
contrast. The human eye perceives of white as
a brilliant color
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
73% of purchasing decisions are made in-store,
consequently catching the shopper’s eye and
conveying information effectively are critical to
successful sales
Ads in color are read up to 42% more often than
the same ads in black and white
Tests indicate that a black and white image may
sustain interest for less than 2/3 of a second,
whereas a colored image may hold the attention
for 2 seconds or more.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
92.6% of people surveyed said that they put most
importance on visual factors when purchasing product
When asked to approximate the importance of color
when buying products, 84.7% of those surveyed think
that color accounts for more than half among the various
factors important for choosing products
Research also reveals that people make a subconscious
judgment about a person environment, or product with
90 seconds of initial viewing, and that between 62 & 90%
of that assessment is based on color alone.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
What are “safe” colors?
Purple and orange will never have the positive
color responses of blue, beige or green.
Impulse buyers respond best to red/orange, black
& royal blue
Shoppers with budgets respond best to pink, teal,
light blue & navy
Traditionalists respond best to pastels – pink, rose
& sky blue
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Use caution when using red or orange
Deeper reds look classy and need a touch of
black within them – using the border effect works
well – use red for detail and white to prevent
blandness.
Orange should be used carefully, but works with
some thick black detail. It is a good food color.
Green creates serenity, but never use yellowish
greens (lime) for large areas.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Know Your Market
Are they Asian or Polish? Think Red
Are they Dutch? Think Orange
Are they young? Old?
Research shows that you have between 8-20 seconds
maximum to persuade a prospect to continue reading
– visual appeal is your first weapon – use it wisely.
Watch the Car Makers
Car manufacturers spend millions on color research
so that you don’t have to. Watch the top selling car
colors to see emerging trends – Lexus appears to
be especially sensitive to colors.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Color differentiates your service or product
(John Deere)
The Green Lawnmower
Research reveals that people make a
subconscious judgment about a person,
environment, or product within 90 seconds of
initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of
that assessment is based on color alone
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Use blue green for classical elegance
Color differentiates products, stores, and
organizations from their competitors
Color defines the brand (Home Depot)
A color to build on….
Home Depot uses its distinctive color to create an
intimate relationship between the store and its
customers.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
RED – You are stimulating, energetic, dynamic,
direct, competitive, confident and bold
PURPLE – Your are original, spontaneous, intuitive,
psychic, aesthetic, visionary, and unusual
GREEN – you are people-oriented, natural, stable,
detail-oriented, healthy, keen, and friendly
Blue – You are peaceful, refined, spiritual,
trustworthy, reliable, non-threatening, serene,
honest, and dependable
YELLOW – You are easy-going, calm, bright,
expressive, talkative, funny, warm and happy
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
A rather high percentage of the population is
color blind. To be sure that your materials can be
read by someone with color blindness, try
converting your image to black and white or
grayscale.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
ON THE INTERNET…..
We don’t deal with face to face selling – the
internet is a visual and psychological medium.
The background color of a website, the color of the
header, the color of the text, headlines and subheadlines all have a psychological impact on your
visitors.
Blues and white backgrounds work best for
business sites. Maternity sites pink, golf or lawn
sites green. Food sites should consider red.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Don’t forget common sense – black text on white
backgrounds may be dull, but it is the most readable
and pleasing to the eye.
Yellow text on white background is not only
unreadable, but causes eye-strain which will have
people leaving your site quickly. Nothing will lose
sales faster than eye-straining text.
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
DEFINE YOUR MESSAGE!
Is it invigorating, exotic or intimate?
Should it suggest a certain mystery, sentiment or taste?
Select the dominant color that most conveys the message
Choose subordinate and accent colors to support the
message
Fine tune the choices for appropriateness to the target
audience
Check competition colors for similarities and “tweak” if
necessary
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Use red when you want to grab attention and
communication
Use pink when you want to imply warmth, delicacy and
femininity (romance)
Use orange when you want to get attention to convey
creativity
Use yellow when you want to convey a sense of
newness, excitement, fun or surprise
Use green when you want to suggest a restful feeling,
endurance and sturdiness
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
Use blue when you want to be relaxed and calm
Use purple when you want to convey grandeur, luxury
and expensive
Use black to suggest power and dominance
Use grey to appear conservative, businesslike and smart
Use white when you want to convey simplicity, purity, and
cleanliness
Use brown to suggest naturalness and earthiness
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?
THANK YOU
Theresa Peterlein
Mid-Michigan PCC Industry Co-Chair
National Industry Co-Chair Postal Customer Council Advisory Council
(616) 329-3267
The Color of Mail - What Message Are You Sending?