Color as a Method of Corporate Ingenuity: An Analysis of Color Theory and its

Role in Modern- Day Branding

Lauren Bach

COM495 G, Strategic Communications

Submitted to Dr. Lee

06 December 2017

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Table of Contents

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Literature Review . . . . . . . . . 6

Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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Abstract

In a world of fragmented media consumption and thousands of different brands per

product, it is difficult to determine how and why people choose their favorite brands. Since the

golden age of advertising in the 1960’s, marketers and advertisers have known that emotions

drive the popularity of brands. Furthermore, researchers and ad creators alike have found that

color plays a large part in emotional responses, and therefore is an essential aspect of brand

preferences. Through a focus group interview and analysis, this study investigated the emotional

response to color and color preferences the participants wanted to see on household products.

Introduction

Color plays the most underrated and intricate role in society today. From the colors of

food, to the colors a political candidate chooses to use on their campaign posters, to the colors of

the outfit people pick out every morning, it is undoubtable that color contributes some type of

persuasive quality in the average consumer’s day- to- day life. Advertisers and brand marketers

have used color to their advantage in the corporate world by specifically choosing colors to

represent their brands.

In order to understand color and color theory, it is important to examine ethos, pathos,

and logos and the role they play in influencing product choices by consumers. Coined by the

Greek philosopher Aristotle, ethos pathos and logos are modes of persuasion used to convince

audiences. Ethos is the ethical appeal, and is used to convince an audience of credibility and

character. Ethos is largely language- based, meaning that unbiased and articulate speech should

be used when trying to persuade using ethos. It is also important to be truthful, as the word

“ethics” is derived from ethos (User, 2015). Logos is an appeal to logic and meaning. Logos

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relies on facts, historical knowledge, and statistics. Logos can persuade audiences by citing facts

and arguing logically.

Finally, pathos is an appeal to an audience using emotions. The persuader will use pathos

to make the audience feel a certain way, usually to the persuader’s advantage. One way to use

pathos is to evoke sympathy or pity, while another could be to inspire anger or frustration. In

Greek, pathos means “suffering” and “experience” the word empathy is derived from pathos.

Pathos can persuade an audience by using meaningful language, emotional tone, and in the case

of this study, pathos and colors are proven to persuade an audience when it comes to brands.

Definition of Terms

For this research, color theory will be defined as a set of principles used to create

harmonious color combinations that are pleasing to the eye and senses, and establishes common

ground for how colors can be used, arranged, coordinated, blended, and related to one another

(Study.com, 2017). Pathos will be defined as the quality or power in an actual life experience or

in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of sympathetic and

kindly compassion (dictionary.com, 2017).

Importance

Although color preferences are largely dependent on past personal experience, it should

also be acknowledged that initial reaction is a large part of the decision- making process. This

speaks to the importance of choosing brands— it only takes a minute and a half to decide, for

instance, between a cereal brand such as Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats and a store- bought

brand that is essentially the same cereal but with different packaging. Color is not only used for

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differentiating products from their competitors, but also for influencing the consumer’s moods

and feelings and therefore their attitude towards certain products.

In other words, color plays an intimate— and often overlooked— role in why we choose

the products we do. It is essential for consumers to be aware of why they are attracted to certain

brands so they are not blindsided by the superficiality of the brand. Consumers should be

examining what the brand or product actually offers rather than the bright colors/ packaging.

Analyzing color theory and its role in businesses is an important study because as consumers, we

must be intelligent in the ways in which we choose certain products and companies. This

includes educating ourselves on all facets of brand advertising— including the use of color and

the psychology behind it.

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Literature Review

Conceptions of Color Theory

In any analysis of substance, the researcher must first examine the origin of the topic. To

understand why color is so important in its role for brand advertising, art/ art history must be

considered— this is where color theory began. This article, titled “Some Recent Conceptions Of

Color Theory,” analyzes modern- day uses of color in art and how it began using historical

contexts.

An artist of note who had a heavy hand in developing color theory was Vincent Van

Gough. Instead of painting flat, one- tone images, Van Gough used his knowledge of contrasting

colors, hues, and primary/ secondary/ tertiary colors to create profound paintings. Van Gough

was also famous for using colors where they were not normally expected— one might not

presume to see greens and yellows in the sky and blues and purples in the grass, but Van Gough

used a knowledge of color theory to layer these colors into his painting which overall made them

look more realistic. Art critic and researcher Eugene Clinton Elliott (1960) wrote, “To break

completely with the old painting, color had to be freed of its dependence on the idea of the object

depicted. Consciousness of a possible opposition between the use of color and the traditional

chiaroscuro was but a suggestion of a new path” (p. 496). Van Gough used these small strokes of

color to create sweeping, emotional paintings. This is important towards this research about color

and brand identity because it demonstrates that even a small change in the norm of color theory

can lead to a masterpiece.

Another artist the article discusses is Henri Matisse, who is famous for his unprecedented

use of color. All of Matisse’s work came from a place of strong emotions— before he started a

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painting, he would center his emotion around the colors he wanted to use and then begin to paint.

Matisse once said of his own work, “Everything, even color, can only be a creation. First I decide

[décris] my feeling before going on to the object. It is then necessary to recreate everything, the

object as well as the color” (p. 498). Matisse’s groundbreaking approach to expressing his

emotions through color is still used in the modern art age as a form of colorful expression. These

artists would later be used as a precedent for brand creators to look back on and learn from.

Color Theory in Society

Even though using color theory in art was prevalent as early as the Renaissance Era,

using it in a societal context did not become popular until the 1800s. The history of using color

theory in society began in the beginning of the nineteenth century as arts and sciences started to

flourish. Brownlee (2009) wrote

Early in the eighteenth century, artists like John Smibert sold pigments and other supplies

from their studios. After 1800, though, an already brisk international trade expanded

significantly with the introduction of new pigments such as chrome yellow and Prussian

blue and the consolidation of extensive networks for mining, manufacturing, and

distribution. As part of the vast technological, economic, and cultural transformations of

the nineteenth century, these developments helped to further blur already indistinct

boundaries between science and art (p. 21).

As international trade and commerce took off, businesspeople began to catch onto the fact that

colors on products attracted buyers. This shows that there has always been a close connection

between color, business, and the advancement of technology. Brownlee (2009) wrote, “In the

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rapidly developing market economy of nineteenth-century America, scientific discoveries in

color were quickly yoked to commercial production and disseminated in the popular press. The

applied arts of printing, weaving, and nascent forms of industrial design, for instance, eagerly

sought to capitalize on the implications of new discoveries” (p. 21). The early relationship

between color and businesses began with simple forms of art, and then blossomed into a

corporate technique as technology advanced and allowed for more intricate uses of color theory.

Brand Identity via Lived Experience

In his article “The Communicative Power of Product Packaging: Creative Brand Identity

Via Lived And Mediated Experience,” author Robert L. Underwood (2003) explained that a

brand’s packaging has a symbolic meaning that consumers often associate with nostalgia (p. 62).

These two types of symbolism can be boiled down to both inner reflection; how consumers

personally identify with the brand, and outward/ social symbolism; how the brand represents a

larger culture that the consumer is a part of.

This research also found that color is the most important part of brand symbolism, or the

brand’s core identity. In his study, Underwood found that the color red speeds up the pulse, while

the color green slows it down, and also found that both black and white evoked images of wealth

and elegance. The research found that corporations use these responses to color to manipulate the

consumer into having an emotional response to the brand, and hopefully purchase it. All of this

relies on color choice. Underwood concluded that “The element of color has the ability to:

facilitate recognition of different categories…; communicate product positioning…; serve as a

code within a category…; and serve as a cue for abstract attributes” (p. 65). Overall, people have

certain connotations and biases toward most colors, even if it is subconscious.

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 An emerging theme from Underwood’s study that is similar to the focus group conducted

in this research is the theme of nostalgia. While in this focus group certain colors evoked a sense

of nostalgia, (specifically to the participants’ childhoods), the packaging in Underwood’s

research caused his participants to feel nostalgia. Underwood wrote, “Social experts suggest that

the appeal of nostalgia stems from a longing for a return to simpler times when product quality

and craftsmanship were highly regarded and seemingly more prevalent” (p. 68). Whether it is

through color or through packaging, nostalgia surfaces in the feelings of consumers— nostalgia

can also be found to stem from the Greek term pathos.

Color Marketing and Decision Making

In the research article “Impact of Color on Marketing,” author Satyendra Singh (2006)

wrote “People make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial interactions with either

people or products. About 62‐ 90 percent of the assessment is based on colors alone” (p. 783).

This again speaks to the importance of color’s influence on decision making— it has a very large

impact on why consumers choose other products or brands over competitors. Singh’s research

also ultimately finds that yellow, orange, and blue as happy colors, and red, black and brown as

sad colors (p. 785).

Use of Color for Brand Advertising

Today advertising is everywhere we look— it’s on our phones, social media, television

commercials, and radio endorsements. Brand advertising can be found on the clothes we wear

and even plastered on the boxes of food we consume.

Before examining color theory, it is first important to understand the association between

people and brand loyalty. According to Jugenheimer et. al (2014), “ When people viewed images

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associated with the strong brands— the iPod, the Harley-Davidson, the Ferrari, and others—

their brains registered the exact same patterns of activity as they did when they viewed the

religious images. Bottom line, there was no discernible difference between the way the subjects’

brains reacted” (p. 74). This study shows that brands can be as powerful to some people as

religious imagery. Brands have accumulated a powerful reputation in today’s culture, and it is

important to discuss its association with color theory.

As Gunelius (2015) stated, “Color matters to brands for a few specific reasons. First,

color can subconsciously communicate a consistent message of your brand’s promise to

consumers. Second, it can help to support brand expectations and mold consumer perceptions of

your brand. Third, color can make a brand stand out or blend in depending on the business’

strategy and audience’s wants and needs. Fourth, color can evoke emotions that… can be very

powerful” (AYTM, 2015). This is a useful summary about color and its importance in branding

products— color and brand recognition is subconscious, and it has both emotional and

psychological ties to the decision making process.

Color Perception

Color theory and company brand advertising can only be interrelated if the consumer

views the color in a certain way. If they see a color and feel nothing, then the color theory is not

doing its job in attracting the consumer. Thus, it is necessary to discuss if color perception is a

variable in this research. Kalderon (2007) wrote “Our evaluative attitudes toward the qualitative

nature of the colors are diverse. They are not invariably positive-the manifest quality of a color

may be ugly as well as beautiful. Nor are our evaluative attitudes confined to these aesthetic

categories” (p. 564).

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 Kalderon found in the research that color truly is an important part of examining

everyday objects as it is one of the first things we perceive when looking at anything. The journal

article concludes that because color is the paramount way we perceive objects, it also affects the

temporal lobe which controls emotions through the limbic system. Because the limbic system is

located in the temporal lobe, which is also where the brain controls sight and perception of

colors, there is a strong connection between the two (LeDoux, 2017).

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Method

The research that was conducted in this analysis of color theory and modern– day

branding was a focus group. A focus group can be defined as a group of people who assemble to

participate in a guided yet open discussion to provide feedback on a certain product, brand, or

even person. The role of the focus group moderator is to lead the discussion and ask pointed

questions that evoke honest responses from the participants in hopes of finding quantitative

answers to the desired research.

For this focus group, the moderator assembled a diverse set of colored pencils and

markers on a table along with three different images of products. The images, all printed out full-

size on an average size paper, were in black in white as if they were taken from a coloring book.

The participants consisted of four females and one male. The participants then sat around the

table with the coloring sheets and colored pencils and were asked to take some time to color in

the images in the way that they would want them to be seen in a store. In other words, they were

asked to use their creativity to make their ideal brand. After they colored in the images, they

were asked to discuss their emotional response to the colors and why they chose the colors. Next,

they were asked if they were attracted to certain brands because of the coloring of the logo or

packaging and then had a discussion about that.

The three brands used for the coloring sheets were: an Apple iPhone, a cereal box, and a

“Windex- like” spray cleaning bottle. The researcher chose these because they represented three

different aspects of consumerism— technology, food, and a common household product. By

choosing these products, the researcher ensured that the information would be diverse while still

receiving clear answers from the participants.

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Findings

This section aims to answer the four research questions asked prior to the conduction of

the focus group. The findings will facilitate the explanation of why corporations use color theory

as a form of consumer manipulation in their brand and product identities.

RQ1: Which colors did the participants choose for product (1, 2, 3) and why did

they choose it?

The participants had both similar and different choices when choosing colors for the three

products. The similarities in the color choices led the researcher to believe that they were

choosing based off of nostalgia or previous brand loyalty. The differences in the color choices led

the researcher to believe that they were choosing the colors based off an emotional response to

that specific color.

For the Apple iPhone drawing, the participants all used light shades and tones, and for the

most part chose colors on the cool side of the color wheel, meaning mostly blues and grays. Male

participant 1 used light pinks and light grays to color his drawing, while female participant 3

used a very light shade of blue to color hers. When asked why they chose light colors, male

participant 1 responded “My guess would be that the iPhones are all already light colors… like

the gold and silver ones aren’t that dark, so we’re probably drawing from those examples. The

whole Apple brand is always cutting- edge when it comes to the iPhones so light, subtle colors

would go hand- in- hand with that clean innovative look they have” (Appendix 1, 2017).

For the cereal box, four out of the five participants chose warm colors such as brown, red,

orange, yellow, and pink. Only female participant 4 chose cool colors— blue, pink, and purple. It

should also be noted that the cereal box drawing was shaded in much more heavily than the

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iPhone. The participants responded that this was because they enjoyed seeing bright, bold colors

on a cereal box and more subtle colors on technology. When coloring in the spray cleaning

bottle, the participants opted for white, green, blue, gray, turquoise, light green, silver, and

purple. They attributed this to the fact that they felt these colors represented environmentally

friendly cleaning products. The greens and blues in particular reminded them of nature.

RQ2: What were the main differences in the participants’ choices?

The main differences between the choices were their reasoning behind why they chose

the colors. Although most of the drawing outcomes looked relatively similar, their answers to

why they chose the certain colors were different. For instance, they shaded in the Apple iPhone

lightly because they wanted technology to look light and clean. Female participant 2 said “I also

think that phones and technology are associated with whites and grays… light colors in general.

Maybe because the screens are bright, they want a light color to go with that” (Appendix 1,

2017). On the other hand, some participants were choosing the colors simply because they were

attracted to that color. Female participant 4 chose only grays and blues because those were her

favorite colors. She had an emotional attachment to those and wanted to see those shades on all

of the brands, regardless of brand differentiation.

RQ3: Did the participants use ethos, pathos, or logos to make their decision?

The decision to choose the colors was largely based on pathos. Ethos and logos relied too

much on logical and ethical decision making processes, which the participants could not describe

using. However, pathos was used because the participants relied on nostalgia and their emotional

memories of eating cereal as a child or their mother cleaning the house with a spray bottle.

Pathos was the main decision– maker in this focus group.

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RQ4: Was there an emotional response to each color choice? If so, what was it?

For all the five participants, there was some type of emotional response to the color or

brand. An emotional response does not necessarily mean crying or any outcry of extreme

emotion, but rather a happy, sad, etc. memory or thought that was brought up in discussion

because of the content. The emotional response was subtle, but it was present. The emotions

discussed or referenced in the focus group interview were: idealism, inspired, happiness,

nostalgia, and creativity.

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Analysis

The findings section was informative to the research questions, but in order to understand

the deeper meaning of this overall research one must look deeper into the recorded responses

from the focus group using the secondary research from the literature review as a foundation. For

example, the colors used with the iPhone directly correlate to the emotional response. Light and

subtle colors translates into innovation and the feeling of being inspired. That is exactly what

Apple’s brand identity stands for. This proves that there truly is a connection between color,

brand identity, and consumer emotions.

The cereal box coloring option further proves this hypothesis. The secondary research in

the literature review mentioned multiple times that there was a psychological connection

between warm colors to happiness, and a physical connection between warm colors (such as red)

and the quickening of a heart rate. Sugary cereals raise the consumer’s heart rate when they eat it

because of the high sugar content, so it would make perfect sense that the brand advertisers

would use that same “sugar rush” effect for their packaging and advertising.

The cleaning spray bottle is slightly more complex and harder to decipher than the other

two products used in the focus group. The participants described their wariness towards cleaning

products because of the harmful chemicals they often contain, so their ideal cleaning product

brand would be one that uses natural ingredients and is eco- friendly. For this reason, they either

used the colors of the cleaning products their mothers used when they were children or used

colors that reminded them of calming nature, such as blue and green. This speaks to the emotion

of fear and the use of cool colors to calm that fear. It also brings up nostalgia— they wanted that

feeling of safety their mothers once gave them and found that same feeling in colors.

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Conclusion

The information from both secondary research about the psychology behind color theory

brand identity and the focus group about emotional responses towards certain colors / brands

revealed important information regarding why consumers choose certain products over others.

Because consumers have such an emotional (pathos– based) affiliation with certain colors,

whether it be nostalgia, happiness, or hungriness, they choose their products or brands based on

how the colors make them feel. Overall, the use of color in brands is an important aspect to pay

attention to when browsing different products or brands, because corporations use colors as a

tool to make consumers subconsciously want what their company is selling.


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Bibliography

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Insider. Retrieved September 29, 2017, from http://www.businessinsider.com/is-apple-a-

company-or-a-religion-2012-6

Brownlee, P. (2009). Color Theory and the Perception of Art. American Art, 23(2), 21-24. doi:

10.1086/605706

Color Meanings and Symbolism. (2016). Retrieved September 29, 2017, from http://

www.arttherapyblog.com/online/color-meanings-symbolism/#comments

Elliott, E. (1960). Some Recent Conceptions of Color Theory. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art

Criticism, 18(4), 494-503. doi:10.2307/428116

Gunelius, S. (2015). Brand Color Theory and Practice – Part 1: Why Color Matters to Brands.

AYTM. Retrieved September 29, 2017, from https://aytm.com/blogresearch-junction/

brand-color-theory-color-matters/

Jugenheimer, D. J., Bradley, S. D., Kelley, L. D., & Hudson, J. C. (2014). Advertising and Public

Relations Research (2nd ed.) [Kindle]. Retrieved November 29, 2017.

Jung, C. (2012). Jung Theories. Retrieved September 29, 2017, from http://www.carl-jung.net/

theory.html

Kalderon, M. (2007). Color Pluralism. The Philosophical Review, 116(4), 563-601. Retrieved

from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.elon.edu/stable/20446990

LeDoux, J. E. (2017). A higher-order theory of emotional consciousness. Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(10). doi: 10.1073

Gross, R. (2015, October 27). Color Meaning and Symbolism: How To Use The Power of Color

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 in Your Branding. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from https://designschool.canva.com/

blog/color-meanings-symbolism/

Morton, J. (2012). Color & Branding. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from https://

www.colormatters.com/component/content/article?id=240:color-a-branding

Satyendra Singh, (2006) "Impact of color on marketing", Management Decision, Vol. 44 Issue: 6,

pp.783-789, https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740610673332

Underwood, R. (2003). The Communicative Power of Product Packaging: Creating Brand

Identity via Lived and Mediated Experience. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice,

11(1), 62-76. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40470084

User, S. (n.d.). Home - Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, the Modes of Persuasion ‒ Explanation and

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Appendix 1: Focus Group Transcript

FOCUS GROUP CONSENT FORM

Researcher: Lauren Bach
Contact Researcher: lbach@elon.edu

What is the Research?

You have been asked to take part in a research study about products and colors.
The purpose of this study is to find out which colors you would want to be seen on specific
products.

Why have I been asked to take part?

You are a consumer of everyday household products.

I would like you to use the tools provided to make decisions about colors.
I will talk about how you made those decisions and why.

Voluntary Participation

This discussion is voluntary—you do not have to take part if you do not want to.
If any questions make you feel uncomfortable, you do not have to answer them.
You may leave the group at any time for any reason.

Risks

There are no physical or mental risks involved with this study.

Benefits
There are no benefits for taking part in this research.

Privacy
You have given permission for your first name to be used in this study and to be published.

Audiotape Permission

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I have been told that the discussion will be tape recorded only if all participants agree.

I agree to be audio taped ___Yes ___No

Questions

I have been given the opportunity to ask any questions I wish regarding this evaluation. If I have
any additional questions about the evaluation, I may call ______________.

_____ Yes, I would like to take part in the focus group.

_____ No, I would not like to participate in the focus group.

SIGNATURE DATE

TRANSCRIPT 10/29/17 11:00 A.M.

(5 participants, 4 female, 1 male, ages 20-22)
Moderator: Lauren Bach
Moderator: Ok. I’ve written this down as a script that I’m going to read: as everyone
understands, this focus group is to analyze the use of color preference in different
products and what colors buyers are most attracted to. Your jobs will be to select from
the pile of colored pencils I’ve put out to color in different black and white images in the
colors you’d like to see on those products. This will help my research as to why
companies choose certain colors for their brands or products and which colors
consumers are more likely to be engaged with.
So there are five participants in this focus group… I’ve laid out colored pencils for
everyone and I’m handing out now… some papers that have some products on them.
Your task today will be to color these in with whatever color you choose from the colored
pencils.
Lea: Ok.
Moderator: So… everyone has their papers? Ok. So if everyone can bring the paper
with the iPhone to the front of the pile, that would be great.
[papers shuffling, inaudible noise.]

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Jack: And we can just color it in however we want?
Moderator: Right. You’ll want to choose whichever colors you feel… you would want on
an iPhone, for example. Like if you… want your iPhone to be light blue, choose that
color from the pile and color with that. It’s like… pretend you’re coloring in elementary
school.
[sounds of people shuffling papers.]
Moderator: how is everybody doing?
Sara: Do we have a time limit?
Moderator: No, no take however long you would like. If it gets to be too long I’ll let you
know.
[silence for approximately 1.5 minutes.]
Jack: I think I’m done.
Moderator: Ok.
[shuffling sound]
Moderator: So it looks like everyone’s done.
Olivia: Wait one second.
Lea: Me too.
Moderator: Becca how are you doing with yours?
Becca: Yeah finished.
Olivia: Wow you shaded in well.
Moderator: If everyone’s finished, please put your pencils down and put your papers on
the table so we can compare everyone’s. What are the main similarity you guys see?
Jack: They’re all pretty much light colors. I used the light gray, Becca’s is light blue,
Olivia’s is light pink.
Moderator: Do you guys see any differences?
Jack: Yeah, we all chose different colors. The only similarity is that we all shaded them
in lightly.
Olivia: Also nobody chose any dark colors.
Moderator: Can anybody speak to why you might have chosen all light colors? More in
depth?
Jack: My guess would be that the iPhones are all already light colors… like the gold and
silver ones aren’t that dark, so we’re probably drawing from those examples. The whole
Apple brand is always cutting- edge when it comes to the iPhones so light, subtle colors
would go hand- in- hand with that clean innovative look they have.
Moderator: Great! Anyone else?
Olivia: I also think that phones and technology are associated with whites and grays…
light colors in general. Maybe because the screens are bright, they want a light color to
go with that.

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Moderator. Ok. We’re now going to move on to the next picture. It’s a cereal box, and
you can again use whatever colors you think you’d like to see on the box.
[ Long pause as everyone is coloring ]
Moderator: How’s everyone doing?
Sara: Good… almost finished. 

Becca: Yeah just one more minute.
Jack: Ok I’m all set.
Olivia: Yeah I am too.
Moderator: Great. So it looks like everyone’s cereal boxes look pretty different. Can you
each go around and describe the colors and why you chose them? Jack, you can start.
Jack: Ok so I wanted to do something a little different and use mostly darker colors,
browns, oranges, dark yellow, and blacks. …. I really like chocolatey cereal and I kind of
associate those colors with that, because brown and orange are the color of the
Reece’s Puffs cereal box and ideally my made up cereal would kind of taste like that.
[ laughs ] But also, so many cereal boxes are colorful and bright I feel like if the colors
were a bit more subdued then I might just choose it in a grocery store because it’s
different looking.
Moderator: Cool. Olivia you’re up!
Olivia: Mine is pretty different from Jack’s… I did really bold and bright colors because
that’s typically what I would associate a sugary cereal with. It’s eye- catching and the
bright colors definitely make me think of sugar and candy, which makes me want to eat
the cereal.
Moderator: How do these colors make you feel? Do they provoke a certain feeling or
emotion?
Olivia: Hungry! … And happy. I guess the brightness just makes me feel happy which
makes me want to try the cereal.
Moderator: Thanks Olivia. Becca.
Becca: Mine’s the exact same as Olivia pretty much, and I chose the colors for the
same reasons. I was kind of thinking along the lines of Fruit Loops or Lucky Charms
because those were my favorites growing up.
Moderator: Ok. And lastly, Sara?
Sara: So I was thinking more of an organic cereal, ‘cause I eat Kaashi at home which is
more of a granola. I decided to use forest-y colors I guess you could call them… like
greens, browns, some orange, some yellow, a little blue. Anything that has green on it
makes me feel like it’s more organic and less sugary.
Moderator: Interesting, thanks. We have one more product, are you guys ready?
Jack: Yup.

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Moderator: Ok this one is for a windex- like cleaning spray bottle. Same rules, everyone
can choose whatever color. Whenever you’re ready.
[ pause as everyone colors ]
Moderator: It look like we’re all set, wanna put them out where everyone can see them?
Jack: I chose light colors again for this one. Light and clean go together in my head.
Becca: Yeah, I also chose lighter colors and tried to leave more white on the page
because if it’s bleach or something, I’d want the bottle to be mostly white. White and
bleach and clean all are a group.
Olivia: I chose some light greens for the outline and then light blues for these inside
parts, just because I wanted it to have a fresh and clean look.
Sara: Same here. I wanted mostly white but added a little silver so people would think
“sparkling clean” if they saw it in a store.
Moderator: Awesome. Does anybody see a main difference between this batch of
drawings?
Jack: They all look pretty similar except Sara added the silver and Olivia added a little
more color to the inside of hers.
Moderator: Which drawing would you say looked the most different between everyone?
Jack: Definitely the cereal box.
Moderator: Sara, which drawing would you say looked the most similar?
Sara: I would probably say the cleaning bottle one. Mostly white and light colors.
Moderator: Does anyone have any final takeaways or last thoughts they’d like to share
with the group? Maybe something about why you think we choose certain colors in
stores or how certain colors make you feel?
Jack: My main takeaway had to do with color association. Like, for instance, I
associated all the light colors with cleanliness and technology. While I put the bright and
bold colors with sugary cereals. Olivia, I think you said that the bright colors make you
feel hungry for the cereal which I pretty much agree with.
Becca: I’d also add that blue and green make me think of clean and nature and those
lighter blues and greens were the ones that I personally liked the most on all of the
products as a whole.
Moderator: Great. Thank you everyone.

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