Psychology Of The Color Purple And What It Means For Your Business - FatRabbit Creative (2024)

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Let’s look at the psychology of the color purple and what it designing with purple can mean for your business.

Understanding color and its impact is essential to making smart color decisions, bridging the gap between what you are trying to communicate and what is actually perceived. We’ve explored this reality with a handful of colors—blue, red, green, yellow, black, and white. Let’s now look at the psychology of the color purple and what it designing with purple can mean for your business.

Purple Has To Make Up Its Mind

Purple is one of the three secondary colors. Like a combo of red and blue, it is neither warm nor cool. At the same time, it is simultaneously warm and cool. Purple embodies the balance of red’s stimulation and blue’s calm. This mix can cause unrest or uneasiness unless the undertone is clearly defined, at which point the purple takes on the characteristics of its undertone. For example, a blue-purple becomes visually cool, while a red-purple is visually warm. With a sense of mystic and royal qualities, purple is a color often well-liked by very creative or eccentric types and is the favorite color of adolescent girls.

What Does Purple Communicate?

All in all, purple communicates in a positive way. It is said to have the power to uplift, calm nerves and encourage creativity, making it an all-inclusive color. All ages, genders, and cultures can relate to purple. Here are four specific things that purple communicates. These are all qualities to keep in mind when designing with the color purple.

1. Royalty. A universal connection that people make with purple is its association with royalty, nobility, and prestige. Purple was the royal color of the Caesars. In ancient times, the color purple in stained glass was seen as uniting the “wisdom” of blue and the “love” of red, therefore symbolizing justice and royalty. It’s symbolic of wealth and status in Japan.
2. Value. These notions of royalty cause purple to communicate a sense of value. For this reason, the highest-value poker chip ($5,000) is purple.
3. Sacredness. Purple is also considered sacred, especially in the natural world. In Egypt, purple is symbolic of virtue and faith. In Tibet, the purple stone, amethyst, is considered to be sacred to Buddha. In Christianity, purple is associated with Advent and Lent.
4. Bravery. Purple is symbolic of bravery. The purple in the U.S. military Purple Heart award represents courage. The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the United States armed forces who have been wounded in action.

Brands That Use Purple

There are very few brands that have chosen to design with purple for their logo identity. “Why?” you may ask. Although royalty and value can be seen as positive associations, they also have negative connotations, and can often communicate in an arrogant way. Another reason is that on the color spectrum, purple lies at the very shortest frequency of wavelengths visible to the human eye. In other words, it can be a difficult color to work with.

1. Yahoo! This could perhaps be the most famous purple brand. Offering email, news, and a search engine, among other things, Yahoo! chose purple to communicate the value of the information they can provide on the web.
2. Crown Royal. The name says it all. This Canadian whiskey brand was first introduced as a tribute to King George VI’s visit to Canada in 1939.
3. Monster.com. Monster is primarily used to help those seeking work to find job openings that match their skills and location. Their use of purple relates to any age, culture, or gender.
4. LA Lakers. With yellow as its complementary color, purple creates a bold, high-frequency palette. The LA Lakers’ color scheme is just one example of this energetic combination.

Continue the Conversation

There are many more associations to make with the color purple. We only touched on a few. The conversation could go on and on So, why not continue the conversation? Share some of your experience with purple. Considering using purple in your graphic design or logo? Give us a call to discuss.