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Collage with colors

How to communicate with colors
Have you ever thought about what the color in your image say about you and the message you want to relay? The colors in your images are strong carriers of emotional moods and can therefore enhance your message.

Together with semiotician Karin Sandelin at Kantar, we have examined which signals and moods the colors in images can relay. Keep reading and let us help you improve your image communication!

Brown
Earthy, dusky and as of another time
Brown nuances remind us of stable, calm nature with beaten paths in the woods, soft sand and heavy tree trunks. Therefore brown gives your image an earthy, quiet expression. It is also a color that brings fur and skin to mind, thus relaying soft values such as closeness, security and caring.

Brown also says something about time. Many materials brown with age, whether through bleaching or dulling. Dried surfaces become dull and dusky. Our earliest images were taken in sepia - a brown contrast color on white, in place of black. Images with brown hues therefore often give a nostalgic or retrospective feel.

Do you want to convey a message of stability and being down-to-earth? Then you should use brown. Avoid brown if you wish to convey a feel of looking toward the future and energetic curiosity
Blue
Dreamy gem and carrier of status
The exciting history of the color blue still, to this day, affects how we perceive the color. It was formerly very expensive to make the color for paints, more expensive than gold. This meant that only the most important people could afford to commission portraits using blue, thus making it a way of displaying status. Eventually, the color blue became easier to produce and became common in folk paintings. Today, blue is a well-established color in corporate communications and represents the incontestable in control, rationality and authority. It is also the color of uniforms, further enhancing the symbolism of power.

Blue also functions as a metaphor for the clear sky and enormous seas - the limitless reaches of space. These are far-reaching aspects of nature and symbolize things that are difficult to capture and grasp. In this way, blue is often present in contemplative moments when you are dreamily gazing out at the sea and a sense of calm overtakes you.

Are you aiming to convey a distancing, contemplative message? Poetic grandiosity? Then you should use blue. Avoid blue when you want to portray an image of being present in the now and of being energetic.

Orange
Alert enhancer of optimistic values
Orange is a versatile color - energetic and sporty. It is associated with many optimistic values by creating sharp warmth.

We are now seeing a lot of B2B and public sector communications strategically using orange. It has become a color that is effective in giving images a warmer, more alert feel in an environment of rather cool blue-gray communication.

Are you aiming to convey a message of energy, activity and warmth, such as the sun? Then you should use orange. Avoid orange if you are looking to give an impression of exclusivity and sophistication. However! There are exceptions, as seen in the Hermés brand. They confidently use orange for their pricey products and packaging.
Photographers:
Kjell Ljungström, Rania Rönntoft, Fredrik Ludvigsson, Rania Rönntoft, Susanne Kronholm, Rania Rönntoft, Image Source, Stefan Isaksson, Maskot Bildbyrå, Pernilla Hed, Caiaimage, Hans Berggren and Mikael Svensson.