So, how do you choose the proper color for an ad? How do you determine which color will make your ad pop? What color may be distracting? Is colored type distracting? Does any of this really matter?
Here’s an exercise in color affect. You tell me. Which of these ads are more comfortable to view? How do these ads differ in the way you feel when viewing them? Jot down some notes if you want. I do this exercise by writing words of feelings that come to mind when viewing these ads.
Here’s what I came up with:
The first one immediately annoys me, don’t ask why, but it feels useless in its delivery. It makes me feel like I’m supposed to be looking at something else besides the ad. I feel like I’m not getting it, like there’s more to it, making me a tad bit uneasy.
How about the second one?
This ones seems very focused. My attention is directly on the ad and its content. I don’t feel distracted. I know I’m looking at what I am supposed to see. The message is clear. I feel confident in my ability to interpret the ad.
Do we have to talk about this?
This add makes me want to go for a run or something. I feel extremely agitated and like I need to do something now or I’ll face drastic consequences. I don’t want to spend any time viewing this ad as it makes me feel a large amount of anxiety.
What’s everyone else saying?
If you’re not interested in what I think, I took a poll around the office asking for five words that came to mind when they saw each one of the ads. And the results are in!
The blue Maytag:
- Frustrating
- Dark
- Moody
- Saturated
- Strained
The gray Maytag:
- Clean
- Indifferent
- Dirty
- Cold
- Sterile
The red Maytag:
- Angry
- Evil
- Dislike
- Unreadable
- Lost
There’s plenty of information about the effects of color on the human emotion. The easiest way to go about your inquiry is to look at your ad in different color schemes and brainstorm with a group of people a few key words or phrases that come to mind. If these words aren’t positive in nature, change the color.
P.S. The Maytag logo was originally done in the grayscale scheme by Leo Burnett. Of all the colors, why did he chose this?