Using color to boost business

Don’t act surprised. Here at Copel Communications, we can’t even touch on a nice artsy topic like “color” without tying it directly to the bottom line. We’ve already discussed the art/business dichotomy in deeper detail in a previous post; be sure to read “What’s the difference between ‘creative services’ and ‘art’?”
 
Back to color. It’s one of those fundamental elements that’s so important, so ubiquitous, and so easy to employ that it gets taken for granted, if not overlooked altogether. Not long ago, there was a renewed love affair with color—when its use was democratized and mere mortals were freed from the shackles of black-and-white—similar to what happened with fonts, with the advent of desktop publishing. (We pay homage, and respect, to fonts in this other article which we’re happy to recommend: “How to make fonts work—harder—for you.”)
 
In fact, a good way to appreciate color—a prerequisite to bending it to your business will, nyah-ha-ha—is to go back to the days, not long ago, when it was a luxury. And we can conjure up that world to you with just one word: 
 
Newsprint. 
 
For the longest time, “news” meant “newspapers.” And newspapers (before USA Today came along) were primarily black-and-white. Sure, there would be what was called “spot color” that would be added, usually red or yellow. And it would invariably be horribly out of register; picture an “On Sale Now!” starburst with the yellow color a third of the way out of the burst itself. 
 
So that’s not even “color.” That’s “colorized.” 
 
Of course, a world without color is not a world without creativity. We firmly believe that restrictions—guide rails—actually encourage creativity, not limit it. Think of film-noir movies. In color, they would, pardon our French, suck. So there’s gorgeous artistry to be found, and exploited, in the world of monochrome. 
 
But then comes the time to go beyond it. 
 
A chromatic leap
 
By the way, the term “black and white” isn’t exactly, well, black and white. Early black-and-white film was what was called orthochromatic. Sure, it rendered a black-and-white image, but it looked wrong. That’s because that film, that chemistry, didn’t treat all colors that it was photographing, equally. Reds, for example, would turn almost black. It was stilted. Think of old silent movies, and how it looks like the actors, especially the men, are wearing strange makeup. That’s not strange makeup. That’s orthochromatic film. 
 
So it was a big technological leap to get us to panchromatic film. That’s the black-and-white film that you take for granted today. It looks like the real world, only with the saturation dialed down to zero. 
 
Now move that “Saturation” slider to the right. And you’re like Dorothy when she lands in Oz. There’s so much there that it’s overwhelming. 
 
And now, finally, we get to design. To things you need to create on a daily basis. Like logos. Websites. Flyers. Social ads. Videos.
 
The “color saturation slider” analogy is useful here. Because it helps us find the truth between the unwanted extremes. At one end, you have black-and-white. But we’ve graduated beyond that. 
 
More importantly, at the other end, you have full-blown, retina-melting color. That’s why The Wizard of Oz looks like The Wizard of Oz. They were purposely going for color overload, 1) because they wanted to convey the surrealistic quality of this fantasy land, and 2) Technicolor was still relatively new, and they couldn’t resist playing. (Indeed, Dorothy's slippers, in the book, are silver; they were changed to "ruby" for the movie, simply because that's more colorful.) Watch any color movie from that era, and you’ll see the same thing. The film wasn’t more vibrant back then. They simply put more vibrant things in front of the camera. Brightly-colored sets, props, and costumes. From Gone With the Wind to The Adventures of Robin Hood, it’s practically a trope. 
 
Dialing it down
 
Here’s the point: There is virtually zero application for Wizard of Oz-style color in any assignment that’s going to cross your desk anytime soon. Could you imagine the reactions you’d get if you handed in something that, um, garish? People got over the novelty of color back in 1939; now it’s time to put it to good use. With that said, here are some guidelines and thought-starters to help you with that next assignment: 

• Use the “color slider” analogy. For that next piece you’re working on, where would you set the “slider”? Better yet, would you create two layers, and assign a slider to each? That is, you purposely mute your palette, yet allow one element/layer to really pop and grab extra attention? Don’t take any of this for granted. All of these are choices for you to make. Enjoy the process! 

 

• Color wheels are eternally useful. We won’t get into all the angstroms of additive vs. subtractive color, or RGB (red-green-blue) vs. CMYK (cyan-magenta-yellow-black). The important thing is that colors can be arranged, organically, around a wheel, and their relative positions automatically feed you color schemes. Simply Google “color wheel” and you’ll find lots of examples. 

 

• Know the rules—then break them. If you’re reading this article, you already know about “warm colors” and “cool colors.” You can extrapolate beyond that and get to “mechanical colors” vs. “earth tones.” And each of those takes you down a comfortable rabbit-hole of which-means-what. Yellow is caution. Red is danger. Blue is cool mint. Right? Not always. When you know what your viewer expects to see, you can jolt them into a new reality with what they don’t. And nothing lives up to that task like color. Typeset the word “Red” in a blue font, and you’ll feel the tension in your head instantly. These are fun tricks; use them! 

 
Get help
 
Here at Copel Communications, we’re lucky to work with some really skilled graphic and video talent, who often toil within the walls of our clients’ own offices. They take direction brilliantly (see our post on “How to direct (other) creative people”), including when it comes to color.
 
Sometimes you won’t want, or be able, to do this yourself. You’ll need help with that creative assignment, color and all. If that’s the case, contact us. We’d be delighted to help. 

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