Colors play an important role in design. Colors send a message to the subconscious about your organization and helps your potential costumers decide if you are right for them. The custom vinyl graphics that you use for your service truck, personal vehicle or storefront window need to have the right colors to portray the image and message that you want your potential clients to see. A study was done about the psychological effect of colors on the mind. We found this information to be important enough to pass along so that everyone can take note and improve on their custom vinyl graphics. We hope that this will assist you in the decisions you make while designing your vinyl graphics and vinyl lettering.

What do the colors in my vinyl graphics say to my clients? We have put together information about the most frequently used colors for custom vinyl lettering and graphics, and all other signage.

BLACK suggests prestige, power, boldness, seriousness, professionalism, and is distinguishing and classic. Business wise, it’s great for creating drama and is good for a background color. Blackis ideal for text on a light colored background.

BLUE suggests security, authority, faithfulness and dignity. For business it suggests sanctuary and fiscal responsibility. It is the most popular and the second most powerful color. Blue can also be cold. People are more productive in blue rooms.

GREEN suggests health, fertility, freedom, freshness, eco-friendliness, healing, tranquility and jealousy. Businesses use it to communicate status and wealth. Of all colors, green is easiest on the eye and can improve vision. It is a calming, refreshing color.

ORANGE suggests pleasure, cool, excitement, cheer, endurance, strength and ambition. For business it is good for emphasizing information on charts and graphs.

RED suggests excitement, strength, sex, passion, vitality, and aggressiveness. This color is especially good for grabbing attention. Business wise, red is associated with debt, and is great for boldness and accents. The most emotionally intense color, red stimulates a faster heart rate and breathing.

Other colors send different messages to the brain. We used these because they are the most popular. Brown, pink, yellow, purple and others all make unique impressions your subconscious. Consider carefully what you want your vinyl lettering and graphics to say before committing to a color.

The use of color contrast is vital to the effectiveness of a sign. So what is the best way to use color? Contrast is key. And what exactly does that mean? Contrast is the difference in brightness between the light and dark areas within a single design. A bright yellow background for example, will contrast well with dark letters such as black, a dark shade of blue and even purple. The greater the contrast or difference between the light and the dark colors, the easier the text on your vinyl graphics or custom sign will be to read from a distance. Colors that are closer together like a medium gray letter against a black background won’t contrast as well and therefore will be harder to read.

For the most part, white as a background color is by far the most versatile because more colors naturally contrast better against a plain white background than any other color. When you choose a background color for your vinyl graphics other than white, you limit your choices for colors that will both stand out and match that background color. This is neither good nor bad, but rather just something to ponder when making color choices.

There are no “rules” about colors you can use in the design of your vinyl lettering and graphics. There are some things to consider when contrasting your colors. Just as certain colors send a message to your subconscious, your eyes send messages to your brain that effect the way you see certain contrasts. For the greatest effect you should avoid using hues. Try not to diminish the true color that you are using, unless it is a shading or something similar. Hues are hard for the eye to distinguish. Also be aware that some contrast will create a visual stimulation that you may not want. Rather than attracting attention to your message you may be causing the potential customer to look away. If the color contrast makes their eyes uncomfortable they will never read your message. Yellow text on a white background is quite difficult to read, while red text on a blue background causes illusions. And green text on a red background actually creates a feeling of vibration. Unless this is your intended purpose with your vinyl graphics, those are combinations you may want to avoid.

But choosing the colors for your vinyl graphics is not really as difficult as it seems. By deciding the message and image you want to send to your potential customers and considering the contrast of the colors, you can design highly effective vinyl lettering and graphics to promote your business.

Tags: charts and graphs, custom vinyl graphics, custom vinyl lettering, lettering colors, psychological effect of colors, sex passion, storefront window