The Importance of Color

People often underestimate the importance of exterior color.

This became very apparent during a visit a years ago to a small town in Oregon. My husband, daughter and I walked and drove up and down Main Street numerous times during our visit. Usually we were searching for parking, but often we were searching for a place to eat. We had tried a few restaurants on the street and on the last day, we hoped to find something new. We drove up and down the street searching, as it was too rainy to walk. One very colorful storefront always caught my eye. The bright turquoise color, with the red and black accents really appealed to me. But each time we drove or walked by and I glanced at the storefront windows, I assumed it was some sort of a salon. Or maybe it was an art studio or school... Imagine my surprise when I found out it was a restaurant! NOTHING about the storefront color choices said food to me or to my family. I wondered if it was just us...

I shared the photo with my Facebook followers and took a small survey, asking them what business might lie behind the storefront. None of my followers guessed correctly. The majority guessed that it was some sort of a salon, but also that it was possibly a record store, a print shop, a vitamin store, or a place for fitness. The closest anyone came to a restaurant was a coffee shop. And they chose that because of the name and not the colors.

Color is our very first perception of a company, its brand or its products. Colors should effectively communicate who the company is, what they offer and what their products are all about. This restaurant may have had the greatest food in town, but they missed out on my business because I did not identify them with food. Their storefront and logo, at a glance, did not effectively communicate anything about who they were or what they offered. 

When designing a new logo, painting a business, creating signage, or designing products and packaging, the colors you choose truly do matter. Humans are visual and we process information most quickly by what we see! So remember, your color choices speak very loudly. Choose carefully.