Orange is a “love it” or “hate it” colour so think before you choose it for your company brand!
Orange has very high visibility, so it is useful to catch attention. However, because of its energy and brightness, it can become overwhelming if used in large quanities in a design, especially on screen. Therefore, it’s best to use orange sparingly, perhaps as an accent colour.
Orange radiates warmth and happiness, combining the energy and stimulation of red with the cheerfulness of yellow. It is a hot colour and yet it is not as aggressive as red. Orange is known to increase the oxygen supply to the brain, and so is invigorating and stimulates mental activity.
It is highly accepted among young people. Since orange suggests playfulness, creativity and energy, it is an ideal colour for toys or for those companies who want to promote themselves to the youth market.
Orange mobile for example have a bright, clear orange logo to suggest they are an approachable, happy and fun company and they particularly target the younger mobile users. They certainly don’t appear old fashioned or stuffy. “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange.”
It is no surprise that the budget airline “Easyjet” has choosen a bright, lively orange. It suggest a positive feeling of abundance – where you can afford to fly on holiday more often.
It’s interesting to note that the shades of orange in use by high-profile companies for their logos are very similar.
As a citrus colour, orange is also associated with healthy food and is believed to be an appetite stimulant. This makes it a popular choice for food outlets.
Many restaurants use deeper shades such as terracotta or pastel shades apricot or peach for their restaurant décor as they are more subtle than red, yet still increase the appetite and encourage conversation and social interaction – ideal where visitors are encouraged to have a good time and to eat and drink more. Research has shown that hot chocolate tastes best when drunk from an orange mug!
Orange is the easiest colour to see in low lighting, low visibility, or next to water, hence its popularity for use on some bridges and life jackets, traffic cones and signs.
There are negative associations to the colour orange: it can be associated with flamboyance and immaturity. It’s a very visible colour and so is often used to signify danger, for warnings or to attract attention, such as in traffic or for life jackets.
Interesting facts about the colour orange:
- Black box flight recorders on aircraft are actually bright orange so that they can be found more easily. They were called “black boxes” originally because early prototypes were stored in black metal boxes.
- The first carrots were mainly purple – not orange. They originated around Afghanistan 5000 years ago, and slowly spread into the Mediterranean area. During the 17th century, Dutch growers cultivated orange carrots as a tribute to William of Orange and purple carrots were almost wiped out.
- It has been proven that women can see a greater number of shades of the colour orange than men. Women have two of genes that allow them to see orangewhilst men only have one. This means that women are able to see so many shades of orange but men can only see a few.
Quotes relating to orange:
“Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow.” — Wassily Kandinsky
“Orange is the happiest color.” — Frank Sinatra
