Mood Colors: Meaning and Associations of Color Psychology

Black is a symbol of power and authority.

Black is also used as a color of sophistication and elegance, often provoking emotions of mystery.

Black is also associated with evil, taboo.

Blue is one of the must commonly used colors. Blue is the color of the sky and is often associated with tranquility, depth, honor, trusts and productivity. Blue is also said to decrease one's appetite.

Acceptance, Authority, Balance, Calmness, Care, Caution, Cleanliness, Coolness, Cooperation, Compassion, Confidence, Contemplation, Culture, Depression, Despair, Depth, Dignity, Faith, Flexibility, Frankness, Freedom, Freshness, Goodness, Harmony, Honesty, Hope, Ice, Infinity, Intelligence, Introspection, Isolation, Law, Logic, Loyalty, Maturity, Obedience, Order, Peace, Piety, Power, Protection, Quality, Quietness, Reflection, Reliability, Responsibility, Sadness, Security, Self Control, Serenity, Sincerity, Solitude, Stability, Stiffness, Technology, Tenderness, Tradition, Tranquility, Transparency, Trust, Truth, Unity, Value, Virtue, Water.

Brown: Solid, dependable, and confident are often Traits attributed to brown. It can be though of as being both conventional and sophisticated depending on its intended use.

Nature, Outdoorsy, Reliability, Ruggedness, Security, Support, Tough.

Pure gray is the only color that has no direct psychological properties. It is, however, quite suppressive. A virtual absence of color is depressing and when the world turns gray we are instinctively conditioned to draw in and prepare for hibernation. Unless the precise tone is right, gray has a dampening effect on other colors used with it. Heavy use of grey usually indicates a lack of confidence and fear of exposure. Positive: Psychological neutrality. Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack of energy.

Green: Symbolic of nature and organic materials. Green is one of the easiest colors on the eye and is often further associated with safety, optimism, growth, harmony, wealth, lucky and stress relief.

Adventure, Aspiration, Calmness, Cleanliness, Comfort, Efficiency, Environment, Equilibrium, Faith, Fertility, Foliage, Frankness, Freedom, Freshness, Friendship, Generosity, Good Luck, Grass, Growth, Harmony, Health, Hope, Laziness, Life, Open Air, Outdoors, Moist, Mucous, Nature, Neutrality, Progress, Prosperity, Quietness, Relaxation, Renewal, Reproduction, Safety, Security, Sincerity, Spring, Sympathy, Vegetation, Vigor, Wisdom, Youth.

Orange: Associated with energetic warmth and ambition. Orange is a vibrant color which often denotes new beginnings, enthusiasm and creativity: Paring hints of orange with cooler blues often creates an excited pop.

Action, Ambition, Appetite, Assurance, Celebration, Change, Charisma, Communication, Competence, Coziness, Creativity, Determination, Disorder, Domination, Dryness, Earth, Emotion, Encouragement, Endurance, Energy, Enthusiasm, Exaggeration, Excitement, Expansion, Explosion, Extravagance, Extroversion, Exuberance, Fascination, Fitness, Flavor, Flexibility, Friendship, Fun, Generosity, Happiness, Health, Heat, Humanism, Humor, Independence, Invitation, Joy, Laughter, Motivation, Practicality, Radiation, Security, Service, Society, Smile, Success, Sunset, Temptation, Tropic, Visibility, Warmth, Warning, Wisdom.

Pink is often attributed to femininity, love, romance and tenderness. Pink has also been known to produce a calming effect.

Charming, Cheerful, Feminine, Gentle, Nurturing, Sincerity, Soft, Sophistication, Tranquility, Warmth.

Purple / Violet: Historically connected to royalty, nobility, power and wealth. Purple can also be associated with spirituality but do to its rarity in nature, purple can often appear artificial.

Ambition, Aristrocracy, Art, Anxiety, Beauty, Balance, Compassion, Conflict, Contrition, Coolness, Creativity, Drama, Dream, Dignity, Enchantment, Enigma, Extravagance, Fantasy, Fashion, Femininity, Grief, Homosexuality, Independence, Individualism, Inspiration, Intelligence, Introspection, Intuition, Justice, Knowledge, Leadership, Luxury, Magic, Majesty, Meditation, Mood, Mystery, Mysticism, Nobility, Nostalgia, Passiveness, Penitence, Preciousness, Pride, Quietness, Reflection, Religious Devotion, Responsibility, Richness, Royalty, Sadness, Secrecy, Sensuality, Seriousness, Shadows, Sobriety, Solemnity, Solitude, Sophistication, Sorrow, Spirituality, Splendor, Style, Sublimation, Suffering, Superstition, Truth, Value, Wealth, Wisdom, Wit, Vanity.

Red: The most emotionally intense color of all! Red is an extreme color often associated with boldness, love, and life (blood). Red also can denote a warning (traffic lights/sign/alarm) so be careful of overuse.

Alertness, Ambition, Aggression, Battle, Beauty, Brilliance, Charity, Charm, Circulation, Communism, Compassion, Courage, Danger, Desire, Determination, Devotion, Domination, Eccentricity, Emotion, Energy, Eroticism, Excitement, Extroversion, Fashion, Fervor, Fire, Friendship, Hate, Heat, High Voltage, Intensity, Life, Love, Luck, Lust, Madness, Martyrdom, Motion, Movement, Murder, Pain, Passion, Patriotism, Power, Prohibition, Rage, Rebellion, Rescue, Revolution, Romanticism, Sacrifice, Sensuality, Sexuality, Sin, Speed, Strength, Suffering, Success, Tension, Thrill, Triumph, Urgency, Victory, Violence, Vitality, War, Warmth

White: Signifying purity, cleanliness, sterility, and youth. White is also known to project the absence of color, lending itself nicely to providing negative space in design.

Calm, Clarity, Cleanliness, Cleanness, Down-to-Earth, Happiness, Heavens, Honest, Hygiene, Innocence, Peace, Purity, Safety, Serenity, Sincerity, Soothing, Tender.

Yellow: Often portrayed as being a cheerful attention getter, and is often associated with liveliness and being energetic. Yellow is also difficult for the eye to take in heavy doses, so it can easily overpower a pallet if overused.

Activity, Aspiration, Alertness, Brightness, Caution, Communication, Confidence, Energy, Expansion, Expression, Extroversion, Fear, Forgiveness, Friendship, Gaiety, Happiness, Idealism, Ideas, Imagination, Intelligence, Innovation, Inspiration, Intuition, Joy, Knowledge, Laughter, Logic, Light, Optimism, Order, Philosophy, Playfulness, Power, Satisfaction, Signal, Spontaneity, Stimulation, Summer, Sunshine, Thought, Uncertainty, Warmth, Warning, Wisdom, Youth.