Meaning of Colors: Blue

Keeping with my research on colors, I am now looking at the different meanings and emotions evoked by each color. I am looking at Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Purple, Orange, and Pink. There is a separate blog post for each color. The reason that I need to research this more is because I have never really noticed the emotional side of colors, I know the stereotypical view of certain colors, but not any real understanding about it, which if I can learn, will help enhance my designs by using every aspect of my design to show my message to my audience.

Blue 

Meanings of the Color Blue

Blue is the most popular favorite color of them all. It is a very natural color, the color of water, the sky, but is very rare for vegetables and fruits. Blue is a very cold, wet and slow color compared to the fiery intensity of red warmth. Today, blue is used for denim jeans, corporate logos, heaven and authority. The different shades of blue can have different meanings, such as the following:

Dark Blue - represents trust, dignity, intelligence, and authority

Bright Blue - cleanliness, strength, dependability, and coolness (these come from the relation to water and the ocean)

Light (Sky) Blue - peace, serenity, ethereal, spiritual, and infinity (these come from the relation to the sky)

Most blues give the impression of trust, loyalty, cleanliness, and understanding. It is a very peaceful color, but it also represents depression and sadness in the American culture. "Feeling Blue", "Singing the Blues" are both examples of how Americana's also interpret the color blue.

      Global Meanings of the Color Blue

• Number 1 favorite color in the whole world
• 53% of all flags contain blue
• Most corporations use blue in their logos to denote trust and loyalty
• Dark blue suits are considered professional attire
• Blue jeans are worn all over the world
• Blue-blooded is considered aristocracy in European languages

      Unique Meanings of Blue in Other Cultures

• In Greek, blue is believed to ward off the evil eye
• While in English, feeling blue means feeling down, but in German, being blue means to be drunk and in Russia, it means being a homosexual
• In Korea, dark blue is the color of mourning
• The god Krishna has blue skin
• Different shades of blue are described as shallow or deep rather than light or dark in China
• In America, blue is the color of a baby boy, while in Belgium pink is for a baby boy
•  "Prince Charming" is called "The Blue Prince" in Spain and Italy

Designing with Blue

Blue can easily be overused which makes it seem bland and a design cliche is used alone. It is best to combine blue and another color to get the most out of using blue in the design.

NOTE:

Information and graphics on this page are taken from Color Matters, Basic Color Theory at http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory.