Meanings of Colors: Orange

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.

Orange

Meanings of the Color Orange

Orange is a very vibrant color, its hot, healthy, engaging, and fruity, but it can also be crass and abrasive. Its similar to purple in that it is either a loved color, or a hated one.  The name of this color was actually derived from the name of the fruit that is orange, the orange. Orange is commonly found in nature, in vivid sunsets, fires, vegetables, flowers, fish, and many citrus fruits. Today though, orange is used for traffic cones, Halloween, life rafts, and Cheetos. Orange also symbolizes energy, vitality, cheer, excitement, adventure, warmth, and good health.

During the 70's, orange was a very hip, groovy color, though it began to fade away. In 1991 Forbes magazine asked about how orange affected consumer choices, they said that orange represents cheap, as in a good buy for the money.

There are actually many different shades of orange - and each have different meanings. Some shades are more appealing than just natural orange such as: 

• terracotta or cayenne - dark orange 
• persimmon - red-orange
• pumpkin - pure orange
• mango - yellow orange
• salmon - pink orange
• melon - light orange.

Darker oranges offer a sense of comfort, some are spicy, some are earthy. Light oranges are soothing and  healthy.

      Global Meanings of Orange

• Orange makes one think of healthy fruits, bursting with juice
• It is also associated with vitamin C and good health
• Symbolic of autumn
• All over the world, children are drawn to the color orange
• High visibility police vests, hazard cones, and the color of life rafts

     Unique Meanings in Other Cultures

• Orange is both the name and emblematic color of the royal family
• In the U.S. orange is the color of prison uniforms
• In Hinduism, orange is a sacred and auspicious color
• In France, the middle traffic light for caution is orange instead of yellow
• In the U.K., orange stands for the Northern Irish Protestants and has very strong religious and political significance

Designing with Orange

 Orange demonstrates one of the design rules, there are no bad colors, just bad color combinations. 

The complementary color scheme - orange and blue - is dynamic.

 The triad color scheme - orange, green, and purple - is exceptional.