No matter the goal – whether that is building consistent branding or replicating wallpaper – color matching is an integral component of printing processes. Deviations even within slight shades can cause your product to look unprofessional and confuse its target market.
Setting up a reliable color matching program can save time and reduce headaches associated with mismatched hues. Here are some tips to get you underway:
Color Psychology
Color psychology is the study of how different colors influence human emotions and moods. It has garnered considerable interest due to its potential relevance in areas like marketing, art and design; individual experiences may dictate which hues evoke specific emotions for them based on cultural norms; more research needs to be conducted in order to fully comprehend this aspect of color psychology.
First step to understanding color perception for research on psychological functioning involves identifying which factors affect its perception by individuals. These may include lightness, chroma and hue of colors as well as their surrounding environments – these variables must be carefully managed when conducting studies related to color and psychological functioning as otherwise they can lead to inaccurate conclusions; unfortunately this step often is overlooked during basic color science research (e.g. color appearance modeling). Addressing this weakness would greatly advance this field.
Though progress has been made both theoretically and empirically in this area, research on color and psychological functioning remains in its infancy. Therefore, bold theoretical claims or impassioned calls for application should not yet be made; rather mid-level frameworks which precisely and comprehensively explain and predict links between colors and psychological functioning in specific contexts must be created (Pazda & Greitemeyer in press).
Recent studies have linked red to aggression and dominance ratings, while viewing blue store/logo logos increases quality and trustworthiness evaluations. These findings can be leveraged to create brand images that resonate with consumers.
Recent research indicates that people’s preferences for yellow, light blue and white colors are strongly related to their Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality trait of agreeableness. This finding follows on previous work which demonstrated specific associations between certain MBTI personality types (thinking-types prefer yellow; emotional-types favor red) and certain colors influencing our moods and preferences for these hues.
Color Palettes
Color palettes are collections of hues used together to form an aesthetic and visually pleasing image. Color can be used in a variety of ways to convey different emotions and themes; red may evoke passion while purple can have a soothing, relaxing effect. When selecting your business’s color palette it is important to consider which emotion it should convey to customers.
Crafting a color palette is an integral component of design. By testing out various hues and identifying which ones work best with your brand identity and goals, creating the ideal palette can make your designs truly stand out and help achieve business objectives.
There are various categories of color palettes, including complementary, analogous and triadic hues. Analogous hues lie adjacent each other on the color wheel while triadic ones form triangles or rectangles when paired. Complementary colors serve to add contrast by appearing opposite on the wheel – these hues can help add visual interest when used as design elements.
Colors carry different significance across cultures, so it is crucial to gain a better understanding of its symbolism before using any color in your designs. For instance, pink may be considered romantic in one culture but vulgar in another. Furthermore, conducting research with your target audience to see how they react to certain hues will provide invaluable information.
Color theory and the color wheel can both help you select your palette, as can websites such as Colorbox by Lyft Design which features a live graph to illustrate how different hues complement each other and also provides you with its hex code so you can communicate directly to developers about a certain hue.
As part of your research process, it can be useful to take a peek at your competitors’ color palettes in order to see which shades they are using – this can give an indication of the type of style and feel your competitors are going for and may spark ideas for your own designs.
Choosing the Right Stock
Selecting the ideal stock for color matching can be challenging. Not all stocks have equal pigmentation and density levels, meaning that their response to light varies significantly. For optimal results, it is crucial that you choose a shade as close to what you desire as possible.
Finding an efficient color match system can help you reach your goals more easily. This process works by assessing dyestuffs and pigments that will produce fabric colors meeting production requirements such as fastness, cost, and quality; while also meeting other production considerations. A computerized system should take all these aspects into account when creating its formula.
Color matching systems go beyond simply selecting dyestuffs; they also work by analyzing all of the additives that will go into producing the final product, such as inorganic flame retardants, glass fibers and high loadings of fillers that could affect its shade. A good color matching system should have access to an extensive database of additives so they can select one which meets your desired shade requirements.
Lighting should also be taken into account when matching colors to products, as this can have a significant effect on how customers perceive colors; artificial lighting might cause blue to lean more toward green than natural sunlight for instance, making sure your product packaging will always look its best regardless of its surroundings.
Color matching is an integral component of printing, yet achieving an exact match may prove challenging. Even the best systems cannot guarantee this result; therefore, providing printers with samples of previous work to enable them to match colors exactly is recommended.
As part of an easier color matching process, analogous colors may help. Analogous hues include shades that lie next to one another on the color wheel – such as blue and indigo. Utilizing variations of these hues will give your products a more varied appearance that is likely to please customers.
