We often think of colour as aesthetic—something we choose to paint our walls, to wear, to decorate our brands. But colour is never neutral. It’s loaded. With meaning. With memory. With instinct. It’s a language older than words.

Before we ever spoke, we saw. And what we saw—was colour.

Take red, for instance.

In one culture, it’s the colour of love—of roses pressed against warm cheeks, of passion, heat, and courage. In another, it’s the colour of warning, of blood, of war and sacrifice. In China, red means luck. In South Africa, it signifies mourning. Red excites, stimulates, agitates. It’s no coincidence that fast food giants use red in their logos—it makes us hungry. It’s the stop sign and the emergency light. Red is both life and death.

Colour doesn’t just paint our world—it sculpts our perception.

Studies show colour can influence everything from our mood to our purchasing decisions. Blue can calm us, lower our pulse, and make us trust a bank or a hospital. Yellow can make us smile—or make us anxious, depending on the tone. Green is freshness, nature, money. And black? Black is a mood, a myth, a movement.

But is black really the definition of cool?

Coco Chanel thought so. So did Johnny Cash. So does every sleek startup rolling out matte-black packaging for a product meant to feel “elite.” Black absorbs all light—and in doing so, reflects none. It’s mysterious. Authoritative. Timeless. It says: “I know who I am.” But it also whispers grief. In the West, it’s worn to funerals. In fashion, it’s used to slim and streamline. In art, it’s used for contrast, for drama… for silence.

Colour is context.

Part One: The Emotional Codes of Colour

Scientists have long studied how colour impacts emotion and behaviour. Ancient healing traditions like chromotherapy believed that colours emitted vibrations that could rebalance the body. Today, modern psychology picks up the thread.

And while colour’s effect isn’t universal (culture matters), some patterns are hard to ignore:

• Red raises the heart rate and blood pressure. It makes us move. It screams urgency. That’s why clearance tags, fire trucks, and breaking news banners all bathe in it.

• Blue slows us down. It encourages trust, reduces appetite, and lowers stress. That’s why Facebook, Twitter, and PayPal live in blue—it makes you stay.

• Yellow stimulates serotonin—the brain’s happy juice. But too much yellow? It’s overwhelming. It’s the most fatiguing colour on the eye. Fun fact: babies cry more in yellow rooms.

• Green is harmony. Nature. Wealth. It’s smack in the middle of the visible spectrum, requiring no adjustment from the eye—literally easy to look at.

• Black isn’t just the absence of colour—it’s the absorption of it. It suggests power, prestige, mystery. In luxury branding, it says: “This is for some, not for all.”

And then there's white.

In Western culture, it symbolizes purity, peace, new beginnings. In many Eastern cultures, it symbolizes the end—death, mourning, the final chapter. Like all colours, white tells different stories depending on who’s listening.

Part Two: Colour in Branding—The Silent Persuader

Walk through a mall. Scroll your feed. Drive down a highway. Colour is quietly working behind the scenes—pulling emotional strings.

A study by the Institute for Colour Research revealed this: people make a subconscious judgment about a product within 90 seconds of first seeing it. And up to 90% of that judgment is based on colour alone.

That’s right—colour sells.

• Red = urgency, hunger, action (Coca-Cola, Netflix, DoorDash, H&M)

• Blue = trust, reliability, calm (Visa, IBM, Ford, LinkedIn)

• Green = health, balance, eco-consciousness (Whole Foods, Spotify, Starbucks)

• Orange = youth, fun, affordability (Fanta, Nickelodeon, Home Depot)

• Purple = creativity, royalty, spirituality (Cadbury, Hallmark, Yahoo)

• Black = exclusivity, sophistication, luxury (Chanel, Apple, Nike, Tesla)

Even fast fashion brands follow the colour calendar. Want to look current? Wear the Pantone Colour of the Year. Want to sell more? Align your palette with how you want people to feel—not just what you want them to buy.

Part Three: The Colour You Carry

But colour isn’t just around us. It’s inside us.

Some of us wear black to disappear. Others wear it to stand tall. Some love yellow because it mirrors their optimism. Others avoid it, fearing it reveals too much.

Our relationship with colour is emotional. Even spiritual.

A man who wears grey every day may not be dull—he may be seeking stillness in a chaotic world. A woman drawn to emerald green might be craving growth or a return to something grounded and natural.

Ever wonder why you painted your bedroom blue after a breakup? Why you bought that red sports car when life felt flat?

That’s not just style. That’s instinct. Colour as therapy. As self-expression.

Our favourite childhood colour often fades with time, replaced by tones that reflect who we’ve become—or who we’re trying to be.