Curious Colour Insights

May 20, 2025

The Weekly Close

Curious Colour Insights

What’s so interesting about colours?

Colours can shape how we feel and behave.

Research shows that colours can affect our mood, energy levels - and even our physical responses like heart rate and appetite. 

So if we’re thinking about how we can match the best space for our moods - be it focused work, relaxation, or creativity - we may want to tap into some colour palettes and see how they make us feel and respond.

Photo Credit: Weekly Close

Colour associations that people have are not always universal - cultural associations and individual experiences can influence how we feel and respond to colours. 

This article discusses how conditioning may help to better understand colour associations, given that some studies on colour do not always seem to be consistent - and sometimes even contradictory. 

“Some studies have found that people do better on cognitive tasks when faced with red rather than blue or green; others show the opposite.

The mechanism most often cited is conditioning. 

The idea is that if you repeatedly have a particular experience surrounded by a certain colour, then you eventually begin to associate that colour with the way you were feeling or behaving.”

Photo Credit: Bhupesh Palnhk Unsplash

Blue and green tones may have a calming affect for some people (perhaps our ocean and nature associations?), and according to psychologist John Werner, may even help surgeons to focus more easily.

LiveScience discusses surgeons and the potential impact in more detail,

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“The brain interprets colours relative to each other.

Looking at something green from time to time can keep someone’s eyes more sensitive to variations in red, according to John Werner, a psychologist who studies vision at the University of California, Davis.”

Photo Credit: Weekly Close

How do certain colours make you feel? Which colours lift your mood and energise you? Which colours help to calm and relax you?

Finding your personal colour palette can help to understand your own unique preferences and reactions to them. 

Did You Know?

For those linguistically curious out there, the colour orange is named after the fruit, not the other way around!

Photo Credit: Weekly Close

Question of the Week

Notice the dominant colours in spaces where you feel most relaxed versus most energised. 

How might you intentionally incorporate mood-lifting colours into your daily environment? Perhaps through clothing choices, workspace elements, or home décor?

Understanding your personal colour psychology can become a simple tool for environmental mood management.

If you could design your perfect workspace or relaxation space, what colours would you choose?

What does this reveal about how different environments affect your mood and productivity?

Quotes to Ponder

"The best colour in the whole world is the one that looks good on you."

Coco Chanel

"Colours, like features, follow the changes of the emotions."

Pablo Picasso

Random Wonder

The average person can see around 1 million colours.

Tetrachromats (where people have an additional cone in their retina, allowing them to see a wider range of colours), can see up to 100 million colours!

To close

Next time you're feeling stuck on a problem, try changing the colour of your environment. Studies suggest that:

  • Blue may enhance creative thinking

  • Red could improve attention to detail

  • Green may reduce stress and boost productivity

  • Yellow can spark innovative thinking

But then again, if it is down to conditioning and having your own unique colour associations - it may just none of the above!