Color Psychology: The Color Pink

Color Psychology is the study of hues in regards to human behavior. The goal of getting familiar with color psychology is to try and understand how color affects our daily lives. Because color is all around us, it's often something we tend to overlook easily. Whether we're paying close attention or not, color is constantly impacting our perception of products, brands, campaigns, spaces, marketing, and even the food we eat! We're excited to introduce our new design series where we focus on all things tied to design. If you follow us on @storiesedit, be sure to take a look at our mini IGTV episodes that will be exclusively pushed on our @storiesedit account. For today's post, we're talking all about the color pink, so keep reading to learn how it can affect your brand, marketing strategies, and more!

History

You'd probably assume that pink has always been a more "feminine" color, but according to Smithosnianmag.com, before the 1940s, pink was considered a more suitable color for boys and blue was a "prettier" color for girls. After the 1940s, things changed, and pink became the primary color associated with everything feminine, and blue became the color primarily associated with everything masculine.

Perception

While the color pink may be associated with the word "feminine," not all shades of pink evoke the same emotion. In fact, different shades of pink are strategically utilized to convey different feelings in people. Muted pinks convey a sense of calm (Vineyard Vines, Benefit Cosmetics, and Mary Kay) while saturated pinks like Magenta are used to convey energy and excitement (think of brands like PINK by Victoria Secret, Lyft, and Cosmopolitan).

Trends

In recent years, there's been a prominent spike in companies and brands who are intentionally using the color pink in their branding and marketing materials. Particularly, the shade "millennial pink," which we've all probably repeatedly seen since it's graced our screens via social media, printed materials, and clothing since 2016. What's incredibly interesting about this particular shade of pink is its disassociation with the word "feminine" as it's considered to be a "genderless" color among many. It's even associated with words like "youthful," and "approachable." (glossier, kkw, and Acne) which is probably the reason so many modern companies are attracted to it.

How to Use Pink

We went ahead and collected a few words that pink is generally correlated with. We also gathered some color combinations that are perfect if you're looking to utilize pink within your branding or marketing materials but are unsure what colors to combine. Words associated with PINK: compassion, sincerity, happiness, optimism, gentleness

We intend on sharing the color psychology of other colors here on the blog, so be sure to keep checking back for more color-related posts, IGTV episodes, and more!