When preparing a body, funeral directors well understand the challenge of selecting appropriate shades for make-up. The deceased’s suit or dress or the casket lining can enhance or detract based on how those colors work with the skin tone and hair color. Correct coloring and shading are extremely important for a perfect presentation and make your services memorable!
Of course, funeral directors aren’t the only ones who worry about color matches. Have you ever wondered about why you just can’t find a coordinating sweater to go with the soft plaid pants from a couple seasons back, or blue pillows to help update your 10 year old sofa, or new floor selections with similar shading to the 5 year old countertop? As with everything else, color preferences and trends change over time.
It may surprise you to know that colors and color palettes are chosen years in advance mostly by one company. Since 1964 the Pantone Color Institute has worked to perfect color trueness and color match and is known as the world resource for color solutions. Their research has provided industries with true color coordination in many products you see. Each season, trend colors for fabrics, housewares and fashion items are coordinated to create unified palettes. Pantone works with varied industries to make sure that print ads, fabrics and logos, to name a few, retain their true color no matter what medium is used. Pantone was even called on to develop a color used by Universal Studios. See Minion Yellow below.
Research has determined that 80% of the human experience is filtered through our eyes. Visual clues draw us into our environment. Colors can influence our moods and evoke a memory. These memories can generate strong associations of an event, person or feeling. There are general associations with colors. White is reminiscent of innocence and purity – as in “pure as the driven snow”; browns convey strength and stability (earth, rich woods); pink suggests frivolity or playfulness (cotton candy, bubble gum), blue projects the image of trust and dependability (ocean, sky). Meanwhile, green has become the new neutral and has the widest range of all colors with 8 – 10 million shades being documented. Green is restorative, and evokes feelings of freshness and nature.
Additional studies have shown that:
• A product’s color has more influence than its shape.
• Color commands attention and creates associations.
• There are physiological and psychological responses to color.
• Reaction to color is intuitive and emotional. Only 5% of our response is rational.
• Retail store customers focus their attention based on color within three seconds.
• Color crosses cultural boundaries (all cultures use color).
• Color is contextual thus color studies are important because perception (trends) change.
• White is the top-selling color for all products.
• Black suggests richness or luxury and can command a higher price in retail items.
Just for fun, notice what colors are used in company logos or advertisements. What do you think those colors “say” about them? UPS chose brown. Many high-tech companies have blue logos. High-end luxury items such as Cadillac and Channel use black to promote their products. Red Bull’s high energy drink makes you think of “red” but interestingly, the can is mostly blue and silver.
The important part of this is that color is an easy way to make us memorable – or forgettable. Remember that 80% of what we see influences our thinking – only 5% of what we see affects our rational side. Trend colors attract interest because new colors stimulate our visual sense of curiosity.
Just to note – the 2015 Color of the Year is “Marsala”. Pantone also features a “color of the day” for fun! Perhaps you have a certain logo color or your funeral home has a color theme throughout. What message do your colors project? Whatever it is, remember that color can make your business positively memorable. So, find those true colors – the ones that truly project a color message. Think about it, color can be your minion!
Thanks to Richard Soar and Laurie Pressman at the Pantone Color Institute for their kind assistance.