Through the years, some colors acquired specific meanings. Renaissance painting Jon Van Eyck at "Giovanni Arolfini and his bride" painted bride who wearing a green dress as a symbol of fertility. In Celtic myths green color also symbolizes fertility - god of fertility was The Green Man. For the Egyptians, the green color was the sacred, and represented the hope and joy of spring.
The same is with Muslims who look at green color as sacred. Japanese Emperor Hirohito's birthday is celebrated as "Green Day" because of his love of gardening. Later, the early Christians banned green because it was used in pagan ceremonies. Anyway green was the best choice for the wedding because of its obvious symbolism. At the end of the twentieth century in American culture it was added the symbolism of intensified sexuality to the green color.
Today, green is the universal symbol of nature and freshness, as well as the contemporary symbol for the ecological well-being. The color depends on our perception of things; it is unrealistic because everyone will see things differently colored. The colors are changed through the centuries, their meaning depending on the time and cultures. The ancient Celts used colors to describe the elements that make up the world. Some psychologists like Freud explored the meaning of color on humans. The colors are full of meaning: flooded, look red or green with envy, blue blood ... The symbolism of color are built through history, religion, beliefs and traditions. Practically every race and culture has its own symbolism associated with certain colors. Colors affect people, not only visually, but also psychologically, they have their own philosophy.
Egyptians, Chinese and Indians believed in the power of color to heal the man and the truth is that some colors affect physiological functions. In the chromo therapy is believed that red stimulates physical and mental energy, nerves yellow, orange renewed lungs, blue heals disorders such as fever, colds, liver problems, indigo cures skin diseases.
Colors are telling us always more than what we read from them and it is important to find at least which colors affect us so that we can organize our world and our colors. Color emotion can be defined as the relationship between color and psychological reactions of observers. A more complex definition would be that there is a relationship between colors and triggered a psychological reaction which depends of the configuration and the context of the visual experience (http://web.zpr.fer.hr/ergonomija/2003/stincic/simbolizamboja.htm).
Figure 2: Jan Van Ajk ”Giovanni Arolfini and his bride”, 1434.year. Source:http://lawhumanitiesroma3.blogspot.com/2013/04/desmond-manderson-on-
law-and-visual.html (24.05.2015.)
The researchers found that the green color can improve ability to read. Some students by placing a transparent sheet of green paper over reading material increases reading speed and comprehension. The green color has been a symbol of fertility and color which was used in the middle Ages for weddings. Even today, the US company M & M candies, for green packaging for their brand says thus they sending sexual messages (http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological- properties-of-colours).
Figure 3: M & M candy packaging
Source: https://jettd06.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/synergy-based-competitors-and- target-marketing-campaign-week-4/(25.04.2015)
Green is often used for decoration, as it has a calming effect. People who work in the green environment have less pain in the stomach. Blue - is described as the favorite color of most people, especially among men. Blue causes a feeling of calm and serenity. Often it is described as a quiet, safe and clean. But, blue color can also create a feeling of sadness or aloofness. The blue color is often used to offices decoration because research has shown that people are more productive in blue environment. Blue is "the least tasty". Some nutritionists recommend taking blue food if people are on diet. Blue rarely occurs naturally in foods (in addition to blueberries and plums). Also in nature blue color often warns of poison, or it is a sign of deterioration. The blue color can reduce heart rate and body temperature.
Orange - the color immediately provokes feelings. It is a combination of yellow and red and is considered an energetic color. The orange color stimulates us to remember the feeling of excitement, enthusiasm and warmth. Orange is often used to attract attention (traffic signs and advertising).
Black – is a sensation even though the color is the absence of light product. It is often used as a symbol of evil or threat, but it is popular as an indicator of power. In many cultures associated with death, but also on sex, formality, and sophistication. In ancient Egypt, black represented life and rebirth. In the fashion industry black is often used, as gives the impression that a person is thinner.
White - not only the absence of color, it is a positive and strong as well as red and black. God has painted many colors, but never as great as in white. The white color represents purity and innocence. Because of its light creates a sense of space or further out. It is described as cold, bland and sterile. The room painted white, seems spacious, but empty and unfriendly. Hospitals and paramedics used white paint to create a feeling of sterility.
Brown - the color that causes a feeling of strength and reliability. It also causes the feeling of sadness and isolation. Mind brings a feeling of warmth, comfort and security. Since there are different symbolic meanings, individual reactions to color vary greatly.
Pink - is essentially a bright red and usually associated with love and romance. It has a calming effect. It is used in prisons to calm inmates. Sports teams sometimes paint the opponent's locker room pink to keep the players passive and less energetic. Psychologists have shown that pink has a calming effect only during the first exposure color. In prisons, inmates often become more anxious after they become accustomed to the colors.
Many religions are associated with colors. But, using colors should pay attention to the following
(http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/colorpsych.htm): The green color is considered as a sacred color of Islam.
Judaism is represented in yellow.
In Hinduism, many gods are with blue skin. White color is linked to peace in many religions.
Purple – is a symbol of power and wealth. It also represents wisdom and spirituality. But it rarely occurs in nature.
Yellow - is often described as a lively and warm. This color is least eye- pleasing due to the high amount of light that is reflected. These colors can cause a feeling of frustration and anger.
Knowledge of the target market is a fundamental part of the process of each design. In addition, designers must pay attention to the fact that age affects the human preference for colors. Color expert Faber Birr has conducted many studies in this field and published them in his book "The Psychology of Color and color therapy" (Birren, 1950). He states that in both sexes the blue and red colors "held high priority throughout their lives" He found that the yellow color is popular with children, but maturing becomes less popular. He found that as people get older they have a greater affection for shades of shorter wavelengths (blue, green, purple), than the shades of longer wavelengths (red, orange, yellow).
Another factor that affects the affinity of people towards certain colors is social and cultural changes in life. This information is very important for the designers. In a design that is intended for children they should pay attention to the yellow color, while, for example, when designing a website with a love theme for the elderly should pay attention to blue, green or purple (http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/how-colour-communicates-meaning).
CONCLUSION
Successful visual communication influence the creation of consumer attitudes, directs them on what and how to think and persuade consumers to finally take action. Visual communication provides consumers with new and richer experience. Often the visual attributes of the product are in front of meeting the needs for the product. Due to this fact, marketers today are constantly visually convincing consumers and influence their purchasing decisions. Consumers are exposed to constant visual pressure by imposing information that offered products or services are necessary for them and absolutely meet their needs and desires.
The dominant sense of sight, which often exceeds all other senses, has sometimes the power to convince beyond any logic. By carefully selecting the color in visual communication with consumers, a better understanding can be archived, as well as the activation of the central nervous system to initiates and thought processes, memories and certain models of perception.
The human brain before the forms and contents register the color, so it is very important to have extensive knowledge of color theory, in order to create high- quality identity and to differentiate the product on the market from the other competitors. Color affects how product will be perceived by consumers. Color can provoke emotions, and thus we can build an emotional connection between brands and consumers, which is the primary role of visual communication.
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