By Published On: March 25, 2013

We all know that red is one of the most attention grabbing colors in the spectrum, used for centuries (ok, decades) in eye catching bursts and to highlight text that has been designated as needing to POP! It is also the primary or main accent brand color for many companies, including 39 of the Forbes Top 100.

Red is commonly used to give warning (STOP), to incite emotion (Valentine’s Day anyone?) or to highlight important information (New! FREE!). While in darker shades red can be elegant rather than brash, it is the cherry, candy, fire-engine versions that get the most cultural love.

So why? Why does red stand out so much from the sea of available color options? It’s really simple biology. Red light has the longest wavelength in the visible spectrum, therefore it appears the farthest forward in any given scene where it is present. The long wavelength creates a stronger physiological arousal, physiological response triggers psychological response, psychological response must be interpreted as either attraction or repulsion, and viola, Red as the poster child for attention getting color boils down to the simplest of science.

One other note about red and why you may need to cut him some slack on the color of his stereotypical middle-age crisis red Corvette. Men don’t see shades of red like women do. The gene for seeing red sits on the X chromosome and women have two copies of this gene while men have only one. Women’s perception of the variety in the red-orange color spectrum is aided by the double team.

Source: http://channels.isp.netscape.com/whatsnew/package.jsp?name=fte/popularcolor/popularcolor

About the Author: Beth Seitzberg

Beth Seitzberg
During her career crafting creative Beth has conceptualized, designed, developed, strategized and overseen the building of brands, campaigns, and creative platforms for large corporations as well as for dozens of regional and local companies in every sector including financial services, manufacturing, retail, medical, and non-profit. This range of experience with clients of all sizes has honed a specialization in brand management and application of master brand strategy across channels and tactics. With a background in psychology and sociology she brings both a researcher’s behavioral approach and an artist’s instinct to her work. Beth specializes in designing outstanding, strategic creative that ties into business goals and communicates the client’s message clearly and distinctly in their unique voice.
Working Words: Creating Compelling Copy for Today’s Consumers
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