What is your favorite color?  When we exchange answers to this question and relieve what seems to be an innate color curiosity about each other, we feel just a little bit closer and our guards lower a bit, inviting further interpersonal discovery. 

That is because color is a point of bonding and comfort, even from our earliest days as our parents choose to dress us in traditional blue or pink to designate our gender (green or yellow for those wishing to remain neutral). As childhood advanced and we gained modest independence, we may have chosen to paint our bedrooms vibrant gold so we can retreat to joy or stark black if our teen years found us a little “goth.”

Through our lives, we will continue to make choices based on their influence every day, so if you have a message you want to project to other human beings, consider color to be a potent ally (or your worst enemy, if you choose them without care).  The power of your color palate in marketing should neither be dismissed, nor is a point of intimidation, but it reason to secure experts within the digital print, design and marketing industry, one that operates best as both an art and a science.

Nick Titus, Marketing Representative for Minuteman Press International, imparts his knowledge about the sense of urgency that the right color can lend to your particular objective.  He says, “Color can trigger certain ‘hot buttons’ that motivate people to take action and this can be used to your advantage in marketing.  For instance, you will notice that PayPal and other “submit” buttons for monetary transactions are typically yellow because yellow is often perceived as a safe color; while information buttons are usually blue, as blue can be more intriguing.”

Drawing from the rich history with color and its use in the process of helping people bring their various messages to life, whether building a business, a charity or a personal project, Nick speaks on behalf of his corporation, a fantastic legacy in marketing services that unites people with their goals and does so with unmatched style. He adds, “There is a tremendous amount of thought that must to go into creating a great marketing piece and we care about each and every one. Your local Minuteman Press is ready with contemporary, technical expertise and just the right captivating, artistic touch needed to help your message resonate with the people who matter most to you…which makes you and your business matter to them.”

Up to 90% of a person’s initial assessment may be based on color alone (Kissmetrics)

Let’s take red for example, a most powerful color with a firm claim on the human perspective since our Stone Age forefathers ground ochre (a red-shade courtesy of iron oxide) and used it to bring early artistic renderings to life inside caves.  Red is energizing and alluring. It excites our feelings of leadership, ambition and determination.  It can make us hungry for food and love and restaurants capitalize on this all the time.  It can be said that too much red can make us agitated.  Of course, every color has its particular effect and the dynamics are complex because it all boils down to context.  Red might motivate us to take action or to get hungry, but a well-placed stop sign does just the opposite.

Color use is similar to explicative use in terms of context.  “Holy $%$!!!” can be an exclamation of joy if you find a $100 bill during a morning run…or it can be an exclamation of horror if you’ve wandered into the street staring at Google News, only to look up and see and oncoming bus.  Context matters in color use and that is why it’s best to construct a marketing campaign with a certain degree of understanding and a partnership with B2B services industry professionals.

The color green has been credited with enhancing performance on creativity tasks, according to some studies

Many of our favorite brands can be identified based on the colors of their logos and elicit emotional responses that last.  The “golden arches” of a famous fast food chain wouldn’t quite hit the mark if they were grey and arch-rival cola beverages pit blue/white/red vs. red with white script.  The leader of the modern print industry, Minuteman Press International, made orange and green famous and thousands of B2B clients are put at ease merely at the sight of the colors representing this industry-leading marketing services provider. After all, the colors you select to promote your business can embed themselves positively within the heart of your target audiences, to the benefit of your bottom line.

Here is some “technical candy” on color from Dave Scadin, Co-Director of Training for the award-winning training center at Minuteman Press International:

“In today’s world color has become a simpler thing to achieve.  With Color digital presses we consistently print in beautiful colors.  The technology that we use in the World of digital is CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black).  These 4 ‘reflective’ primary colors can produce about 16 million combinations of colors.  But when a specific color is required we can still use the Pantone Matching System,” according to Dave Scadin, who has been an invaluable source of instruction for thousands of new franchise owners for decades and whose expertise is the reason training is not destined to be a reason for Minuteman Press franchise complaints. Quite the contrary is true.  After two weeks of initial training with Dave and the rest of the training department, Minuteman Press franchisees enter their communities with confidence about all aspects of running their businesses, including the use of color and best methods to create their clients’ printed pieces, customized to suit their particular needs.

 

Your brain amps up on blue:  Apparently, we become more alert and perform at an enhanced cognitive level when exposed to blue light

While the technical expertise from the training department of Minuteman Press International can provide a snapshot of the science of color, Jim Galasso, Minuteman Press Regional Vice President in CT, takes a moment to reflect on the art of color and why it matters so much. The messages we hope our target audiences will receive when we design and print everything from banners to business cards depend upon the expert use of color, something for which there are no Minuteman Press franchise complaints. On the contrary, the way in which Minuteman Press merges the technical and artistic rendering of color is nothing short of superior.

Jim says, “The impact of color has been a marketing tool probably sin
ce before Dorothy landed in Oz. The movie creators captured our eyes by going from a dismal black and white sky, to a beautiful blue sky, with yellow flowers and her ruby red shoes.  All the colors in that scene put an immediate impact on the viewer which related to
a much nicer, peaceful place to be.  Today, colors continue to have related meaning to all of us.”

Stronger connections can be made with color

Not too long ago, photos from the Civil War period were enhanced with color and the results evoked stronger connection to the people and events of the period than the black and white versions could effectively communicate.  The colored versions were shared millions of times, mainly because the color spoke to us and we wanted to share what we felt, to connect about something that matters.  This desire to connect is what printing in color can do for your marketing, for the connection you hope to make with others, no matter what your motivation.  Our world comes alive with color and it affects our minds, our choices and our senses of loyalty.  Science is now acknowledging that color is more than a tool for artists, it is a force; and in business, we can use it for our own good.

As Jim Galasso notes, “With all the different blends of colors today in the world of digital technology, a simple brochure can become the most important piece of reading material. People tend to remember more things when color is used. So, from a Henry Ford quote, ‘You can have any color so long as it’s black’ was born the Minuteman campaign since 1975, ‘Put a little color in your printing!’ If you have been using black and white or single color printing, try using multi color printing and you’ll probably see better results!”

The venerable leader of the modern printing industry, Minuteman Press International, proudly supports nearly 1000 centers worldwide.  They are the experts in the precision use of color from the technical to the artistic, benefiting grateful clients from many cultures and with various needs.