"It is still color, it is not yet light"

Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, grief, death, evil, and mystery.

Black is a mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown; therefore it usually has a negative connotation.

Black gives the feeling of perspective and depth, but a black background diminishes readability. When designing art or photography, you can use a black or gray background to make the other colors stand out. Black contrasts well with bright colors. Combined with red or orange – other very powerful colors – black gives a very aggressive color scheme (as we saw in the Chick-Fil-A ad).

something old, something new, something borrowed, something BLUE

Blue is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith and truth. In many diverse cultures blue is significant in religious beliefs, brings peace, or is believed to keep the bad spirits away. Blue conveys importance and confidence without being somber or sinister

Although it is not an emotionally warm color, such as red and orange and yellow, it is used throughout advertisements in a way that draws you in... not in a blatant way, but in an almost intellectual/thoughtful way.

According to one website I found, blue is a very masculine color, and it is highly accepted among males. In another website that I was researching, the author states that blue is the least "gender specific" color, having equal appeal to both men and women.

So let's put this to the test...

This makes me see red

Our reaction to color is almost instantaneous and has a profound impact on the choices we make everyday.

Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red.

In advertising, red is often used to evoke erotic feelings (red lips, red nails, 'Lady in Red', etc). This color is also commonly associated with energy, so you can use it when promoting energy drinks, games, cars, items related to sports and high physical activity.

Red brings text and images to the foreground; a keen use of red as an accent can immediately focus attention on a particular element. Advertisers use it as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions; it is a perfect color for 'Buy Now' or 'Click Here' buttons on Internet banners and websites.

A New Symbol System

COLORS are used symbolically (we can use green for envy and red for power and yellow for happiness etc...) In contrast to the symbol system of words that at least has a dictionary to which we can refer for direction, color has no such equivalent. In this context, how can we interpret the use of color as a symbol?

I have found that every experience (and modern rhetoricians share this same view) is relative and that each individual person sees the world through his or her own lens. There can be no finite map for the study of rhetoric because it relies on preconceived notions and individual perspective. I do not presume to know how to categorize or label any symbol system, and that is why this blog will be interactive. I want to hear everyone's opinion- let's face it... we all have one!

In the coming blogs I will focus on why color has become its own symbol system and how these colors can persuade both blatantly and subliminally.

Stay tuned...