Sooner or later, we all have to decide as to what colour our business or organisation is going to adopt. So I was very interested when I got a chance to discuss this issue with an advertising agency that was advising a chain of shops. It was not considered to being a little decision what colours were the shops were going to become. I then left and did some research.
According to studies, we process about 80% of our information visually and the other 20% through a range of senses. So the first point that will show to anyone walking past your shop is the colour.
As a first-level approximation, I think that orange is a colour you want to stay away from as it gives a message that you are selling on price, and you want to be seen as cheap. However, if you do want to be seen as the cut-price shop in the shopping area, it would be the right colour.
If you want to show that you are exclusive, black and blue are your best options. Blue is useful if you are marketing to men, one problem with blue I notice is that it appears that almost everyone seems to like it, so it is probably too common.
Yellow is also suitable for men too, but aged people sometimes see yellow walls as dirty. So if older people are a significant category for you, you may want to avoid it.
One advantage of marketing to women, I notice is that you have a great deal more flexibility with colours. Purple is a problem as men tend to dislike it very much, but women tend to like it a lot My wife who studied colours a lot says that the only a few men that like it, and they are mainly homosexuals. I doubt this as I like it.
It is probably worth discussing the issue with an expert, which many of the paint companies have. They are not that expensive, a client of ours paid about $200 for an hour consultation and got a gift voucher of $80, so it cost them $120. It certainly better discussing it with an expert then what happened to me when I tried to address what colour my company should adopt with a person who is colour blind and was too embarrassed to tell me that.
The other issue is that once adopted you have to live with it, for the next 5 to 10 years.
