When you’re creating a brief for a graphic designer, it’s tempting to stick to the bare minimum: “Auto shop with older customers driving mid-range cars” is a good start, and it may do you some good. But if you know the target market you’re aiming for, you can give your designer more to work with — such as suggestions for your company identity’s color scheme.

According to psychologists, various colors tend to be attached to a consistent set of connotations that impact the way your customers will perceive you. By combining this chart and your understanding of your target market, you can provide your DesignCrowd designers with a good starting point — but always remember to leave it to them to find color combinations that are visually appealing. Your idea might hit the right emotions, but their cohesive palettes will draw the viewer in to begin with.

Conclusion

It's not hard to make matches between your brand and the psychology of color. What's difficult is creating a workable execution. For instance, in 10 Ways to Increase Website Conversion Rates we looked at the red and green pairing appearing to be perfectly suitable for food industry businesses, but it’s hard to implement them together without stirring up a Christmas-like mood. So, when outsourcing or 'crowdsourcing' a design project let designers know what sort of color palette you’d like to work with and why — as long as they know what you’re trying to achieve, they can help you get the best of both worlds.