Tips for Choosing Packaging Colors for Your Products

One of the first things you notice about a product—whether on store shelves or online—is the color and design elements of the packaging. Not only does this give the customer a first impression, but the colors you choose also invoke emotions and represent different things. Because of this, you need to be mindful of how you’re choosing packaging colors for your products.

Color Psychology

Before we give you tips on choosing your colors, let’s review what each color of the rainbow could represent for your brand.

• White: simplicity, purity, honesty
• Black: authority, sophistication, security
• Red: strength, love, passion
• Orange: adventurous, confident, friendly
• Yellow: optimism, warmth, cheer
• Green: healing, growth, harmony
• Blue: dependability, peace, loyalty
• Purple: royalty, ambition, spirituality

The colors above are only a few, but what the color represents can alter how the customer feels about your product. For example, many food products use red because it enhances your appetite and stimulates a physical response—isn’t psychology cool?

Keep Your Brand in Mind

Aside from psychology, color is important for packaging design because it also embodies what your brand is as a whole. If the motto for your brand focuses on getting your customers in touch with their spirituality, then stick with purple as your primary color instead of black or blue. You’re communicating with your customers the voice of your brand and what it entails just by handpicking the colors on the package.

Consider the Customer

Your target audience can provide a lot of information regarding what the customer prefers, why they need this product, and their motivations to purchase it. In the end, you’re not the sole person purchasing these products, so you must think like the people who are. What colors will the target audience gravitate toward? What colors are popular in the culture of your industry right now?

Vary Your Colors From Competition

Looking into your competition will give you an idea of what colors are used in the industry, but you shouldn’t copy them outright. Some of the colors are interchangeable, so choosing a slightly different variation of colors can help your products stand apart from everyone else on the shelves. The goal is to have your customers remember what your products look like and associate specific colors with your brand—for example, Coca-Cola wouldn’t be the same without its vibrant red packaging.

Choosing packaging colors for your products is more complex than picking your favorite one and only using that color. There is much more to color psychology, and you must use it to your advantage to drive sales for your business. What colors do you think represent your brand?

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