When I was about to start Roundpeg, I worked with a graphic designer to create a logo and color scheme for my brand. And while l loved his simple design for my logo, we argued long and hard about my choice of colors.  I wanted to use colors I liked (slate blue, mauve and grey).

David, my designer at the time, wanted me to consider colors which had more energy and a sense of fun (teal, lime green, bright purple and bright blue). David was right, becasue colors generate emotion.  And while we don’t agree across the board what colors represent to us, there are within cultures general agreement.

I found this really cool tool – Cymbolism which matches words and colors, based on votes cast by visitors.    The creators of the site explain:

Colors are believed to have very specific meanings, but these meanings vary over time, place and culture. For years designers have been using colors to communicate feeling and mood, to trigger memories to make us act a certain way.

Cymbolism is an attempts to quantify the association between colors and words, making it simple for designers to choose the best colors for the desired emotional effect. Cymbolism tracks these associations over time (and in future versions by user demographics) to help designers to better create designs for the desired effects.

Why is this important to small business owners?  As you begin to build your brand, your logo and colors can work for you or against you!

So what color is Sex, Politics or Creativity?  Log in and find out!