Colour testing

Colour connotations:

RED:

Red is a strong colour and has many connotations such as love,blood, anger and lust. These associations suggest its a very emotionally intense colour. It's usually linked to lust and love because of 'the lady in red' who is a temptation of lust. In addition because of red its satanic representations it is seen as angry colour. The religious connotations which portray it as a satanic colour can also link red to hellish and can be connected to fire.
The high visibility of red means that is used to show awareness and is linked to danger therefore is used on warning signs, this means it is a stand out colour and could be a reason why it is used for 'click here' or 'buy now' buttons; this furthermore conveys it as a colour which stimulates people to make quick decisions. 
Red is also a dominant colour that can be associated to royalty that can associate with power, deeper colours of red are thought of as luxurious such as velvet.

From these connotations, we know that red is seen as quite a sinful and violent colour it mostly represents negative imagery such as hell, lust, anger, death, the devil and danger. 

    

The colour red is stereotypically used in rock magazines such as 'NME' as rock music is quite aggressive and harsh. It is commonly used with blacks to portray a gothic image as blacks are dark and red represents blood, furthermore is easy to contrast and stands out well.

PINK:

Pink is a lighter form of red which means it holds less aggression than red, this may portray it as a softer colour. Pink is associated to femininity probably because it is seen as a soft tone; this could be why it is used for many pop magazines such as 'sugar' and ' we love pop' as pop magazines are aimed at mostly females; ' we love pop' uses the pink to represent love. Sugar uses pink to represent the title which means there is an interlink between pink and sugar, this could convey pink as a sweet and innocent colour. 
Because of this femininity link, the portrayal of pink is the same as the portrayal of females such as nurturing and compassionate. Pale pinks link to softness and calmness it is often use on baby lotions eg. Johnsons.

PURPLE:

Purple is considered artificial as it is not seen in natural imagery this suggests it to be mystical and magical; this could be why it's often used for children products such as sweet packaging- 'cadburys' etc. In addition, about 75% of children say their favourite colour is purple. Purple is seen in the universe such as galaxy's which symbolises it as mysterious and unusual.
Purple is quite rare when used in the music magazine industry, this could be because purple is seen as a childish colour therefore doesn't appeal to an older target audience. However it can be seen as an older colour as it portrays wisdom and nobility.
Purple is a rich colour and links to luxury, because of the connotations to luxury, purple can give quality to a cheap product. Overall purple is liked by a high proportion of teenage girls : ( Cadbury's chocolate is also targeted at a large number of females).

BLUE:

Unlike purple, blue is seen as a natural colour, it represents the colours of sea, ocean, sky and water; this represents it as a calming colour and peaceful. Because of it's natural imagery, light blues are seen as a pure colour and it's association to water portrays it as cleanly. Light blues are subtle and soft they are usually associated with healing and tranquillity. Blue's can represent a sad emotion. Dark blues symbolise confidence, power and authority. On the whole, blue is a positive colour as it is subtle, calming and welcoming.
Blue is a contrast to red and represents cold colours - this contrast is given in vibe magazine. Vibe magazine often uses darker shades of blue which suggests it is more of a hip hop colour. Blue is considered a masculine colour and could be why it is used by vibe magazine as they have a higher male audience. It is a contrast to pink gender wise therefore the portrayal of blue is similar to the portrayal of the stereotypical male such as strong and dominant.

GREEN:

Green holds environmental associations as it is the colour of most natural imagery such as trees, grass and flowers; it symbolises growth, freshness and harmony. It is a contrast to red in terms with safety and danger; red represents warnings and green is a symbol to show safety/ security for example the traffic lights mean it is safe to 'go'. Because green is used in 'go' sign and arrows it can also symbolises movement.
Dark greens have stronger negative connotations such as the feelings envy and greed as green is associated to money. Green can also be a representation of power as money is linked to power.Overall Green is a positive colour as like blue it represents positive connotations. The darker greens have increasing intensity from the lighter shades.

Green is used in mostly country magazines as it links to the country feeling and represents the outdoors and a fresh environment. It is not commonly used by other genres in particular.

                     

YELLOW:

Yellow has positive connotations for example is usually linked to a happy emotion, it is warming and welcoming.
Yellow is linked to rejuvenation which is why it is commonly used in beauty products.
However it has negative connotations too, the colour seems distasteful to men because of it's 'cheap' connotation.
Yellow is a warming colour which usually symbolises the sun and energy hence why it is commonly used on food packaging/ industries such as McDonalds. Yellow is seen colour which implies safety and stability as it is used on road signs - an opposite connotation to red. However, although it is seen as a safe colour it can be quite a risky colour to use as it is very striking and eye-catching, and can clash with many colours.

Yellow might have been used on this magazine cover to represent James Blake's character/ personality as happy and optimistic; to create a balance in contrast with his facial expression which is quite glum, this also represents yellow as a cheerful colour. In addition creates more of a pop magazine whereas if other colours were used with his facial expression it might have looked more of a rock genre and misrepresent the artists. The yellow is very eye-catching and represents the masthead 'clash' well as it is an onomatopoeia, in comic books onomatopoeias use primary colours to make it distinctive and stand out, therefore creates distinction. 

ORANGE:

Orange has similar connotations to yellow, however is less cheerful than yellow as it is fading into more red tones which link to more negative connotations. Therefore Orange is quite a balanced colour and can be considered as also safe, in addition is used as a 'ready' sign on the traffic lights which suggest it to be safe. The links to safety imply comfortability. Orange is an energetic colour and is used on energy drinks such as fanta etc.

WHITE:

White symbolises purity and is associated with cleanliness. It is a neutral colour and not that risky to use however can lead to blandness. It can be seen as quite a boring, blank, not very eye catching however when contrasted with other colours it can be seen as a stand out colour. It doesn't really link to many emotions other than calmness and peacefulness. It has connotations of modernity and sleekness.

BLACK:

Black is seen as a formal colour in advertising, although it is traditional it adds class to an advertisement.
It can be linked to dark connotations as it is a dark colour for example death and evil. it is a gothic colour and symbolises grief.