Color, along with other factors including size, contrast, alignment, proximity, white space, makes up the hierarchy which visual information is perceived. In addition, the human brain assigns different meanings to different colors based on how they impact viewers' emotions, behaviors, and decision making - this study is known as the color psychology. Brands adopt the psychology of color when creating their unique identity. These color tricks can also be applied on vehicle wraps to develop effective advertisements.
Vehicle Wraps Color Psychology
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white, and black, are the common colors Riveting Wraps' clients use on their vehicle wraps and graphics. The following visual hierarchy about color should be kept in mind when designing attention grabbing wraps:
Rich and Dark Colors
Gray scale and Muted Colors
The level of attention decreases from bright colors to gray scale and muted colors. Let's analyze the visual perception of the seven colors mentioned above and see how they can be applied on branding graphics and wraps. Below is an infographic about the color psychology of vehicle wraps:
Red Vehicle Wraps
The color red encourages appetite, shows passion, courage, energy, and excitement, and attracts attention. Most fast food chains use red as their brand colors such as McDonald's, Wendy's, and KFCs, just to name a few. This is because red, orange, and yellow are colors that make people feel hungry. Riveting Wraps' food services clients use red as the main color of their vehicle graphics not only because of their branding but also to maximize their attention on the road.
Click projects below to see a few examples of how red can be used a the primary color
Orange Vehicle Wraps
Like red, orange is another appetite stimulating color with high visibility. This citrus color is positively perceived as cheerful, friendly, confidence, enthusiasm, creative, and optimism. Moreover, it is a color for fall season. Construction contractor, martial arts school, and catering company are some of Riveting Wraps' clients that select orange as their vehicle wrap color.
Click projects below to see a few examples of how orange can be used a the primary color
Yellow Vehicle Wraps
Yellow, also known as the sunshine color, produces a warming effect on its viewers. It arouses cheerfulness and reveals honor and loyalty. The reason why taxis are painted yellow is because of the color's attention catching quality. However, it should be noted that yellow when overused can have a disturbing effect. Light yellow color has to be paired with a dark color as it can disappear into white. See this McDonald's food truck wrap as an example.
Click projects below to see a few examples of how yellow can be used a the primary color
Green Vehicle Wraps
Green is considered as a restful color for the human eye. Its association with the nature (trees, grass, and vegetables are all green in color) makes it a peaceful, sincere, healing, and fresh color. Food, health care, and energy saving companies often use green when introducing their products as healthy, environmentally friendly, and safe.
Blue Vehicle Wraps
Strength, dependable, stability, and wisdom are some of the definitions the human brain assigns to the color blue. Sharing the same color with the sky and sea, blue releases a calming effect and is ideal to represent water and cleaning related products and services. Fast Water Heater is one of Riveting Wraps' clients that use blue in their fleet graphics. As an intellectual color, blue is adopted in branding of tech companies such as Skype and Intel. As a side note, blue should never be used alone to advertise food as it is an appetite suppressing color.
White Vehicle Wraps
White is commonly used as a background color to create contrast with rich and dark color graphics. If the original paint of a vehicle is white, it is not necessary to wrap the whole vehicle but to only apply graphics on designated areas. This method is cost effective and great for businesses who have a budget constraint. White itself is a positive color that shows purity, perfection, and cleanliness.
Black Vehicle Wraps
Black delivers a sense of power, elegance, formality, and authority. This explains why authority vehicles, a police car for instance, are black in color. Same as white, black is a great background color that helps other colors stand out and is a common original color on vehicles.
- City of Renton Police Department
- City of Bothell Police Department
- Community Transit
- Snoqualmie Valley Transit
Vibrantly Colored Vehicle Wraps Customized For Your Brand
The decision on which color scheme to adopt when designing vehicle wraps is based on brand colors, brand characteristics, and brand values. By mixing and matching colors, it creates meaningful vehicle advertising that effectively sends a brand's desired messages. See Riveting Wraps' Portfolio for more colorful wraps and graphics.
Design your effective vehicle advertisement with Riveting Wraps! Give us a call at (425) 368-5007 or email us at firstname.lastname@example.org.