How Six Colours Can Change Your Performance
CEO & Co-founder at The Brave New Now
When you see the colour yellow, chances are it will uplift you, make you feel happier and more optimistic. But did you know yellow can also boost your memory, your clarity of thought and decision-making? As well as stimulate conversation and thought-provoking questions. That’s quite a profound effect from just one little colour.
As we learn more about the psychology of colour and its impact on the way we think, behave, work and live, it’s no coincidence that today’s work and play spaces are becoming much more vibrant, colourful, creative and productive than ever before.
The psychology of colour is big business. There’s a world of commentary on this topic, so here’s some of the more interesting facts that we discovered…see if any of these performance enhancing colours ring true to you.
Take orange. Not only does it boost creative performance, it can increase our endurance and keep us motivated and positive during our toughest moments – so the next time you have to pull an all-nighter to meet a tight deadline, you know which coloured pen to reach for.
Whereas over on the cool side of the spectrum, blue can help you take control of a situation and really focus on the details. It helps keep you calm and can actually slow your pulse and heart rate down, so it’s a great colour to combat stressful situations.
Rather surprisingly, one study showed that female weight-lifters lifted heavier weights in pink rooms. So it seems that pink is a great empowering colour if you’re looking to gain some strength (mentally or physically).
Apparently purple inspires intellectual thoughts, stimulate your imagination and can also heighten reactions to creative concepts.
And good old green helps renew and restores depleted energy levels, makes us feel calm and helps us to be more efficient at what we are doing.
This is just the tip of the spectrum. Today there is more and more research being carried out on the effect that different colours have on our performance and productivity in the workplace.
At Ven Amsterdam we’re harnessing the power of colour to create a stimulating, creative pioneering 24/7 work and play environment. Our aim is to reflect on the amazing work life balance that Amsterdam is known for. Using colour, we wanted to create a positive and beneficial change which focuses on the wellbeing of people and build on the shift in today’s human working culture.
And if you’re going to get creative with colour, there’s no better designer to collaborate with than world-renowned industrial designer Karim Rashid, who is famed for his expressive use of bright, bold colours: “Colour is very real, very strong, and has a real physical presence. It is not abstract and intangible. I think it is one of the most beautiful phenomena of our existence. Colour is life and for me, colour is a way of dealing with and touching our emotions, our psyche, and our spiritual being.” (Karim Rashid).
So never underestimate the impact that colour can have on our lives. The next time you have a brainwave, feel a bit more creative or become more inquisitive or curious, have look around you. Colour really makes you think….
To spread the word, like or share our post and for more info go to ven-amsterdam.com. Watch this space as we continue on our colourful journey.
