You have been familiar with it all your life. You are constantly surrounded by it. You can clearly see it, but more importantly you can feel it. Have you guessed what ‘it’ is? If you guessed ‘color’, you’re right. Bright and bold or soft and subtle, color is something we humans usually take for granted. Unless, of course, we happen to see a strikingly rare shade that stops us quick in our tracks causing us to take a deep breath and admire it with awe. What is it about color that can trigger an emotional response? Most of us are unaware of the physical science behind color that touches our senses and stimulates our minds, but it exists. In fact, just the mere presence of color can inspire creativity.

The Science Behind Color

In its most basic form, color is actually different wavelengths of photons (or particles of light). These wavelengths travel across time and space and eventually hit an object and if that object has the same atomic structure, (or the same color), it will absorb that specific wavelength. But what happens to the rest of the wavelengths that do not have the same structure? Those unmatched wavelengths reflect off the object they don’t match, producing a range of colors. As our eyes absorb these colors or wavelengths they convert each hue into an electrical impulse inside the eye and transfer it to the part of the brain that deals with our activity level. Thus, each color directly influences our behavior.

Color-Behavior Index

Remember when we were in kindergarten and we opened a brand new box of crayons, there were so many colors, yet they were all derived from the primary colors of blue, red, yellow and green. Each of these primary colors and their various shades can have an affect on our emotions, our ability to focus and subsequently our productivity. For example, blue is the corporate color. It’s the work-minded person’s best friend. Blue rules the mind and as such it’s associated with the highest productivity level compared to all other colors.

Red is directly associated with the body. Red is the most stimulating for physical activity and keeps your brain invigorated with the task at hand. Red is vibrant, energetic, passionate and heated.

Yellow is bright, warm stimulating; yellow guides our emotions. Yellow has the power to boost one’s ego, optimism, morale, and/ or creativity level.

Finally, green aaaahhh green the great balancer. If green were a person it would be the peacemaker. Green is relaxed, peaceful, and serene. It holds the balance between body, mind, and spirit, which is vital to one’s well being.

Although we see variations of these colors every day, we don’t necessarily examine how and why they make us feel a certain way. If we take our everyday observations of color to a deeper level and apply it to our business lives we have the opportunity to reenergize by enhancing our productivity and creativity in the workplace, simply through the use of color.

How to Create a Colorful Workspace

Before we jump right in and assume that painting our office blue, or filling meeting space with only blue furniture will increase productivity and focus, we should consider that too much of one color can have adverse effects. Too much blue isn’t the answer for every business or person desiring a higher level of productivity. Creative souls tend to thrive when surrounded by yellows or oranges, which will heighten emotion and foster creativity. Adding hints of blue can boost mental agility and focus.

Green is a great color to weave into the workplace if we’re seeking calmness or balance. This color can be great for those people who regularly deal with highly stressful tasks. But beware, if you or your group tends to thrive on the adrenaline rush of a highly intense situation, green is not for you. Instead work with red tones and balance it out with splashes of a calmer color.

Color in the meeting space 

Colors can clearly set the tone for our meetings. Once we determine the meeting objectives and the emotions we want to induce: creativity (yellow), activity (red), mind (blue), or spirit (green) the options to aid in meeting those objectives are endless. Need to get the creative juices flowing, consider a combination of orange and blue. Ready to get down to brass tacks, a room consisting of predominately blue with hints of red for energy and yellow to spark creativity will work best. A pale yellow can simultaneously soothe emotions and lift spirits and, when combined with a dark blue the two colors have the ability to invigorate the mind and ignite productivity.

Color choice plays a strong role in creating ambiance. It has the ability to give any space a high-energy vibe or a calm relaxed atmosphere. Whether it’s being used in a meeting space, workspace or home, color has the power to motivate, empower and invigorate our meetings, our company and our selves.