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"Blue on blue, heartache on heartache." This song is about the color blue and how it represents certain feelings. This month, we'll explore how the color blue impacts our lives and how your customers will react to blue.
My interest in color has almost become a passion. My library of books on color goes from Color Harmony, Living Color Master Lin Yun's Guide to Feng Shui and the Art of Color to Healing and Regeneration Through Color.
Color is only light in varying vibrations, but what an impact it makes on us! Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company's booklet on Color Dynamics in the chapter entitled "Utilize the Energy of Color" reads, "When our color engineers started their studies on color, they found a physiological and psychological reaction to color. They concluded color in the form of light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum containing energy. Different colors emit different waves of electromagnetic frequency and wavelength. Each impacts the body differently. They each affect muscular, mental, and nervous system activities differently. Subject a person to a given color for as little as five minutes and his mental, as well as his muscular activities will change. The medical profession has long realized that colors can be used to stimulate or depress and in the long run, affect health to some degree."
Color and sound are aspects of vibration. It is believed that the color blue vibrates to the key of G, matching it to the wave rhythm of blue. Blue slows the metabolism and increases one's sense of calm. Sit in a pure blue room for an extended period of time and you feel chillier. In its purest form, the color blue can be dominating in our minds and upon our physical being. You can change the feeling of blue from cold to cool by adding yellow. It becomes turquoise or blue-green and these colors are soothing and calming like a swim in a tropical pool. Often, these colors are used to represent travel and leisure. Complementary orange and turquoise are a definite in tropical isle ads.
Denim blue should probably have a whole article of its own. It seems every person in the U.S. wears denim. On a daily basis, I fight myself not to "again" throw on my jeans to head out the door. The lighter the denim blue, the more casual and less authoritative the feel. No more are jailhouse stripes only jailhouse-faded blues that represent the last stop in what was formerly a better road traveled. The faded, lighter color creates calm without threat. Powder or baby blue represents one of the least threatening colors.
Navy blue represents authority, dependability, and reliability in its highest form. Police officers, naval officers, and court officers wear combinations with navy blue. The power suits of corporate America are navy blue and subliminally demand respect and authority from the viewer. The deeper the navy color, the more authority it represents. My belief is that originally the color was chosen by persons in authority or leadership
to calm their followers in times of stress. Adding lighter tints of blue or blue-gray can calm those in a stressful environment. Lightened blue occupies the center of color schemes that reassure and are considered truthful and direct. Consider the colors seen in the rooms of the White House, the Capitol, and the Oval Office.
Adding red to create blue-violet does up the ante on deep blue to a more powerful position -- it is the darkest color on the color wheel without adding black. This addition creates a regal environment symbolizing authority and royalty. Seldom is it used outside a daunting environment, but more and more I am finding eggplant (red-violet) accent walls everywhere. Does this mean people are looking for more authority and control in their lives?
Blue is defined in Feng Shui as a yin rather than a yang color on the side of femininity, darkness, liquidity, and intrusion. Colors in Feng Shui are used to assist lighting and vision. They serve to control the level and distribution of light. Each color has its own significance. Blue symbolizes heavenly blessings in the Feng Shui color palate. In the occult teachings, color, sound, and fragrance are the three basic remedies against human disease. Chromotherapy is new to the mainstream population, but long known in the world of those who explore the edges of beliefs. Some believe that we each have color auras and that diseases respond to certain colors. They believe that certain colored gems may be used to treat individuals. Each discipline of color study does relate that when color is present, it needs to be balanced with a contrasting color. Too much of any one color is not good and puts us out of balance with the world. One quote I found signifies one thought on color, "Without a bridge between these two worlds -- the inner and the outer -- man has no guide for daily living. COLOR IS THAT BRIDGE."

Renee Chappelle of Retail Projects Unlimited is a retail consultant specializing in store design and visual merchandising. You may contact her with inquiries at mpu@humboldt1.com or voice, 707-442-0276; fax, 707-442-1689.