Page 49 - Teaching Principles and Methods Student Textbook short

2. Orange
Playful, energetic, cheap

Sharing red's energizing aspects, but to a safer degree, orange is a good way to add excitement to
visuals without severity. It is generally playful, and some claim it creates haste and plays on impulse. It
can even signify health, suggesting vitality and vibrancy.

3. Yellow
Yellow can be revitalizing or jarring
Happy, friendly, warning

In many African nations, only people with high rank in society can wear yellow. The more gold
variations of the color are universally associated with money, quality and success in most world cultures.

Yellow is a strange color: it is often associated with happiness, but also activates the anxiety center of
the brain. Like red and orange, it's able to stimulate and revitalize – it's the color of warning signs and
taxis – but use bright yellow sparingly because of the potential negative connotations.

Lighter shades play on the happiness aspects, reminding users of summer and the sun. Darker shades,
including gold, add more weight and give a sense of antiquity.

4. Green
Natural, stable, prosperous

Green mostly represents the environment and outdoors, for obvious reasons, making it the clear choice
to suggest nature and an organic quality.

As the bridge between stimulating, warm colors (red, orange, yellow) and calming, cool colors (blue,
purple), green is the most balanced of colors, lending it an air of stability. It's also a popular choice as an
accent or for calls-to-action because it stands out, but more softly than the warmer colors. In Western
culture, it also represents money and financial safety.

5. Blue
Serene, trustworthy, inviting

Blue is one of the most popular colors in web design – and for good reason. You see blue on a lot of
websites because, to put it simply, it is the color of trust. Blue is the color of calm and serenity, and as
such inspires security and a feeling of safety.

As if that weren't reason enough to use it, blue is also incredibly versatile; its vibrancy has more drastic
effects than other colors. Light blue is the color of water and the sky, so it generally has a refreshing and
free feeling – and can be even energizing if bright enough, while still retaining that reliable calm.
Darker blues tend to be more somber, heightening the security aspects, which makes them an excellent
choice for professionalism. Blue says, “Trust me!”

All this comes at a small price, though: blue shouldn't be used for food-related visuals. Because blue
foods aren't common in the wild, studies show that the color acts as an appetite suppressant.

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