Yellow branding: sunny & bright or sinful & sensationalist?
Explore the colour yellow with us for your business branding
Yellow is the colour of feelings and emotions. In its raw state it is the colour of sunlight and has the power to lift our spirits. Business brands that use it in their branding are typically trying to evoke strong senses to do with joy, happiness and optimism, often linking these to the particular experience they offer a customer.
Yellow is the last in our series on colour psychology in branding (also known as colour theory), but we wanted to re-emphasise why colour matters. In short, each colour within the spectrum of light has a different length wavelength which requires the eye to adjust accordingly to absorb it. When the body makes these micro adjustments it produces psychological reactions: whether physical, emotional or both.
As such, businesses can employ colour psychology in their branding to influence the impact on people in its audience in a way is favourable to their brand. Keep on reading to see examples we’ve included of the types of associations brands attempt to draw through using the colour yellow.
This series on colour psychology for businesses and their branding is adapted from Kassia St Clair’s excellent book, ‘The Secret Lives of Colour’. (The beautiful, sought-after hardback version is well worth getting hold of!). The best places to buy ‘The Secret Lives of Colour’ are direct from the publisher, from your local independent bookseller, from bookshop.org or – as a last resort – from Amazon. Although Amazon is cheaper and more convenient, it is not a force for good in the world of books. Please support writers, publishers and small businesses directly if you can.
““[Yellow is] the rich luminous colour [that] holds things together, lifts the spirit and raises visions.””
Wildings is a design agency in Devon. Our studio is based in Torquay, South Devon, and we provide branding for creative, hospitality and lifestyle businesses across Devon and the UK (like garden designers, interior designers, architects, floral designers). In this series, we’re looking at the power of colour in branding for small businesses, and this one is all about the colour yellow. We want to help you harness the amazing characteristics of colour to maximise your small business brand: catch up on the previous article, ‘Is pink branding a strong choice for my business?’ or explore the rest of our series on Colour Psychology for business brands →
Where does the colour yellow come from?
As with many of the colours in this series, yellow can be found in the natural world, but humans have also sought to recreate it where deemed valuable or its extraction laborious. Either of these tended to increase its sense of exclusivity and so greatly drive up its value.
Various hues of yellow have been extracted from the earth or nature since ancient times. The colour yellow can be found variously in the world around us whether from minerals, trees and elements:
Tin lead yellow was produced by mixing lead and tin oxides
Chrome yellow came from the mineral crocoite (for more on crocus and the colour orange, see ‘How to get the best from orange for your branding: bright, vivid & urgent’)
Gambage (a bright hue) was extracted from the Garcinia tree in South East Asia
Orpiment (a canary yellow) derived from natural arsenic sulphides
It would be hard to ignore gold (not to mention rude!), which has been coveted for thousands of year and alchemists have attempted to synthesise it by artificial means since time immemorial.
Yellow has a long and rich history, when plenty of ups and downs, as you can imagine: the orpiment pigment was used in the age of the Ancient Egyptians in their wall art, whereas Imperial yellow was reserved solely for the ruling class in Imperial China for a thousand years.
The discovery of yellow as a colour in itself is similar to many other colours in this series: humans beings observed it - became notable (often highly desired) for a particular quality - then extracted and later manufactured. Moreover, in modern times you’ll often see it reinvented or perhaps twisted far beyond its initial incarnation!
““Yellow leads a roving , versatile life’”
Yellow wildflower meadow on show at the Hampton Court Flower Show 2014 by Angielskie Ogrody
What does the colour yellow symbolise?
The colour yellow is firmly rooted in science and psychology as a primary colour. Yellow is light and highly visible by its very nature, so is naturally the colour of the emotions, expressing the ego and creativity as well as self-esteem and optimism. In essence it is an undiluted expression of light and extroversion: think sunshine!
In practical usage, it should come as no surprise that yellow bestows these characteristics on the user or wearer, plus it has the power to evoke these emotions in the viewer, typically lifting the emotions and gaze outwards and forwards. This quality of yellow is why it’s highly prized in the right context.
As yellow was employed practically, it took on particular symbolism. The yellow of gold was seized upon as a symbol of power by kings, but also by religious institutions, such as the church to inspire divine awe and reverence.
Bear in mind that a colour’s meaning is often a product of its environment, such as Indian yellow and Gambage, both products of the British Empire and colonial rule. The importance here is not so much the hue or the method of manufacture, but the emotions and associations they convey.
Tonic water (a concoction of quinine, soda and sugar) was used medicinally in colonial India to prevent malaria. It has a long and strong association with the colour yellow, perhaps because of the connection of yellow with illness, and it’s hard to imagine tonic water now without the characteristic yellow label.
Nowadays, Indian yellow and Gambage evoke feelings of tradition, old-fashioned colonial touches and exotic subcontinent because of their history, which is still available to modern brands. We’ll explore the meaning of yellow for brands further below and how they tap into these powerful feelings.
How do businesses use the colour yellow in branding?
Because of the way the human eye absorbs light, each colour will have a different affect on the body. The longer the wavelength of the particular colour, the greater the adjustment eye makes, which in turn causes a psychological reaction. It is because colour affects our bodies and minds that businesses make use of colour psychology in their branding; and the colour yellow does this in terms of our emotions. (Whereas other colours might cause a reaction physically, in the intellect or, in the case of green, a sense of balance.)
When it comes to yellow and our emotions, we understand that it is light, bright and positive, so catches the attention and evokes a response. We can use this to understand why business brands in the following sectors lean heavily on yellow:
Yellow brands in the construction industry
The colour yellow is used prominently by construction brands JCB, Caterpillar and Stanley, which between them cover heavy plant machinery, construction tools and clothing and workwear.
In this context, visibility is important, so the colour yellow is used to ensure products stand out from a safety point of view. As such the brands themselves then derive a sense of safety, strength and rugged dependability from the association with yellow.
The use of yellow in health & safety
The colour yellow has long been associated with important information, warnings and safety. Under UK regulation, warning safety signs are required to be yellow, indicating a specific danger that may be present within a workplace.
Another reason for choosing yellow is because it is an inherently bright colour, and so when paired with black, creates a high-contrast colour combination. This is ideal when it is important to convey an important message or draw people’s attention to information they need to know or adhere to.
As such, yellow and black is the archetypal combination found in airports where safety is key, but also providing highly visible guidance (called wayfinding: the user experience of orientation and navigation in the man-man environment) for people who need to get to particular areas within a busy, sprawling complex.
The reality of yellow in branding
The reality of the colour yellow is that it is very bright and so can overwhelm business branding when it is the main element. This is why exclusively yellow brands tend to be relatively few, although the ones that are, tend to stand out in the mind (such as McDonalds, SnapChat, Post-It, Tour de France).
This is why yellow tends to be used as an accent colour within a wider brand palette. It doesn’t dominate or overwhelm, but brings eye-catching flashes and a sense of joy and brightness that can sit more happily alongside other values that are being communicated.
What does yellow mean in a company’s branding or advertising?
When you see yellow in a company’s branding or advertising its likely there for a reason and well worth pausing to ask yourself why that might be.
We’ve pulled together a couple of categories below of businesses with yellow brands or branding to help illustrate what yellow means when companies or businesses use in their branding or advertising. These comprise of snack food, fast food, travel and delivery brands.
Yellow in snack food and fast food branding
Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is the euphemistic label the industry gives to snack or junk food, and the colour yellow often features in their branding. In the food context yellow is a good choice in branding as it hints at a joyful, pleasant but speedy experience. The youthful feel of yellow is also suitable in this category, as snack food brands want to attract and appeal to a younger audience.
A few well known brands that use yellow are:
Pringles (crisps (UK), potato chips (US))
Chupa Chups (sweets (UK), candy (US))
Maggi (packeted instant noodles)
Related to the snack brands are fast food restaurants, and yellow is again used to mean similar things in their branding and advertising. In short, yellow is fast food brands’ way of saying, ‘we want you to experience a fun, uplifting and happy time with us’. Live for the moment and enjoy the experience! Yellow is not only eye-catching but also indicates the exciting and rejuvenating experience that lies within: not just through the food, but the wider journey of visiting and being in the surroundings of the brand itself.
Well-known fast food brands using yellow include:
McDonalds
Subway (note how it has introduced green to emphasis its more healthy attributes)
Yellow in travel and delivery branding
Travel and delivery brands use yellow in their branding and advertising in a fairly obvious and straight-forward way. Consumers desire a quick and painless experience, so the yellow in branding brands have employed the colour yellow to underline what kind of experience customers will get with them: pizzazz, lots of energy and, of course, speed.
Travel and delivery brands are among a small pool of companies other snack and fast foods to use yellow. Interestingly they often temper the brightness of yellow or use it as a complementary accent colour. This approach brings more depth and sophistication to the overall impact or is a way to add chutzpah to perhaps a more conservative palette.
Well-known travel and delivery brands using yellow include:
DHL & UPS (delivery and courier services)
Hertz (vehicle hire)
Goodyear & Pirelli (tyre manufacturers)
Lemon, Blonde Yellow, Gold, Acid Yellow
How have businesses used yellow creatively in their branding?
A fascinating part of colour and brand theory is the ability to subvert it or tap into an opposing area. Opposite ends of a colour’s spectrum can have wildly opposing meanings, which can be useful in business branding.
Yellow has an obvious and superficial sunny disposition. This positive side denotes joy, radiance and beauty (or desire and divinity in the case of gold). However, every colour has its shadow side, so if we flip yellow it can signify greed, illness or sinfulness. Gold illustrates this well again: it commands attention and reverence, but coveting gold is a sign of greediness and even an affliction (think of King Midas or mythical dragons hording gold). As for humans, yellow skin is a sign of illness (think jaundice or Yellow Fever) and it’s been used culturally to marginalise groups (think the Yellow Peril).
Obviously no business brand will want to tap into the negative connotations of yellow, but it is possible to subvert yellow by taking it beyond sinfulness and illness into the realms of rebellion, which we’ll look at here.
In popular culture yellow came to prominence through smileys and emojis which users typically used to convey innocent happy emotions when writing text. Nowadays we can choose our skin colour of choice, but originally yellow simply indicated the joy and fun of being in the moment.
This sense of innocence and pure joy lent itself to the dance music revolution of the ‘80s and ‘90s: a happy culture in which the youth of the time could indulge in escapism and the euphoria of being caught up in an ecstatic moment. Inevitably, yellow was co-opted by rave culture, which turned the original innocence of the smiley into a darker, chemical-fulled symbol of rebellion. Fluorescent, saturated yellow literally embodied the chemical driving force of the movement as well as became its emblem.
This is a similar story to that found in the stories of other colours and useful for brands to know about when approaching the branding process:
Purple’s association with immorality, the anti-hero and the unusual but antiquated (including a Harry Potter reference!)
Pink as a rallying cry for defiant, rebellious and innovative brands
The mood board sources and image attribution can be found in our yellow pinboard on Pinterest
Is yellow a good colour for small business branding?
If you’re a business and wondering whether yellow is a good colour to use in your branding, the answer is highly dependent on several key factors.
As we’ve seen, when you lean too much into a colour, you can veer into its ‘shadow’ side: for yellow this could be connotations of sickness, illness or contamination. Equally, you might evoke negative historical or cultural associations that could backfire for your brand.
Despite this, a business brand might want to use the subverted side of yellow in a conscious and intentional way, which works well for outlaw brands, ones bucking prevailing trends or that want to emphasise their rebellious side.
Using gold within your branding, which is a shade of yellow, can allow your brand to choose whether to draw on the positive or negative sides of the colour. On the positive side, it can signal wealth, prosperity, desire or divinity. However, your brand might want to amplify these qualities in a more carnal way to provoke greed, envy and avarice (in the produce, of course).
As you can see, there is a fine line to walk not only when choosing a colour, but also the particular hue, tone or shade within it. Modern marketing is littered with brands that have tried to employ yellow, but failed and reverted to their old branding or undergone costly revisions.
Our advice when it comes to colour choice, including yellow, in your branding is to ensure you have undertaken a rigorous and comprehensive brand strategy process first. The insights into your ideal customers, market position and near competitors will put you in a better position to choose a colour palette that works hard and effectively for you.
Independent brands using yellow
Yellow is an emotive colour and plenty of independent brands have used yellow in their branding. Here’s three of our favourite independent brands who use yellow really well:
Glebe House Devon is a guest house in Devon, cherishing local produce, craftsmanship and seasonal rhytmns
Glass Shed Studio is a Devon maker, repurposing textiles and fabrics - we love the yellow detailing in its branding and how it’s local to us in the wonderful market town of Totnes
Bloom & Wild is the original letterbox flower delivery company, delivering beautiful flowers by post
Final thoughts on yellow for businesses and in branding
The beauty of yellow in branding is that it will never be off the table, as there are many and varied ways to use it for your business, whether as an accent colour or in other creative ways (depending on your brand strategy of course!). We’d definitely recommend keeping an open mind with yellow and explore whether it can bring something unexpected and delightful to your branding. Anyway, that now brings our (long-running!) series on colour psychology to a close, but you can browse all the previous articles below.
If you’d like to learn more from us on branding or get visual inspiration, follow Wildings Studio on Instagram or read more of our blogs on branding too.
