In the previous post, we talked about some questions you need to answer when you begin designing for a direct mail campaign. Today, we’ll talk about color: what colors mean or signify and we’ll also touch upon things to consider when choosing or selecting images/photos for your campaign.
Color in Direct Mail
With color printing more affordable than ever, it’s only natural to use color in your direct mail campaign. But which colors? How do you choose? Here are eight colors and a few of the meanings or associations they invoke:
Yellow – is associated with the sun/sunshine and represents happiness, warmth, and invokes happy feelings; can be used to highlight or draw attention to important messages or content.
Red – is often used to convey a sense of urgency, danger, risk, or aggressiveness; red commands attention.
Blue – inspires confidence and suggests responsibility in financial concerns. Lighter or paler shades of blue suggest freshness and cleanliness; darker shades are more authoritative and when used in conjunction with lighter shades represent security, trust, and dignity.
Green – is most frequently associated with money, nature, and the environment but also suggests freedom, tranquility, and healing. Green is calming and easy on the eyes.
Orange – instills a sense of excitement and fun, implies health, cheer, and warmth and suggests affordability.
White – is associated with purity, innocence, peace, contentment, cleanliness, and sterility. White can seem cool, refreshing, suggests stability and can have a calming influence.
Black– is a power color with great gravitas. Black suggests strength, boldness, authority, seriousness, elegance, and stability. Black is classy and distinguished, but overuse can be ominous or foreboding.
Brown – is most frequently associated with nature and mother earth. Brown suggests warmth, coziness, richness, credibility, effectiveness, helpfulness, and politeness.
Building on how colors can convey or suggest specific ideas and meanings, it’s time to consider what kind of images or photography to use in your direct mail piece(s).
Considerations for Selecting Images
Here are five “rules” to consider when choosing an image for your promotional mailer:
- Don’t Use Just a Product Photo – Choose an image (or images) that show people in real environments or settings using or interacting with your product to convey a more realistic and useful approach.
- Match Emotional Tone – Make sure the emotional tone of the image or photograph is reflected in the design of the piece.
- Stay Within Chosen Color Scheme – Make sure any image or photo doesn’t conflict color-wise with the color scheme of your piece.
- Choose Images that Convey Your Message – A picture is worth a thousand words. Hence, an appropriate image or photo reduces the need for excessive explanatory text.
- Include Your Logo – Always include your company or organization’s logo to reaffirm and associate the imagery with your brand.
In Part III, we’ll talk about content: what kind of language/words to use and what kinds of language/words to avoid.
If you have any questions about Direct Mail, give us a call at 330-597-8560. We’re happy to help you get the most out of your printing project.
