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Colour Is More Than Aesthetics, It’s a Language.

Author

Adam Davies
06 Mar • Reading Time: 3 minutes

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An Idea to Keep in Mind

6 Reasons Why Colour Can Make or Break Signage:

Colour isn’t just aesthetics, it’s functionality. Get it right, and your signage is seamless. Get it wrong, and people are lost, frustrated, or disengaged.

Here’s how to avoid failure and design for impact:

① Maximise Contrast

Low contrast kills readability. Black on white? Clear. Yellow on white? Useless. Strong pairings ensure instant legibility.

② Strengthen Identity

Colour isn’t just visual - it’s emotional. A wellness centre thrives on calming greens. A retail space? Energised by bold reds.

③ Respect Culture

Red is lucky in China but warns of danger in the West. Misuse colour, and you miscommunicate. Know your audience.

④ Enhance Navigation

Colours guide people subconsciously. Green for exits, blue for toilets. Wayfinding flows seamlessly when colours do the heavy lifting.

⑤ Test Under Light

Bright sunlight. Dim interiors. Artificial lighting. A perfect colour on screen might fail in reality. Test before you commit.

⑥ Design for Everyone

300M+ people are colour blind. Rely on contrast, labels, and icons, not just colour. This ensures no one is excluded.

Bad colour choices don’t just look wrong, they feel wrong. They confuse, disrupt, and make navigation harder than it should be.

Great colour choices go unnoticed, because they just work. They guide effortlessly, reinforce identity, and make spaces feel intuitive.

Next time you choose a colour palette for signage, ask yourself this.

Does this help people, or does it make them think?

If it’s the latter, it’s already failing.

Thanks for reading!

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