Week 4: How is colour used to create meaning?

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio 

The Body Shop 

The Body Shop are known for selling products which are made with raw ingredients. They highlight the fact that they never test on animals and that their products are 100% vegetarian, their website says "We keep people, animals and the planet in mind." 

With all this in mind it is easy to understand why The Body Shop use the colour green in their logo. The colour green associates with nature and the environment, therefore perfect for the company that is so heavily involved in protecting the planet. Not only does the colour associate with nature, it also represents good judgement, safety and positivity - all qualities a brand would be happy to associate with, as they want customers to see using their products as a good judgement, they want the products to be safe for customers and they want customers to feel positive when using the products. 

Fanta 

The brand Fanta sells an orange flavoured fizzy drink. One association with the logo is the flavour of the drink, the logo may use the colour orange as a representation of the taste the audience will experience when they drink the product. 

As well as this, the colour orange connotates the feelings of warmth, optimism and freedom - qualities Fanta might want their customers to associate with the drink. Orange also links in and represents being social, therefore Fanta could use orange in the logo to add in a social aspect encouraging customers to drink it with friends. The small green leaf could also be used to associate with environment, nature and the use of healthy, environmentally-friendly products similar to The Body Shop. 

I think both logos use colour in their brand to effectively influence the audiences view of the brand, without knowing we automatically feel certain feelings when viewing a certain colour and both brands play to this and use it to their advantage.