Imagine you walk into a store, scroll through an online shop, or see a new commercial on TV. Even before you make out the logo, read the tagline, or grasp the product’s design, your brain has long since decided whether what you see strikes you as appealing or unfamiliar, trustworthy or irritating. This judgment is made in less than a second—and it is based almost entirely on color.

Colors are the first message a brand conveys. They have a faster effect than words, a stronger impact than form, and a more lasting influence than any promise. While we first have to read text and interpret images, color stimuli flow directly into our emotional center. There, they trigger unconscious reactions: joy, curiosity, a sense of security—or rejection, distance, and stress.

The strategic power of colors lies in this speed and inevitability. They are nature’s oldest communication system, one that has ensured our survival for millions of years. A reddish glow could signal danger, a rich green could indicate food, and a blue sky could promise safety. We still carry these instincts within us today—and brands that use color strategically tap into exactly that.

But while nature uses color intuitively, color design in brand communication has long since become a highly specialized discipline. Those who view color as mere decoration fail to harness its full impact. Those who understand it as a precise tool of psychology, culture, and brand management tap into the most powerful lever that communication has to offer.

Colors are a brand’s first and most powerful message, subconsciously influencing emotions, behavior, and personality. My presentation explores how strategic color design creates brand identity, promotes well-being, and influences motivation to act. Based on insights from color psychology, I will demonstrate that colors function like an invisible language: they convey values through subtle nuances, reflect personality traits, and regulate physiological responses.

In the end, we don’t remember slogans or campaigns—we remember feelings. And these feelings are colorful. We all carry within us a range of experiences shaped by brand colors—the red of our first Coke, the blue of the Nivea tin, the orange of the Hermès bag.

For brands, this means that those who understand color strategically can not only sell products but also shape lifestyles.

When: Thursday, October 30, 2025
Where: University of Wuppertal, Building K (Senate Hall K.11.07) Gaußstraße 20 42119 Wuppertal

For more information and to register, visit the organizer’s website: German Society for Advertising Research (DWG)

Color and light are important factors influencing the wellbeing, health and recovery process of people. The ubiquitous dominance of white color in the health care sector is drawing to an end as completely different factors such as identity, safety and trust are getting more into the focus of interior design in medical practices, hospitals and care facilities today.

Design thinking – creative search for solutions in the design process

Design thinking drives, structures and shapes the creative process of modern societies. Design thinking is transdisciplinary and requires holistic thinking, interdisciplinary skills and interdisciplinary action.

As a creative, team-oriented problem-solving strategy that can be applied to many other areas of social activity, design thinking is now part of the general education of future-oriented individuals. Design thinking offers strategies for complex situations in which new ways of defining problems and finding solutions need to be found, tested and evaluated.

Design thinking is the modern way of sustainable and successful project development. The presentation will guide you through the phases of the design thinking process using the example of our own realized projects. It shows how media projects with a focus on light and color can be developed and successfully implemented in spatial contexts in a participatory manner.

Link Lecture Axel Buether

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