I had a wonderful opportunity this morning to be part of a fun, live national business podcast talking about the importance of professional headshots with Mark Galvin from "How's Your ePresence?".

The Power of Color

Here is some Color Theory for professional headshots and choosing your outfit. This may help guide you in selecting what color represents you personally, your career or your brand best. 

Overall, warmer, brighter colors like orange and yellow represent warmth not only with emotions but also with temperature. Warm tones like red, orange, pink, etc will "pop" or appear first in a photograph.  Cool colors include blue, green, black or any color with a dark shade. Cool tones like blues, green and purples will recede in a photograph.  Darker and more intense colors seem heavier. Lighter shades create a feeling of lightness.

• RED is for energy, passion and danger. Red is power and aggression. Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with war, strength, power, determination as well as love and desire. In retail, red creates a sense of urgency. 

• ORANGE is for creativity, youth and enthusiasm. Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents fascination, happiness, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.  

• YELLOW is for happiness, hope and spontaneity. Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. 

• GREEN is for nature, growth and harmony—but also wealth and stability. Green is the color of nature. It is a restful color and symbolizes renewal, comfort, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money. In retail, green indicates easy and calm.

• BLUE is for calm, trust and intelligence. Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. Blue is seen as conservative. It symbolizes truth, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, kindness, inner peace, devotion, faith, emotional depth and heaven. In retail, blue creates trust in general. However, navy blue indicates cheaper and royal blue can be used to create a sense of urgency. 

• PURPLE is for luxury, mystery and spirituality. Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, artistic qualities, intuition, higher consciousness, insight, perception, meditation, mystery, and magic.

• PINK is for compassion, caring, playfulness, romance, love, nurture and femininity. It is a protective and soothing color generating happiness and healing. 

• BROWN is for wholesomeness, warmth and honesty.

• BLACK is for elegance, power and sophistication. Black is associated with formality and mystery

• WHITE is for minimalism and simplicity. White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the color of perfection.

• GRAY is for professionalism, formality and conventionality

NOTE: Keep in mind that color is culturally dependent and different cultures associate colors with various meanings. 

Need to update your professional business headshots or know someone who does?
Participate in our Maui Headshot Project supporting the Maui Food Bank before July 31, 2020.