My dream kitchen, circa 1850. This gives you a flavour for the life I’m aiming to have, which is mighty different from what it was only 5 years ago…

Back in 2003, I wore a suit everyday to my corporate job across from the FBI. I got mugged at gunpoint, downed a raft of prescriptions for asthma and allergies, and couldn’t walk to work on Red Alert days, those days in DC when the air is so polluted it’s a health risk to breathe.

I ate out a lot (how I miss sushi), and dined in on Annie’s macaroni and cheese, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and snacks from the Korean corner shop.

That all changed when I came to Scotland on a holiday, met my husband, and didn’t bother to take the return flight home.

Since then, I feel like I’ve been on a steady meander away from city living, or even suburban living (which is what I grew up with in Simsbury, Connecticut). Partially thanks to my husband Malcolm’s interest in bushcraft and all things pre-Industrial Revolution, and partially because it seems to make me happier.

This week, we move to a house 4 miles outside of Stromness, right on the water, and it’s another milestone.

Up till now, we’ve lived in the heart of town where I popped over to the Deli at least once a day to pick up cheese or pizza or snacks. I’ve learned how to cook a bit, but still prefer to pop a deluxe frozen pizza in the oven to the rigamarole of making my own food (Malcolm does most of the cooking).

But like a lot of people, we’re getting fat, tired of all the plastic packaging around food, and less keen on dairy and wheat.

It’s also time to save money.

Both the UK and US are near debt crises, and the price of food and everything else is going up. Rather than take on debt or get jobs that would pay more but make us miserable, we’d like to try an experiment.

Personally, I like to think of Little House on the Prairie or Mrs. Weasley (without the magic, sadly). I’m going to grow our own vegetables, keep some hens, cook a lot more, play my fiddle, knit, spin and dye.

I’ll admit I feel a bit self-conscious about it all. First, that I seem to want to do all the “female” skills like cooking and textiles. I’d love to say I have a hankering for metalsmithing or dry-stone walling. But I don’t, and Malcolm does, and the glory of feminism is we women get to do what we choose.The second reason I feel a bit nervous is that I have little idea what I’m doing, and how many stories do you hear tell of foolish city folk with their romantic notions of country life?

Well I have no doubt I’ll make a right mess of gardening, but one can only try. I’m determined I’ll get there in the end, and I’ve got my trusted friends, books, to help me out.

Most importantly, I’m learning these old-fashioned skills, the ones my ancestors all knew intimately, because I have a deep and abiding love of good design, which means beauty and usefulness in everything that I do and have.

So I’m knitting a bulletin board to hang up inspirational pictures and notes, making a willow basket to gather wild foods, growing food that will taste better and be healthier.

As John Seymour says in The Forgotten Arts & Crafts:

“There never was a time when it was more important for the health and well-being of humankind that men and women should start to make real things with their own hands again. For a human being to spend a life pressing computer buttons, or doing boring and non-creative ‘jobs’ in a factory, is to spend a life in hell.

“Apart from the fact that the huge global monstrosity is not sustainable and is due to come crashing down anyway, the intolerable aridness and boredom for most people will enetually become unbearable and we will all rebel. We will seize the right again to make things of utility and beauty for ourselves, with our own intelligence and our own hands.”

It’s nothing so bold as No Impact Man, or one of many other people out there going the self-sufficiency route. That’s the dream eventually, but you’ve got to start somewhere, and I think now is the time.

I firmly believe that a good brand is part of any business’s success, so I wanted to make sure our wonderfully diverse and unique cooperative had a brand that gave a snapshot of that personality.

After meeting with the other directors for a brainstorming session, I created 3 different logos that tried to express the overall feeling and personality we want for The Sorting Room.

But it wasn’t until I made a fourth logo, inspired by the circus and The Wild West, that it felt right.

Logos and the business’s personality

This logo is expressing a brand whose personality is:

• lively
• a bit quirky
• welcoming
• creative

Colour psychology

Red is passionate, bold and full of life. It says that The Sorting Room is a business that isn’t afraid to stand out.

Aqua blue is refreshing and clean. It gives what’s otherwise an old-fashioned design a modern tang.

Two versions

Since we’ll be using these logos on everything from product tags to bags to t-shirts, a 1-colour version was needed. As we plan to print many of our own things on our fantastic old printing machine, the fewer colours, the easier and cheaper.

The Sorting Room, located behind the post office on the main street of Stromness, opens at the end of May during the Orkney Folk Festival. Anyone that’s on the island then, come stop by!

The endless, useless meeting

The first situation is bad because I have very little tolerance for meetings that go nowhere and take forever. Perhaps you can relate:

In this nightmare scenario, you’re stuck in meeting after meeting, not sure what you’re even there to be discussing, wishing you were somewhere else actually doing something. You try bringing some order to the chaos, perhaps suggesting there be some kind of plan, but things quickly spiral down into endless talk and boredom.

The person who screws things up

Or then there’s the project where you’re dumbfounded, gobsmacked by how unbelievably incompetent/spineless/useless someone is — and you’re left to pick up the pieces.

You’re building your dream house (Hobbit hole, eco-house off the grid) and your omnipotent builders charge you the earth, take three times as long as promised, and do a shoddy job too — but all you can do is bitterly fork over more money and pray it’ll turn out all right (this hasn’t actually happened because we’re nowhere near being able to have our own house, but I like to worry about it anyway).

Getting It Done: How to lead when you’re not in charge

If any of that sounds familiar, and you’re like me in seeking salvation in books, you’ll be delighted to hear of two I’ve just started:

Getting It Done: How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge and the charmingly named Dealing with People You Can’t Stand: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst.

Getting It Done deals with neverending meetings and how to get things done when everyone’s milling about, hoping for direction.

If, like me, you’re involved in a volunteer organisation that’s trying to accomplish a major project or care about making your workplace meetings more productive (I remember those days, shudder, and wish you the very best), then I think you’ll find it very useful.

Dealing with People You Can’t Stand

If you’re terrified or exhausted at the thought of working with people who irritate the hell out of you, then Dealing with People You Can’t Stand is the ticket.

You’ll learn about the most common types of problem people, why they act like that, and what to do about it. The authors, two naturopathic doctors (similar training to MDs, but emphasize disease prevention and holistic healthcare), saw that when people learn good communication skills and are able to achieve their goals, their physical illnesses disappear. So they turned to developing a program for dealing with difficult people, and out of that came this book.

OK, I’m a part of the communication problem too

Let me say, by the way, that I know full well a lot of the problem is how I approach things, how I deal with people and my issues getting in the way. Thanks to some great conflict studies classes I took at Bryn Mawr College, I know that negotiation and personal communication is all about accepting it’s no one’s “fault” and that you start by looking at what you’re doing “wrong” first.

The problem is, I don’t know how to apply that to working with other people when you desperately need to get something done. But I’m learning.

3 Steps to getting things done when no one’s in charge

You can tell Roger Fisher’s Getting It Done is designed for the corporate manager (the cover even has a picture of a suited guy giving a thumbs up), but don’t let that put you off.

His approach is:

1. Learn how to get things done well for yourself.
2. Figure out what a successful meeting looks like.
3. Learn how to get others working at their best.

He uses the analogy of a jazz band. If you want to get your jazz ensemble playing great, first you need to make sure you’re playing the best you can. Then you need to know what a good ensemble sounds like — the notes, rhythm, style. Finally you need to inspire your fellow players to play at their best.

10 Most Annoying Types of People

As for Dealing with People You Can’t Stand, I’m reading about the “10 Most Unwanted” types of annoying people. I have to say, top of my list of people that drive me maaaadddddd are:

1. The “Yes” Person — The one who always says they’ll do something and then rarely does it. The one who says they’ll have that for you next week, then next week, then next. You want to be nice, but you’re left holding the bag.
2. The “Think-They-Know-It-All” Person — The one who enthusiastically claims they can do something when it’s clear they know buggerall about it. But through sheer force of personality or lack of an alternative, persuade just enough people to follow them. Into the abyss.

Which annoying person am I?

A fun part of this book is where you get to figure out which annoying person you are when you’re under tremendous stress and really not at your best. I’d have to go with The Tank (blow up from frustration when you just can’t take it anymore) and The No Person (give devastatingly practical reasons why something will never work).

Can’t wait to find out more! Will keep you posted as I unlock the secrets of Harmonious
World Order.

I love designing logos.

Logos are the instant snapshot of your business or organisation. The challenge of transforming some words like “decadent” and “welcoming” into a few shapes and letters that actually convey that idea is one that really gets my energy and creativity flowing.

For The Sorting Room, I had to start with the building itself, which is an old post office “sorting room” (i.e., the area where they would sort the mail for delivery).

Researching before designing a logo

I did some digging into when the building was built, and managed to track down a photograph which showed men standing outside in clothing straight from the Edwardian period, 1900-1910.

I had a look at some books of historical Orkney postcards, and grabbed one showing a stamp and postmark from the post office from 1908.

The British Postal Museum & Archive gave me some more background on the style of post in the early 1900s, and I also searched some of the V&A Museum’s online collection for posters, ceramics, and other daily artefacts.

Logo keywords and mood

My brief was to create a logo that embodied some of these moods or qualities:

• rooted in history
• decadent
• diversity
• celebration
• journey
• traditional/modern
• quality crafted
• organic
• welcoming

But I felt that the history of the building had to be there in the logo.

Ideally, the logo should only use one colour, so we can print it cheaply on our cotton bags we’ll be using instead of plastic bags.

And finally, rather than create an icon, some image like a swoosh or hand or whatever, I felt the letters and words of the The Sorting Room should take centre stage.

The Sorting Room logo #1: stamp motif

Here’s one of the 3 designs I came up with, in black and white:

The logos are on a brown paper background, since we’re hoping to wrap our gifts in brown paper.

You can see the strong influence and link to the antique stamps and I’ve used the actual postmark as well — the mark was made originally in 1908 and says “08″. Given that we’re opening in 2008, I think it makes a nice touch and connection to the past.

To keep it from being too oldy-worldy, the “Cooperative” word is in a very modern font, and the layout is also modern.

Applying colour to a logo last

To avoid getting hung up on debates on colour, it’s useful to show a black and white version first. This way, you can try out a variety of colours if needed.

We don’t have a set colour palette, but since “celebration” and “diversity” were two of my keywords for the brief, orange might be a good choice since according to colour psychology, colour combines the warmth and dynamism of red with the welcoming nature of sunny yellow:

There are 2 other logo designs, and I’ll be presenting all 3 at our next members’ meeting next Thursday. We’ll see what everyone thinks then, but it’s been a great few days designing.

Social enterprises are exactly the kind of clients I want to work with. It’s not a non-profit, and it’s not a standard business — it’s somewhere in between, and I believe it’s the most fulfilling and sustainable way to do business.

But social enterprises are still pretty new, so we’ve got a lot to prove.

The Sorting Room

My fellow American Debbie Jones told me about her idea a while back, explaining that she’d managed to lease a dilapidated old post office sorting room where she wanted to set up her new pottery business. Since it’s such a big space, she loved the idea of having other people be able to use it — for making their own art, hanging out, music, and even hopefully coffee!

After getting such an enthusiastic response from a lot of local people, she and her husband Andrew embarked on this quest for turning the idea into reality.

Now we’re a group of about 12 working on getting ourselves set up as an official cooperative. More members will join once we get up and running, but it’s down to us to make this happen. As a cooperative, all members get a share of any profits, and we do all the work pretty much too.

What I’m excited about is having a community space that’s actually a cool place to be, somewhere I can do some knitting or sell my carved knitting needles, or learn how to throw a pot or just hang out and chat with my neighbours who I’m still getting to know.

I’m also excited about proving that you can run a successful business whose goals are about making the world a better place, who puts their money where their mouth is.

I’m working on the logo and branding for The Sorting Room now, and will show those here once I’ve finished them. We’re set to open at the end of May for the Orkney Folk Festival, and there’s so, so much to be done by then!

I got the idea from the Boston Globe’s article, which asked some typographers to assess the logos of US presidential candidates.

Today let’s make a similar assessment: what messages do the colours, fonts and logos send? Who’s really about progress, change and growth?

First up, Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton’s website

Colour psychology: what Hillary Clinton’s colours say

While almost all candidates use blue heavily, Hillary goes for a very conservative, corporate blue. It’s the navy blue of a thousand banks and computer businesses. It says old establishment and traditional values.

Blue colour symbolism says:

• trustworthy
• understanding
• calm
• conservative
• masculine

Red, associated with passion and stimulation, is used sparingly, mainly for the “Contribute” buttons. I’ve talked before about how to use warm colours for effective calls to action, where you use reds and oranges to draw the eye to something like a button.

What Clinton’s font and logo says

The font for the logo itself is serif (with hooks and tails on each letter, as opposed to the clean straight endings of serifed fonts), like Times New Roman. Serifed fonts are traditional, harking back to the first newspapers, whereas sans serif fonts like Arial are heavily used on the new media of the web.

Her logo is dull, the same as a thousand others before her.

What Hillary Clinton is really saying

“You can trust me, I’m not going to change a thing. Let’s keep the status quo.”

Barack Obama’s website

Obama’s design is the most sophisticated and youthful, though his colours are still fairly traditional.

Colour psychology: what Barack Obama’s colours say

His colour choices are blue and white. We have medium blue again, but compared to Clinton’s, the blues here are much richer and lighter because of all the white ghost-like light running throughout.

Blue is the colour of wisdom, which ties in nicely to all the candidates’ claims.

What’s different is the liberal use of soft white and the ever-fashionable steel grey as a background, giving a lighter overall feel to the site. Like Hillary, his only use of red is for the “Donate Now” buttons.

White colour symbolism says:

• purity
• truth
• newness
• innocence
• clean

What Obama’s logo and font say

Obama’s font is a modern serif. He’s used all caps, and offset the “O” at the beginning, which gives it a fresh look. It says he’s no clueless stiff — he knows design.

What Barack Obama is really saying

“I’m not tainted by politics. I’ve got vision and new ideas, but I know what I’m doing.”

On to John McCain.

John McCain’s website

A black background, wow. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a political candidate use black. McCain is clearly out to make a bold statement.

Colour psychology: what John McCain’s colours say

Black means power and status. It’s the most dominant of colours.

Black colour symbolism says:

• strength
• potency
• durability
• luxury
• heaviness/weight

Sure, he’s still got a lot of blue going on, a nod to tradition, though he has more red than either Democratic candidate. More fevered passion (red), less intellectual weight (blue).

The colours don’t sit together comfortably — the black background and logo clash with the red/blue of the rest of the site. Much like his maverick tendencies clash with the mainstream of the Republican party.

But I give him credit for taking an unusual path.

What McCain’s logo and font say about change

McCain has one of the most modern font choices, but the militaristic star centred above his name, coupled with the yellow and black colours, makes a very corporate statement. Especially because it reminds me of Sprint’s logo:

Finally, Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney’s website
I admit I was a tad gleeful when I first saw Mitt Romney’s website. From a psychology of colour standpoint, it’s a gem.

Everything about Mitt Romney’s colours say “mindless drone”. Of all the colours you could choose, middle grey (not charcoal, not steel) is the least inspiring.

Medium grey colour symbolism says:

• drab
• conformity
• bland
• neutral

It’s the colour of uniforms and dull depressing days. Add the standard blue and red to the mix, and you’ve got zero innovation.

What Romney’s logo and font say

Serifed font again, all caps but oddly spaced, as if the font wasn’t designed by a professional who knew about tracking (space between letters).

Same rent-a-logo as Clinton.

What Romney is really saying

“I’m terrified of being different, and want to be exactly like everyone else.”

Conclusion: your colours say what you’re about

Well that was fun. It’s probably obvious I’m an Obama supporter, so I was delighted to see that his website design is completely consistent with his message of change and hope. Hillary Clinton’s website is also consistent — with her actual politics, as opposed to what she says. It’s Establishment, status quo and staying the course.

McCain surprised me with the black, but his reputation has been as a maverick, and so it fits. Romney, well, I had no opinion on him and his website just tells me there’s nothing to have an opinion about anyway.

Think I’ll have to do this for every major election.

For more on colour psychology and web design, check out our articles in Learn Good Design.

About Do Good Design

At Do Good, we create websites for small businesses who make the world a better place. We combine good design with business strategy and marketing.

Find out how we can build the perfect website for you.

Or get in touch to discuss your website project.

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Here at Do Good, we use quite a bit of colour psychology in our designs, and I thought I’d share some tips with you. But first, a bit about how I got into colour psychology and why I think it’s such a useful marketing tool.

[The link to the article is at the end of this post, or if you're impatient: "Colour Psychology, Web Design and Your Brand"]

A year ago, I studied to become a certified Colour Consultant, which sounds like being a makeup saleslady, but actually means learning all about colour and how to use it.

While most colour consultants go in for interior design, or product development (as in, advising Proctor & Gamble what their new shampoo bottle colour should be), I wanted to learn how to apply colour psychology to building more successful websites.

I studied hard for six months, searched high and low for actual academic and scientific research to back up what my teachers were telling me about the science of colour and how it can influence our moods, ability to concentrate, appetites, self-esteem.

There’s not a wealth of information readily available, which is why if you type in “color psychology” in a search engine, you get lots of random websites with one measly page on major colours and what they symbolize. With nothing to back up these claims, except that they probably plagiarized the content from another website, probably Wikipedia.

I trolled Google Scholar, got some excellent books like Victoria Finlay’s Colour, and pestered my tutors mercilessly for more information.

While some of the science is unproven, we do have a fair consensus on the mood that colour generally creates, and this is where I’m able to apply it to web design.

Colour, the secret weapon

The biggest challenge I face as a web designer is how to get our clients’ websites to stand out from the millions of others. There are two fronts in this war, the War on Big Business and Crappy Link Farms That Mysteriously Get Top Google Rankings.

The first front is getting websites to be seen in the first place, which means search engine optimization (SEO), Google Ads and links to your website from other good websites. These all help you move higher up search engine results and get traffic to your site. This is the area most online marketing focuses on.

The second front is capturing the attention of visitors once they arrive on your website, and there, colour psychology comes into its own. Colour psychology is a little-known but surprisingly effective (and fun) tool in aid of Good Business the cause.

Colours say who we are (or want to be)

Colours tell us what something or someone is like: the kooky eccentric who wears only bright colours and clashing patterns, the Goth who dons all black.

They also create a mood: pristine white can feel stark, minimal or even cold, earth tones feel comforting and relaxing.

Most surprising to me, colours can have a physical effect. Red knickers are called “sexy” and “racy” for good reason — some studies have shown that the colour red stimulates your hypothalamus, creating a rush of adrenaline. Restaurants use red all the time in their interior design because it’s known to encourage people to eat faster or more.

Overview of colour psychology and more to come

I need to write more articles about what some of the other colours mean, which I promise to do soon.

Read the article now: Colour Psychology, Web Design and Your Brand

For writing a home page that gets visitors to explore, then buy from your business, you need to know what to say — and what not to say.

People don’t read most web pages

It’s tempting to think you need to put everything important about your business on the home page. Otherwise, how will people know what you do?

The problem is, most people won’t read it. That’s because, according to research by web usability expert Jakob Nielsen, 77% of web visitors don’t read a page, they scan it.

When someone scans a page, they jump from one area to the next, following links, images, colours that grab their attention.

Remember that most visitors come to your website looking for something specific, they want to know something or buy something. They’ll click on the first link that looks about right, and won’t waste time reading or even scanning anything else.

As Steve Krug in Don’t Make Me Think puts it:

“We act as though people are going to pore over each page, reading our finely crafted text, figuring out how we’ve organized things, and weighing their options before deciding which link to click.

What they actually do most of the time (if we’re lucky) is glance at each new page, scan some of the text, and click on the first link that catches their interest or vaguely resembles the thing they’re looking for. There are usually large parts of the page that they don’t even look at.

We’re thinking ‘great literature’ (or at least ‘product brochure’), while the user’s reality is much closer to ‘billboard going by at 60 miles an hour.’”

So a page chock full of text, links and images just looks like clutter, and it’s going to get ignored. Especially if you’re a fan of phrases like “Welcome to our website” or use marketing fluff like “Unique, cutting-edge, top quality, best in the world blah blah” all over your text.

If you’ve got a short window to capture your visitors’ attention, just how do you do it?

Focus on one key message

When people come to your home page, they want to know if they’re in the right place. What does your business do? How is it special? Writing a home page that works takes communicating the one message you want your customers to know.

Strip away everything else.

It’s a ruthless task of deleting words and then deleting some more. It can be heartbreaking to watch the text you took hours writing get chopped, trimmed and squeezed, but it’s necessary.

Let me show you what I mean.

Example: Orkneycrofts.com home page

Here’s the original first draft of the home page, before I did anything to it, for Orkneycrofts.com, an upmarket self-catering cottage.

Did you read all of this text? Neither would most people. Chances are, your skipped around the page, maybe looked at the big image at the top, the logo, or “Welcome” title.

The question in the back of your mind is “Do I want to know more about this business?” If not, you’ll click away.

To get the Orkney Crofts home page grabbing the attention of potential customers and keep them from clicking away, we’re going to have to do a lot of chopping and changing. I do this in 5 steps.

Crafting your home page in 5 steps

When I write or edit text for websites, here are the rules I follow:

1. Decide what your key message is.
2. Move less important information to subpages.
3. Cut out every word that isn’t essential.
4. Make text scannable with lists and key phrases in bold.
5. Add appealing and relevant images.

Have a look at the result.

New Orkney Crofts home page

The key message of Orkney Crofts is “Our holiday accommodation is attractive and conveniently located.”

Everything else had to go, so I moved the other information to subpages.

The best way to show people that something’s appealing is to have a nice big photo of it, front and centre.

To emphasise its convenient location, I created a simple bullet point list of nearby major sites. I added a photo of the Ring of Brodgar, one of the best known sites, to help reinforce this message.

Finally I bolded important phrases like “World Heritage Sites” and “Easy access”.

What’s your one message?

As you look at your home page, ask yourself: “What’s the one message I want my visitors to get?”

Now make sure you’re saying it.

As a certified colour consultant, I’ve studied how to use colour in web design to communicate a business brand and help increase sales and improve marketing.

In this article, I’ll talk about why colour is so powerful and how to use colour in your marketing materials. [If you'd like to learn more about a specific colour's meaning, be sure to check out the Hidden Meaning of Colour series of articles.]

What is colour psychology?

Colour psychology looks at how colour affects us emotionally and even physically. It affects how we feel, and the image we present to the world.

Colour has a cultural meaning too, such as the red robes of Catholic cardinals, orange robes of Buddhist monks, or black robes of Muslim imams.

It also impacts our bodies, affecting our appetites, confidence and energy levels.

Colour = light = energy

How can a colour actually affect us? First you have to look at what a colour is made of: light.

A colour is a lightwave which travels to your eye, then sends an electrical message to your brain which interpret them as “blue” or “yellow”.

Since light is just energy, and colour is light, colour is a form of energy, a wave that hits you right between the eyes. It stimulates your brain and affects your mind and your body.

In one study, some subjects were able to distinguish a particular colour blindfolded, just by touching a colour with their fingertips.

Cultural meaning and symbolism in colour

Colour has different cultural meanings.

African and Middle Eastern countries are known for their bold and vibrant use of colour in everything from textiles to clothing. While in Europe and North America, more muted colours are popular.

We use colours to designate our leaders: the red “power ties” of Prime Ministers and Presidents, black robes of judges.

We use colour to show allegiance.

In Scottish football, Celtic (green and white) and Rangers (blue) colours have been banned from being worn in many pubs, to prevent fights.

A pediatric surgeon in bright blue scrubs with yellow polkadots says “friendly”, and puts her young patients at ease.

A politician’s black suit, white shirt and navy tie sends “conservative” and “powerful” (he hopes).

Using colour to affect mood

Interior designers affect people’s moods through the colours chosen for walls and furnishings.

Want a restful night’s sleep? Pale blue in the bedroom. Looking to rev up your family’s appetite? Orange walls in the dining room.

Advertisers are masters of colour. Red for sex appeal in things like cars, lipstick, soda. Black for manly things like watches, aftershave, cars again. Pink for girls’ toys. And so on.

Colour and communicating your brand

At Do Good Design, we use colour in a few ways, to:

• communicate a business personality and approach
• create a mood
• appeal to the target audience
• distinguish the website from its competitors
• draw attention

We use colour to promote a business brand, to get the right message across to its target market.

It’s our job to showcase what makes a businesses special, its unique selling point. But grappling with web visitors’ notoriously short attention spans means we have to use every tool we have to make that message clear.

In the Orkney Crofts website case study, I explained how we used a subdued palette of mochas, pale blue and butter yellow to target an older, more affluent audience for their eco-friendly accommodation business.

These colours of earth, sky and gentle wildflowers sent a message of elegance and natural life, perfect for their message of luxury and green relaxation.

Using colour to highlight a call to action

For another client, we used bold colour to draw attention to a call to action.

An important goal of the Holistic Business Networking website is to get people to enter the discussion forum.

So we used a fuschia coloured button to draw the eye down the page and to the “Enter Forum” button.

Warm colours advance, meaning that reds, oranges and some yellows tend to stand out more on the page. In small doses, they are great at highlighting an element.

Colour psychology and effective marketing

So how can colour psychology be used in your marketing materials: a website, business card or leaflet?

Next time you’re considering a new design, do some research into what colours mean and bear it in mind when choosing your palette. Ignore the trendy colours in web design (hello, white and more white) if they’re not going to create the right mood for your website.

If you’re in a larger business, you might be familiar with the endless debates that can ensue when it’s time to rebrand. Everyone weighs in with their opinion on what the “right” colours are for the new logo.

Armed with some information about colour psychology and symbolism, you can evaluate colour choices more objectively and steer things away from personal taste towards more objective criteria.

Everyone has strong opinions about colour, and it’s okay to go with what you like, just remember that you’re sending a message: make sure it’s the right one.

Learn more about colour symbolism and meanings

Find out what different colours mean in our Hidden Meaning of Colour series.

About Do Good Design

At Do Good, we create websites for small businesses who are passionate about what they do. We combine good design with business strategy and marketing.

Find out how we can build the perfect website for you.

Or get in touch to discuss your website project.

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Welcome to the new Do Good Design tagline. This was actually the second most popular choice, with 14 votes, compared to “Making the world a better place, one website at a time” that got the most, at 16 votes.

The top two taglines weren’t even my ideas — they came from you all! In fact, I’d like to send a gift to both people who wrote these. Unfortunately, Polldaddy doesn’t tell me who submitted these entries, but if it was you, get in touch so I can say thank you properly.

This whole process has been very in-depth, and having other people weigh in helped me clarify what we’re doing. I can’t tell you how helpful and encouraging it was to have so many people respond with their feedback and helpful suggestions.

Now if you’re wondering about how to craft your own tagline, or just want to know more about why I didn’t choose one of the others, let me share my reasoning.

Good taglines convey your brand

According to Small Business Marketing for Dummies, a tagline should convey your brand, your business’s selling point and approach.

“Websites for doing good, done well” sums up in the fewest possible words that Do Good Design is about two things: doing good, as in good deeds, and good design, as in websites that are well made.

Most of the other taglines don’t have anything in there about good design. They focus just on the doing good in the world part, which is very important but not the whole package.

“Making the world a better place, one website at a time” has a personal feel though, which I think is why so many people voted for it. We’re all tired of marketese, or feeling manipulated by slogans, branding and advertising. It’s nice to get away from that.

So I’m thinking of putting that phrase on the home page, or using it when I talk to people about what we do. As in “Yeah, we like to think we’re helping to make the world a better place, one website at at time.”

Good taglines are short

A tagline needs to be short.

While I love its personal feel, “Making the world a better place, one website at a time” is too long. It would wrap around awkwardly on the page, and might get ignored in email signatures (sure, they’re ignored most of the time anyway, but why make it worse?).

Though another criteria that the Dummies guide lists as being important in a tagline is that it makes you feel good or has positive connotations. “Making the world a better place…” has that for sure, as do the others about making a difference.

Other criteria for a tagline

A few more criteria that you might find helpful in crafting or evaluating a tagline:

• doesn’t sound like corporate speak
• doesn’t rely on factors that might change (”The only 5 star hotel in Fresno!”)
• easy to say out loud

So that’s it. I’ll now go to work changing my email signatures and website, and get to work on designing business cards. Thanks again for all your help and if ever I can return the favour, I’d be delighted.