Color Combinations for Target Users
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This document discusses using color in design and provides recommendations. It begins by describing the director of industrial design, Chris Murray, and his background. It then provides examples of restrictive and unrestricted color palettes. Next, it discusses how various factors like culture, gender, and brand influence color perception. It proposes mapping target user attitudes to appropriate color combinations. The document concludes by recommending developing and refining color options targeted towards primary and secondary user groups.
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Color Combinations for Target Users
- 1. © Copyright 2013 1 The color of design From emotional to rational thinking Chris Murray Director of Industrial Design
- 2. © Copyright 2013 2 CHRIS MURRAY Director of Industrial Design Chris leads teams of designers and engineers on innovation projects across various industries, including consumer electronics, industrial equipment, household appliances, and medical products. He writes and presents about Innovation Strategy, Research-Driven UX Optimization, and Visual Brand Language, among other topics. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Design at the Central School of Art & Design (London). Chris previously led ID and innovation insights at Black & Decker in MD.
- 8. Highly restrictive color palette example Moderately restrictive color palette example Unrestricted color palette example
- 9. The color of design Studio opinions
- 17. HE75 section 10
- 18. High priority alarms; hazard; power off; stop; fault; energy being delivered; stay clear; warm/hot Medium priority alarms; warning Low priority alarms (non-medical); caution; gas = air; slow; pulmonary blood pressure; warm/sunny Power on; go; OK; ready; air = oxygen; good; environmentally friendly Secondary info on white; frozen/cold; deoxygenated lungs or blood; central venous deoxygenated blood pressure; air = nitrous oxide Low priority alarm (medical) Unavailable or non-applicable option or information Gas = helium Primary information (on white); gas = nitrogen HE75
- 21. BD Silver BD Snowflakes BD Gray
- 23. BD Silver BD Blue Light BD Snowflakes BD Gray
- 30. Consumer Attitudes Suggest Color Combinations Value Tiers Suggest Materials and Finishes mature youthful expressiveunderstated high mid low
- 31. mature youthful expressiveunderstated mainly blacks, grays, silvers – neutral and functional with mass appeal black & white or neutrals with bright color accents – pure and fresh neutrals w/ color accents or overall dark colors – chic, modern and elegant bold use of color & mixed colors – it’s about making a bold statement Perceived value is the same
- 32. mature understated high mid low Different materials and finishes communicate different value tiers in this mature / understated color quadrant of black, greys & silvers $599 $499 $449
- 33. mature youthful expressiveunderstated high mid low high mid low high mid low high mid low Each color attitude quadrant can share the same material and finish value tiers
- 36. Mobile Office Car as Office InstitutionsSkilled Labor Business Travelers B2B / Services Primary Secondary Office
- 37. mainstream classic functional safe serious neutral simple fresh uncomplicated casual pure honest chic trendsetter hip modern elegant progressive energizing adventurous unexpected independent edgy mature youthful expressiveunderstated
- 38. mainstream classic functional safe serious neutral simple fresh uncomplicated casual pure honest chic trendsetter hip modern elegant progressive energizing adventurous unexpected independent edgy mature youthful expressiveunderstated Not a target consumer Too niche/too fashion oriented
- 39. Eco Resin Molded TextureMolded Resin Gloss Resin TrimSatin Texture Glow in the Dark low high Plated Plastic Trim Soft Touch PaintEco Resin w/ Paint UV Gloss Coating Painted Resin Textured Resin w/ Paint mid Metallic Resin Holographic FilmAluminum Trim In Mold Decoration Twin Shot / Overmold Special Effect Paint
- 40. mainstream classic functional safe serious neutral
- 41. satin and textured black charcoal metallics multiple tones of grey gloss piano black with silver contrast all grey – contrasting textures matt and polished silver Mainly blacks, grays and silvers
- 42. chic trendsetter hip modern progressiveelegant
- 43. Matt black with red accents Dark matt charcoal with silver and orange Saffron yellow accents Deep, rich red / black layering Dark navy Neutrals with color accents or overall dark colors
- 44. simple fresh casual pureuncomplicated honest
- 45. All black with yellow- green accents Grey tones plus single blue accent Pure white and silver pairing Gloss white with translucent accent Light greys with vibrant orange Classic black and white Black & white or neutrals with bright color accents
- 46. mainly blacks, grays, silvers – neutral and functional with mass appeal neutrals w/ color accents or overall dark colors– chic, modern and elegant black & white or neutrals with bright color accents – pure and fresh mature youthful expressiveunderstated bold use of color & mixed colors – it’s about making a bold statement Not a target consumer Too niche/too fashion orientated
- 47. neutrals w/ color accents or overall dark colors– chic, modern and elegantmature youthful expressiveunderstated bold use of color & mixed colors – it’s about making a bold statement Not a target consumer Too niche/too fashion orientated black & white or neutrals with bright color accents – pure and fresh mainly blacks, grays, silvers – neutral and functional with mass appeal
- 48. neutrals w/ color accents or overall dark colors– chic, modern and elegantmature youthful expressiveunderstated bold use of color & mixed colors – it’s about making a bold statement Not a target consumer Too niche/too fashion orientated black & white or neutrals with bright color accents – pure and fresh mainly blacks, grays, silvers – neutral and functional with mass appeal Primary target consumer Recommended direction for mass market appeal that is safe but lacks differentiation Secondary target consumer Possible direction for product refresh or 2nd SKU’s
- 49. Blue grey 2-tone with orange accents Black with bold orange stripe Grey with deep layered black / orange Black and deep blue with orange accents
- 50. Blue grey 2-tone with orange accents Black with bold orange stripe Grey with deep layered black / orange Black and deep blue with orange accents
- 52. Identify target users Map target user attitudes to color Map category material & finish value tiers Develop & refine targeted color options
Editor's Notes
- Good morning, I’m Chris Murray & I’m director of industrial design team for the Bresslergroup consultancy based in Philadelphia Today, I’d like to discuss how branding in product development has changed our deliverables & our work processes across industrial design & interaction design
- Much of our work is in consumer and IoT
- 40% is in medical devices and systems
- I’d like to take you through 3 project examples today of how our approach to product color selection can change at Bresslergroup. In the first 2 examples I’m going briefly illustrate how color options can be highly restrictive in the field of medical devices & moderately restrictive in the branded industrial tool segment. My third example in the consumer products space is more extensive & illustrates how we’ve developed a process at Bresslergroup that makes color selection less emotional & more rational for both ourselves as designers & for our clients.
- So I found it fascinating that the subject of color could stimulate so many different opinions & perspectives, especially the differences between industrial designers & user interface designers
- Opinions that varied from the very soft & humanistic
- To opinions that were grounded in logic, reason & commerce
- The opinions that I heard highlighted that without understanding that attitudinal & functional connection to end user, any attempt at a meaningful color selection process is be limited
- And as most of us are familiar with…. Product color selection without a process can be scary for us as designers & for our clients
- This first brief example covers some of the challenges when dealing with highly restrictive color selection in the field of medical devices
- Here color preferences tend to be defined by the medical device category norm (often whites, pale greys with limited accents of blue) or by the functional meaning that different colors can have for end users
- This is a small example from HE75, the American National Standard for human factors in the design of medical devices While this is a North American focused recommendations document, it illustrates how the meaning of color can vary by national culture & have potentially hazardous consequences if used incorrectly on medical devices
- It also goes onto make recommendations regarding the use of specific colors both on the physical device & its user interface. As you can see, there is a good part of the spectrum covered by these recommendations & this can make the color options available to a designer highly restrictive
- We design medical devices for BD, Becton & Dickinson & here are some samples from a user interface design that we developed for a BD mass spectrometry lab device. Here we were challenged to create a balance in color selection between functional meaning & communicating the BD brand with a distinctive humanistic warmth.
- While working on a visual brand language project for the complete family of BD medical lab equipment, we researched the landscape of colors used by their key competitors. It interesting to note that the landscape is dominated by blues & teals & that colors get progressively diluted & lightened from logo to website communication to the actual product. As a result we have this largely white, pale grey & blue or teal physical product color landscape communicating cleanliness & hygiene.
- The image shows one of the lab devices that we designed as part of that BD visual brand language project. In the design of the BD MAX for molecular diagnostics we were challenged to create a distinctive color palette that would not be in conflict with the category norm of whites, pale greys & metallics
- Rather that add color accents to the physical parts, we explored the ways to light the unit in a distinct but not overbearing manner through colored LEDs & tints of plexi glass
- The resulting blue interior lighting became a fundamental part of BD’s visual brand language for their lab equipment & part of their overall color palette. It’s a strong color signature that’s functional & only apparent when the product is operating correctly.
- In my second color selection example, I’d like to show how color can be moderately restricted in this industrial hand tool example
- Here color preferences tend to be defined by competitive brand ownership & what parts of the color spectrum are restricted
- In this project we were tasked to review the visual brand language for Thomas & Betts, a manufacturer of electrical crimping tools & associated accessories (on the upper right) As you can see, the competitive color landscape that other brands owned was quite restrictive. Our recommendation in this case was to refine the use of orange & own this unoccupied part of the spectrum.
- The final resulting product range fine tuned & amplified the orange while complimenting it with blue accents that both link to the Thomas & Betts logo & fulfill a functional purpose. Its important to note in this example how different materials & finishes are an essential complement to core color selection – something I’ll cover in my next example.
- So this is my third project example for today which I’m going to cover in more detail. This project involves consumer mobile accessories where unrestricted color selection can be potentially daunting for the designer & client We’re going to focus on the color, material & finish selection aspects of the project so I won’t be digging into the accompanying form, function & engineering development.
- Here color preferences tend to be defined by consumer attitudes which can obviously be quite varied. I’m also going to introduce the principle of considering color to be distinct from materials & finish selection. Materials & finishes tend to influence the perceived value of the product, the color is independent
- At Bresslergroup we realized that color selection can be challenging & worked closely with Reiko Morrison, a west Coast color consultant to develop a more predictable methodology for color selection Its not a formula & it doesn’t remove the designers skill but we believe that this tool guides us through color selection in a less emotional & more rational manner. In this tool, the map on the left shows how color options can be derived from different consumer attitudes & the chart on the right shows how different material & finish options can communicate different value perception
- This mouse from Microsoft is a great example of how color can be utilized to appeal to different consumer attitudes. On this map product value is the same – all of these options retail for the same price. The horizontal scale shows attitudes from understated on the left through to expressive on the right. The vertical scale display attitudes from youthful to mature. In the upper left mature & understated quadrant we have the all black & neutral solution. Lower left also has an understated color solution but through bright white it appeals to a more youthful attitude. The upper right quadrant uses a rich deep blue to create a mature & more expressive color appeal. In the lower right quadrant multiple bold color options appeal to youthful & expressive attitudes where the user is confident in making a bold color statement
- Its interesting that different presenters yesterday placed different & opposing perceived monetary values on different colors. We’ve it more useful to remove color from the value equation & utilize different materials & finishes to communicative different values. This iRobot Roomba range illustrates how different material & finishes can be utilized within the limits of a targeted color quadrant. Here metallic & gloss finishes help to emphasize different feature driven value tiers all in the mature & understated color quadrant of blacks, greys & silvers
- When you put the 2 elements of color & value tiers together in our positioning tool, the designer is able to plot color, material & finish options in a structured & rational manner. Each color quadrant can have very different color options but share the same material & finish tiers.
- For this project we were asked to develop a new visual brand language that included color & branding execution for the Ventev brand of mobile accessories These accessories consisted of smart phone or tablet charger, portable batteries & cables This was a relatively young brand that inconsistently mixed sourced products with some unique designed products. It was also largely black in color with a mix of materials, finishes & varying brand executions
- Which was not that different from the color landscape of their key competitors – mostly black in color with limited color & light accents
- For our color positioning tool to be effective, it was essential that we work with our client to define the target market & users. Here the new range of mobile accessories was to tightly target professionals whose working habits placed high demands on their mobile devices & mobile accessories The lead user target included business travelers & highly mobile professionals who could find themselves using their car, an airport or coffee shop as their place to do business
- Given that mobile professional focus, our next step was to create visual user persona for each of the color quadrants that helped our client understand the range of attitudes. This is an important part of the positioning tool. We take time to select persona images that reflect the quadrant attitudes & they often become a useful visual tag throughout the process of integrated form & color development. As you can see, the personas are not age related. For example an older user may have a very youthful & expressive attitude to color on the lower right. Likewise a young user may have a mature & understated attitude to color.
- Working with our client, we were able to dismiss the youthful & expressive color quadrant as not a prime target consumer for their brand & products. They wanted to communicate a more serious & business-like brand characteristic.
- In parallel we researched & presented a range of material & finish options that were appropriate to the category. We showed the client how different materials & finishes could communicate different value tiers. So the lower tier you have baseline material, resin & texture options. In the middle tiers options become more sophisticated with the introduction of contrasting trim pieces, painted effects, high gloss coatings & soft touch paint. In the upper tier materials & finishes are more integral & authentic. So trim becomes real aluminum, the metallic becomes impregnated in the resin & the tactile rubber feel is via twin shot or overmold. At this stage, our client was already getting very wedded to the tactile qualities of soft touch & how that would resonate on portable, hand carried products
- So the next step in the positioning tool is to combine those user persona images with relevant color trends In this mature & understated quadrant we introduced the color combinations of neutral blacks, greys & silvers
- & we add material & finish examples from other relevant products so that our client could start to understand how they can combine with color to create different attitudinal appeal & different value perceptions Here the quadrant is relatively restrained but retains mass market appeal
- In the upper right mature & expressive quadrant, colors become a little more adventurous & progressive The deep red & blue body colors or minimal pops of accent color are still mature but project a more confident attitude to color
- Again we select corresponding reference product examples to create a map of potential color & value possibilities in this mature & expressive quadrant
- The final color attitude of interest in this project was the youthful & understated quadrant Here black/white contrasts, whites, pale greys combine with minimal bright accents to create a fresh, pure & more casual perception
- Often referred to as the Apple-like quadrant, this youthful & understated attitude is all about small controlled pops of color – sometimes in hidden places
- So when we put this all together in a map of our defined quadrants of interest, our client can better understand how those end user personas can drive different color, material & finish options
- Of course this is only part of the overall design effort on this project Color, material & finish exploration is be carried out in parallel with form development & the same user personas are helping to drive direction there too In this slide we’ve jumped ahead to where one of the new products, a multi function travel charger is being used as the vehicle to execute different color & finish executions Mainly black, greys & silvers in the upper left mature/understated quadrant Neutral black, white & bright color accents in the lower left youthful/understated quadrant & more adventurous deeper colors in the upper right mature/expressive quadrant
- With our client, we decided that a more adventurous brand demanded a more distinct approach to color The upper right quadrant was selected as most preferred to target the right consumer, have mass market appeal & to make a brand statement
- This slide is an abbreviation of the color exploration work done in this preferred Mature / Expressive quadrant where we considered those deeper & richer colors Also the orange of the company logo was fine tuned & utilized in different aesthetic & functional ways
- Here we short cut to the final color preference which took more color refinement & user research verification than is shown on this slide Different tones of blue grey combine with limited orange accents The matt soft touch finish combines with contrasting areas of high gloss to create tactile interest
- The final range may not have included those deep & rich red & blue body colors that we considered along the way but it was a significant step away from the initial competitive landscape of black products For our client, the final form & the color solution had to be distinct & had to communicate those core professional & purposeful brand characteristics.
- So in an abreviated summary – we believe we have a color positioning tool that is helping to create a more rational & manageable color selection process for us as designers & for our clients Identify your user target Map those user attitudes to color Map material & finish options that communicate different value tiers Combine & refine to create targeted color options that can be validated with target users
- Thank you for your time today – I hope this has been useful I’m Chris Murray from the Bresslergroup in Philadelphia & this visual brand language case study can be found be found with others on our recently launched Product Branding website