The answer to this question has several nuances, although if what we are referring to is whether a colour is capable of convincing anyone to do something, be clear that it is not. The result of a campaign or – at a lower point – making a good poster depends on many other factors. If not, many more psychologists would be hired in the marketing departments.
But do not stay with the resounding “no”, it is true that some colours encourage action more than others. For example, a poster advertising sale with a red or yellow background unconsciously makes us think that the discounts are much better. Or the colour orange transmits energy and motivates us, which is why so many gyms use them on their flyers.
Do not look for magic colours because you will not find them but take advantage of what you have learned to get the most out of them. From there, everything is a matter of luck. Yes of course, font hinting matters a lot.
Fails due to a bad choice of colours
We come to the funniest part! If before we told you that by choosing good colours you were not going to see immediate and wonderful with Sans Serif fonts, we have to inform you that a bad choice can mean a championship fail.
Take, for example, this poster that McDonald’s made to promote its cafeteria. It’s an incredibly detailed photo of a coffee bean on a tan background that makes it look like something else. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Also, look at the following poster. We talked about red is perfect to attract attention but, although the idea of Monopoly is good, perhaps it would suit us better with Cluedo. Perhaps it is a nod to how we end up throwing things at each other’s heads whenever we play.
And we end with a fail that, although done on purpose, is a great example of a bad combination of colours and why we warn you to abuse tide yellow. Pay attention to the new logo of La Vida Moderna, which the team has made only to annoy.
Better websites and tools
You don’t need to know how to use design tools like Photoshop to Illustrator in order to make visual and attractive infographics. Being such a useful form of communication, you can find a lot of free tools online. We tell you which are four of our favourites:
- Timeline: This tool is perfect for storytelling. It allows you to create interactive timelines to which you can add text and images.
- Piktochart: Possibly one of the best free tools for creating infographics. It has a long list of templates and resources such as icons, various fonts, etc. Also, you can export it in various formats and sizes for printing.
- Infogram: It is a bit more difficult to use than the previous two but it is very useful on a professional level to create attractive reports. The most useful thing about this tool is that you can include a data table to represent it directly.
- Visualize me: A very useful and fun tool that allows you to create a highly visual infographic of your resume.