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Purple and Radiant Orchid, Color of the Year [DYOB Color Series]

DesignYourOwnBlog.com Color Series - Purple + Radiant Orchid, the color of the year 2014 and how to use it in your blog's design

Purple

Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2014 is Radiant Orchid so I thought it would be appropriate to cover Orchid and Purple before we got too far into the year!

Ahhhh Purple. The color of creatives, mystics, royals and little girls.

Purple elicits mystery, spirituality and sophistication. Eccentric and creative types tend to favor this blend of warm red and cool blue.

Hi! This DYOB series is exploring each color of the rainbow. Each post will cover how individual colors are perceived by others as well as how they work with other colors.

Be sure to check out the links to the rest of the color series here.

Associations with Purple

Purple is a mystical color that conveys creativity, imagination, spirituality and magic because they say that it is rarely found in nature. I don’t know how true that is though: What about orchids, irises and post-sunset skies?? But I digress…

Purple is also the color of nobility as it symbolizes wealth, extravagance, luxury and ambition. It’s associated with wisdom and independence.

It’s a feminine color preferred by adolescent girls, but purple can also be used as a color of mourning as it can be sad and gloomy.

Color of the Year

Pantone's Color of the Year 2014 - Radiant Orchid

Pantone’s Color of the Year 2014 – Radiant Orchid

According to their website, Pantone is the “world-renowned authority on color and provider of color systems… The PANTONE© name is known worldwide as the standard language for color communication from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer.”

This is how Pantone describes Radiant Orchid: “An enchanting harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones, Radiant Orchid inspires confidence and emanates great joy, love and health. It is a captivating purple, one that draws you in with its beguiling charm.”

The reason Radiant Orchid was chosen as this year’s color is because, as mentioned previously, it encourages creativity and originality, traits that are more and more becoming valued in today’s hand made, DIY society.

The Affect of Purple on Age and Gender

Purple is the second favorite color of women as 23% of women favor it. But as you would expect, only 22% of men find it to be their least favorite color.

Among children however, it’s not just females that prefer the vibrancy of purple: Almost 75% of pre-adolescent kids prefer the color to all other colors. Now that I know that, I won’t be so amused when my 2 year old son keeps asking for the purple crayon. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Seriously, he does!

Tints + Shades of Purple and What They Usually Mean

Lighter purples like lilac or lavender are soft, flirty and feminine. They bring about romantic, sentimental and nostalgic feelings. They also give a feeling of peace, trust and serenity.

mayflourconfections.com - lilac is soft and feminine

mayflourconfections.com – lilac is soft and feminine

Goop.com - the light purples in Gwyneth Paltrow's blog are comforting + peaceful

Goop.com – the light purples in Gwyneth Paltrow’s blog are comforting + peaceful

Bright purples are ideal for promoting children’s products.

Babies R Us uses bright purple to emphasize it's children's products

Babies R Us uses bright purple to emphasize it’s children’s products

Dark purples create a sense of power and mystery. Sometimes they even cause frustration. They are heavier and moody and can feel uneasy. This is why you’ll see it used in a lot of Halloween decorating.

Reddish purples are warmer and have more energy than bluer purples, which are calming.

Pairing Purple with Other Colors

Because purple is bold and inspiring, it can invogorate most color palettes. Here’s how it combines with other colors:

Purple with blue evokes a spiritual and/or new-agey feeling…

brigittemars.com - Purple and blues are mystical or spiritual

brigittemars.com – Purple and blues are mystical or spiritual

…this combination feels serene, as does purple with light greens.

myinnocentia.com - purple and lighter greens are serene

myinnocentia.com – purple and lighter greens are serene

Olives and hunter greens compliment purple and give it a more earthy feel.

Saffronavenue.com mood board shows that purples with olive greens are earthy

Saffronavenue.com mood board shows that purples with olive greens are earthy

Purple and bright yellow or orange create a combo that emits energy and flair, even luxury. But light yellows and light to medium purples can be very pretty.

The orange in womantowomangyn.com brings energy to the serene purple and blue palette

The orange in womantowomangyn.com brings energy to the serene purple and blue palette

Pair different shades of purple with white or black for contrast. Purple with white is clean and modern…

lovelyheroku.com shows that purple and white can be clean and crisp

lovelyheroku.com shows that purple and white can be clean and crisp

…while purple with black is moody or mysterious.

Dark purple and black in Cavera.ca appears dark and mysterious

Dark purple and black in Cavera.ca appears dark and mysterious

Combined with red, purple becomes seductive, and combined with pink, it becomes girly and playful.

Kylaisinspired.com shows that purple and red can be seductive yet girly

Kylaisinspired.com shows that purple and red can be seductive yet girly

sewbon.com's soft purple and pink scheme is girly and sweet

sewbon.com’s soft purple and pink scheme is girly and sweet

Purple can also be used to wake up neutral palettes with beige and gray.

Mood board by imbreannarose.com shows how purple can liven up a neutral palette

Mood board by imbreannarose.com shows how purple can liven up a neutral palette

Should You Use Purple in Your Blog?

I wouldn’t normally recommend purple for a business color scheme, unless it’s a creative business or you’re trying to draw a young or modern audience.

That said, light purple is a great choice for a feminine design! It’s an ideal color to use when you’re wanting to attract female customers because it’s feminine, but not as blatantly girly as pink! Try it out with some of the combinations above depending on the mood and audience you’re going for.

If you’re looking to redesign this year, stay trendy with the beautiful Radiant Orchid and try out one of these suggested color combos:

Pantone's color picks for spring 2014

Pantone’s color picks for spring 2014 show what colors to combine with purple.

Your Turn

So what do you think? Would you use a purple hue in your own blog design? If you’re currently using it now, please leave a link in your comment so we can go check it out!

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11 Comments

  • nikki says:

    I rock the lavender and green on my blog! http://ohsonikki.com/

  • Love these color series. Purple is a great color. I started using a darker and brighter purple recently with my redesign. Matched it with a lighter tone for higlighting, used a white background, dark grey/black font, and to add a punch of color/vibrancy I paired it with an almost mint green when you hover over buttons or links. You can see what I mean here http://www.arianabrowning.com

    Power and royalty I was looking for, but because of the books I write, I thought it would pair great with the different genres I incorporate. Thanks for sharing this great information!

    • Marianne says:

      Oh Ariana, it’s PERFECT for your blog! You made a great choice, it really goes well with your book covers. Thanks so much for sharing your site with us!

      • Thank you so much, Marianne! From you I take that as a huge compliment. It was your free eBook that helped me finally decide on what colors to go with. ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Angela says:

    Thank you so much for featuring one of my brand boards, great post!!

    • Marianne says:

      Hi Angela, i will probably feature more of your boards in the future because i am so in love with them! You have serious talent, girl!

  • Wow, this really opens my eyes to how important color is when it comes to designing your blog. I love purple, but I can see that it’s not the best choice for my blog!

    • Marianne says:

      Hi Janelle, it’s pretty interesting to learn the psychology behind colors isn’t it? And so fascinating that depending on how you use them can completely change its meaning too! Glad to know this helped you understand better what to use for your blog ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for your comment!

  • Citra says:

    Hi Marianne,
    Thank you so much for featuring my blog !
    You have a lovely blog ๐Ÿ™‚

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