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Many people
are opting for warm tan earthtones or muted colors -- blue-grays,
green-grays, or warm pastel colors. Because we are beseiged with so
much advertising everywhere we go, the home has become a place of
refuge from all those garish bright colors in the world screaming
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Blue represents peace,
tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence,
conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water,
cold, technology, and depression.
Blue can "slow the pulse
rate, lower body temperature, and reduce appetite." Blue is considered
a business color because it reflects reliability.
In China, blue is associated
with immortality.
In Colombia, blue is associated with soap.
For Hindus blue is the color of Krishna.
For the Jews, blue symbolizes holiness.
In the Middle East blue is a protective color.
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Black is the absence
of light and therefore, of color.
It represents power,
sexuality, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery,
fear, evil, anonymity, unhappiness, depth, style, evil, sadness,
remorse, anger, underground, good technical color, mourning and
death.
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Green, one of most-often
cited favorite colors.
It represents nature,
environment, health, good luck, renewal, youth, vigor, spring, generosity,
fertility, jealousy, inexperience, envy, misfortune.
"Its cool quality soothes,
calms, and has great healing powers." It is often worn in operating
rooms by surgeons.
In China, green hats
mean a man's wife is cheating on him; it is not a good color for
packaging.
In France studies have indicated green is not a good color choice
for packaging either.
In India green is the color of Islam. In Ireland green has religious
significance (Catholic).
In some tropical countries green is associated with danger.
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Red is the color that
we pay the most attention to. It is the warmest and most energic
color in the spectrum.
We associate red with
love, valentines, danger, desire, speed, strength, violence, anger,
emergency exit signs, stop signs and blood. Red can evoke a fight-or-flight
response, raise blood pressure and make the heart beat faster. Red
would not be the color of choice for psychiatric wards, prisons
or a hospital.
In China red symbolizes
celebration and luck, used in many cultural ceremonies that range
from funerals to weddings.
In India red is the color of purity (used in wedding outfits).
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Orange is a combination
of yellow and red. Orange is considered a warm color like red, but
to a lesser extent; orange expresses energy. It has luminous qualities
and has been used for attention-getting purposes, such as on caution
signs.
Orange brings up memories
of fall leaves, pumpkins and Halloween. It symbolizes balance, warmth,
enthusiasm, vibrance, flamboyancy, and is demanding of attention.
In Ireland orange has religious significance (Protestant).
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Purple represents royalty,
spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, wisdom,
enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, mourning.
Purple is considered
an exotic color. Purple dye was made from the mucous gland of a
snail. It required thousands of snails to yield 1 gram of dye causing
it to be a color only nobles could afford. Today purple is a trendy
color targeting creative types.
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White is what we see
when all colors come together in perfect balance.
It represents reverence,
purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence,
youth, birth, winter, snow, good, sterility, and marriage. We use
white in figures of speech like "pure as the driven snow" or "a
white lie." We associate white with the good guy in old western
movies. In Japan, white carnations signify death. In eastern cultures
white symbolizes coldness and sterility.
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Yellow represents joy,
happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer,
gold, philosophy, dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal, jealousy, covetousness,
deceit, illness, hazard, spirtuality and inspiration.
The yellow rose is a
symbol of friendship, less passionate or threatening than red ones.
In Asia yellow is sacred, and imperial.
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