Some Colors and Meanings

How can we choose a color for a company's identity among so many colors available? Here is a short list of colors and their associated meanings:
Red: This is the hottest of the colors. It is energetic, full of life, vibrant and active. It is also one of the most visible colors. It is associated with passion, life, masculinity, energy, danger, anger, blood, fire and power.
Blue: This is a cold color. Dark blue has been associated with intelligence, stability, trust, depth and intellect. It is also the most calming and relaxing of the colors.
Green: This is also a cold color. It symbolizes health, nature, freshness, harmony and balance. It has been associated with money, spring and stability.
Orange: This is a warm color and very stimulating. It is associated with joy, vitality, creativity and energy. It is used to symbolize construction and is a great action trigger. It has been said to increases the craving for food.
Purple: This color can be cold or warm, depending on the amount of blue or red used in the mix. It is symbol of spirituality, luxury, royalty and power. In some cultures is also associated with disease.
Yellow: This is a warm color associated with energy, light, happiness, energy, creativity and the sun.
Black: This can be warm or cold, depending on the colors with which it is combined. It symbolizes elegancy, sophistication and mystery. In some cultures it is also a symbol of death.
White: White can also be warm or cold, depending on the colors with which it is combined. It symbolizes innocence, purity and light. In some cultures this color is associated with mourning.
With colors, however, there are not strict rules. Sometimes blue can make a BIG difference when red is abundant. Take for example the case of the two most popular soft drinks on the soda market. And one very popular brand of chocolate uses purple, a color far, far away from the traditional colors associated with chocolate.

My Wife's Favorite Color

When deciding what color will best represent your business in a logo, brochure, or website there are more issues than just personal preferences. A color can be warm, cold, serious, professional, humorous, energizing, vibrant, powerful, solemn, easy, refreshing, active or another number of adjectives. Your audience, meaning the people who will buy your products or services, can be attracted, or repelled, by the color your business wears.
Two years ago I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by a well-known international graphic designer about current trends in the field. The lecturer's first words made us all smile. He told us, with a very serious face: "The most frequently used color in graphic design nowadays is my wife's favorite color." Laughter spread through the room, and finally the lecturer smiled, convincing us that we didn't have to meet someone's wife to be up-to-date on our profession.
The fact of the matter is that he was talking about an experience that all designers have to face one day, when they are playing their best professional role at the first meeting with the client, or during a well planned presentation. Suddenly, the client turns to us and says: "I want it green, and don't ask me why, but that's my wife's favorite color..."