Using Color for Emphasis

Communicating meaning through color is a fast way to send a message. And using a variety of colors is a way of signaling the brain to shift focus, providing a visual representation of attention switching from one task to the next.

Color has the power of symbolism, and it can be used to send a quick, simple signal to your brain in less time than written communication. Color also has an emotional power that pulls us in, catching and holding our interest more effectively than basic black and white.

Maximize the power of color by organizing your tasks according to your own secret code. If you’ve got a million things to do and the only question is which fires need to be put out stat, try sorting by priority—red for most urgent, yellow for maybe-tomorrow and blue for it-can-wait.

Activity

For the rest of the day, keep your eye out for places where information is presented in color. On the road, look for it in signs and traffic signals. At school, check out the classroom, textbooks and memos home. At a restaurant, notice it in menu layout. Where did you see the best use of color? Could you take what you saw and use it in your own life?

Did this activity help you experience color in a new way? Share your story on Facebook and tell us how it changed your day.

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