Visual Marketing 103: Mood Design Curated Dark + Moody

Mood Design Curated Dark + Moody~ Something Wicked This Way Comes..

Ice Cream As Dark As My Soul — eatdesignlife.jpg

Psychology of Dark and Moody

Dark and moody imagery and illustrations convey a sense of mystery. There’s also a sort of empowerment, drama and sophistication that is associated with dark colors as well. Color is quite a powerful tool of communication and yet most of the psychological research in Color Theory is lacking. Surprisingly, what psychology fails to address the Marketing and Art sectors have quite a grasp on: the influence of dark colors.

The Influence of Black

"Black is real sensation, even if it is produced by entire absence of light. The sensation of black is distinctly different from the lack of all sensation." ~ Hermann von Helmholz, German scientist

How black is perceived also depends on the culture:

to the West it represents mourning, yet also power
in ancient Egypt it represented life and rebirth
in Feng Shui it’s associated with the water element and invokes power, mystery, and calm
in India, the color black is associated with good luck. This is exemplified in Hinduism where the common color used for religious ceremonies and rituals is often the color black.
when it comes to clothing, black was ranked as the number one favorite color for both genders combined
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The Influence of Black in Design and on the Brain

Just take a look at how successful the designs have been for both @black and @thehousethatblackbuilt. Or how popular dark mode is on phones and apps. This could all come down to the eye and the brain.

The human eye and brain together translate light into color. Light receptors within the eye transmit messages to the brain, which produces the familiar sensations of color. Yes, color is a sensation. That’s why it’s said to evoke emotion or influence. An object appears white when it reflects all wavelengths and black when it absorbs them all.

If seeing the color black means we see no wavelengths, why would the brain be drawn to the color black? Well, our brain is sort of making up the color black, or said better, our brain is filling in the information that there are no reflected wave lengths so the item must be black. Our brains are now interested and have to do a bit of work to figure out what we’re looking at. This leads to longer processing time to scan and evaluate the item or environment; giving us more of an interest in item or space.

Using black in design is simply using neuromarketing.

“Neuromarketing” loosely refers to the measurement of physiological and neural signals to gain insight into customers' motivations, preferences, and decisions, which can help inform creative advertising, product development, pricing, and other marketing areas. hbr.org

Imagery and illustration, especially when used in conjunction with each other, can easily convey emotions. The use of imagery and illustrations can lead viewers to feel things they would not have originally felt.