The Colour Blue

Following on from our feature regarding purple pantones we now investigate the colour blue. We’ve noticed that a lot of our customers are choosing to use cyan/blue in their uniform, is there a reason behind this popularity? The Coventry Building Society, Thomson, Barclays and Primark all have similar coloured blue uniforms.

Although comfort and durability are important when choosing a company uniform, the colour also makes a big impact to employees and customers alike. When designing a new uniform, colour is one of the first things you think about before moving on to style and fabrics.

There have been many studies that investigate whether different colours make you feel differently, for example can wearing certain colours make you feel better than others.

Blue

The colour blue is often described as a soothing and calming colour, but it has also been found to give the wearer a confidence boost. Tones of blue bring greater stimulation to the way we think and it really helps with concentration – perfect for a work environment.

From a design point of view, blue is easy to incorporate into a uniform, whether it’s navy suiting or a blue blouse or even shades or patterns of blue on accessories such as ties and scarves. The colour is also universal on skin tones, hair colours and genders, meaning it will suit all wearers.

Blue is also recognised as a ‘team colour’ as it signifies trust and belonging, which can build a team spirit amongst employees, but also builds confidence from the customer that they would be using the service of a trusted company.

The colour of your uniform is mainly down to branding – it must all match so customers can easily associate a uniform with a company. It must also been timeless as uniforms are usually worn for at least 2 years before any change is made. Blue is one of the primary colours so it will never go our of fashion.

“Colour is registered by the brain before either images or typography. Colour increases brand recognition by up to 80%.” Source: University of Loyla, Maryland study