Design and branding: the ethics of colour

By Penny Craswell

What’s the value of a colour? In the world of branding, colour can mean a lot, so much so that companies are able to use it to deceive us. While researching an encyclopedia entry on Deception in Advertising (which I am co-writing with my partner Chris Falzon for the Sage Encyclopedia of Advertising and Society), we found many of examples of unethical advertising, which led me to question the use of colour in branding, packaging and logos. I found that the simple use of a colour was enough to convey a message, and that this message can be used to deceive us.

From We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion. Via Brainpicking.com
From We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion. Via Brainpicking.com

The two main examples of this are: greenwash and gendered advertising. BP is famous for its greenwashing, so much so that it was awarded Greenpeace’s Emerald Paintbrush award for greenwashing in 2008. In 2000, BP changed its name from British Petroleum to beyond petroleum, using the colour green in combination with a flower-shaped logo to create the impression it is environmentally aware, despite its terrible track record in environmental management (including oil spills, toxic waste and more, details here). As much as the name change, the flower and other aspects of the rebranding were important, the simple use of the colour green says so much about this brand. It’s not the only brand to use green in this way. For graphic designers who want to be ethical, check out Green Graphic Design by Brian Dougherty. Read more