What red means in branding

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Surveys in Europe and the United States link red with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love and joy. As the colour of blood it has long stood for sacrifice, danger and courage. In China, India and many other Asian countries it stands for happiness and good fortune.

Four palettes from red

Worked out in OKLCH from the swatch above. Open one to get the light and dark themes, the contrast check and the code.

• Analogous
• Complementary
• Triadic
• Split

History

• Red ochre was one of the first pigments used in prehistoric art.
• Roman generals had their bodies coloured red to celebrate victories.
• Renaissance nobility wore reds dyed with kermes and cochineal. The first synthetic red dyes arrived in the 19th century.

Brands known for red

• Ferrari

  The works team has always raced in red, following rosso corsa, Italy's motor racing colour.

• Christian Louboutin

  The red sole is protected as a trademark in several countries.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Red
• Wikipedia: Rosso corsa
• Wikipedia: Christian Louboutin

The swatch is my own pick of red, not an official value.

Other colours

• Orangeamusement, warmth, energy, activity, extroversion
• Yellowamusement, gentleness, humour, happiness, spontaneity
• Greennature, life, health, youth, hope
• Blueharmony, confidence, knowledge, intelligence, calmness
• Purplerarity, royalty, luxury, ambition, mystery
• Pinksweetness, innocence, femininity
• Brownearth, nature, reliability
• Blackelegance, authority, secrets, force
• Whiteperfection, honesty, cleanliness, the new, neutrality