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Brown in Business

In using brown in business applications you need to understand the traits, qualities and mood of the color along with the psychological meaning. The messages the color sends to your customer base can have a major impact on your business success.

Psychologically, brown is associated with strength and solidarity, comfort and earthiness, maturity and reliability.

Physiologically, brown gives people either reassurance and comfort or a feeling of dirtiness and suffocation.

Brown relates to the acquisition of material possessions which implies security and safety, comfort and homeliness.

Brown suggests endurance, duty and stability. It relates to the outdoors, the practical and down-to-earth and the family unit.

Many men love brown due to its strength, security and practicality.

Sometimes brown is regarded as a neutral color, although the lighter versions of it such as beige and taupe tend to work better as background neutrals than the deeper shades of brown.

Be aware that many, particularly women, find brown to be boring and too earthy, even dirty.

For more on the psychology of the color brown...

Keywords for Brown

Positive Color Meanings of Brown in Business:

practical, earthy and down-to-earth
comfort, reassurance, strength, security, simplicity
reliable, dependable, credible and durable
friendly and approachable
stability, humility
homely, comfortable, warm
wholesome, natural and organic

Negative Color Meanings in Business:

lack of humor, too serious
lack of sophistication
heavy and dull, despairing
staid, passive
dirty

Using Brown in Business

Brown is appealing to most men due to its strength, reliability, durability and practicality (it hides the dirt). It is not as well accepted by women unless they are involved in outdoor activities and farming.

With its connection to the outdoors and down-to-earth activities, brown is suitable for businesses promoting outdoor products and services. Earth moving, landscaping and farming businesses are inspired by the use of brown, along with anyone marketing wholesome and organic products.

Durability and credibility as well as homely and comfortable are positive messages given by the use of brown.

Too much brown can be heavy, dull and boring. It can appear too staid, serious, passive and unsophisticated.

Light brown suggests neatness, openness, approachability and friendliness.

Medium brown relates well to nature, wholesome food and agricultural products when you relate it to color meanings in business.

Dark brown relates well to sophisticated and professional men's products when combined with gold or cream.

For more on using color in your business

For more on using these colors in your business: red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, indigo, purple, magenta, pink, gold, silver, black, white, or gray.