This has started to become less the case in recent years, but many people will still use pink and purple for girls’ rooms and parties.
The Psychology of Colour
There is more to colour than just picking a random combination of what looks good. Colours affect our emotions and behaviours, they set the tone and attract people’s attention towards your brand and web design. Using the right colour or combination of colours in your brand will make a big difference.
Before we get on to the details of Colour Psychology I’ll quickly cover some of the basics of colour first.
Primary Colours
There are three primary colours. Yellow, Blue and Red. These “hues” can be mixed to make all other colours. I’ll cover hues in more detail below.
Secondary Colours
Mixing two primary hues together, will create a secondary colour. There are three secondary colours. These hues are green, orange and violet (purple). Green is created from mixing blue and yellow, orange from mixing yellow and red and violet from red and blue.
Tertiary Colours
Tertiary colours are the third set of hues, sometimes also referred to as intermediate colours. These hues are created by mixing the adjacent primary and secondary hues. The six tertiary colours are red-violet, red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green and blue-violet.
Hue
A hue is the purest and brightest form of a colour, which means they haven’t been mixed with any white, grey or black. The twelve outer colours you see around the above colour wheel are the hues.
Tint
Next down from the hue in the colour wheel (the 2nd ring of colour) is the tint. A tint is the hue mixed with white. A tint can range from mixing a touch of white so it is slightly lighter than the hue or mixing in a lot of white so the tint becomes very faint.
Tone
Underneath the tint is the tone. A tone is the hue at the outer of the wheel mixed with any amount of pure grey.
Shade
The inner circle of colours in the colour wheel is the shade of each hue. A tone is the hue mixed with black. Just like the tint, a tone can range from mixing a touch of black so it is slightly darker than the hue or mixing in a lot of black so that it becomes very dark.
Applying Colour Psychology
The psychology of colour, which is the science of how humans perceive various shades of colour, can make or break a brand. Different colours can evoke different emotions depending on the culture, for example in Western cultures red usually means danger, anger and passion but in Eastern cultures it symbolises joy and luck.
With that said, let’s dive into the common emotions driven by colour.
Red
The colour red is often associated with strong and passionate emotions: Love, Comfort, Warmth, Active, Exciting, Bold, Passionate, Youthful, Energy, Physical, Ambition, Pioneering and Powerful.
Brands you’ll recognise using Red: Coca-Cola, Nintendo, Pinterest, Red Bull and Virgin.
Pink
Pink is often associated with softer and more subtle emotions: Love, Romance, Calm, Respect, Warmth, Feminine, Intuitive, Care, Assertive, Nurture and Sensitive.
Brands using Pink: Barbie, Cosmopolitan, BBC Three and Victoria’s Secret.
Purple
Purple is often seen as evoking spiritual emotions: Creativity, Unconventional, Original, Fantasy, Wealth, Modesty, Distinguished, Compassion, Deep and Respectable.
Brand using Purple: Cadburys, Hallmark, Milka, Zoopla and Yahoo.
Blue
Blue causes calm and serene emotions: Open, Rescue, Control, Content, Perspective, Spirit, Determination, Goals, Modern, Purpose and Ambition.
Brands using Blue: Intel, Blu-Ray, Skype, Twitter, WordPress and Microsoft’s Edge Browser.
Blue (Dark)
Dark blue is often seen as having an authoritative base of emotions: Sincere, Loyalty, Authority, Communication, Peace, Success, Calm, Masculine, Integrity, Trust and Order.
Brands using Dark Blue: Facebook, National Lotto, Reebok, GAP, Tumblr and British Gas.
Yellow
Yellow often evokes cheerful and happy emotions: Warmth, Extrovert, Happy, Freedom, Luck, Delight, Cheerful, Joy, Blessed, Pleased and Alive.
Brands using Yellow: Ikea, McDonalds, Best Buy, Ferrari, Caterpillar, Post-its and Yellow Pages.
Orange
Orange, much like yellow evokes optimistic and spontaneous emotions: Instinct, Warmth, Optimism, Extrovert, Social, Spontaneity, Impulse, Motivation, Excited and Energetic.
Brands using Orange: Fanta, Nikelodeon, Puffin, MasterCard, Amazon, Harley Davidson, Sony Walkman and 2nd Floor.
Green
Green holds a number of emotions from soothing to envy: Balance, Positivity, Nature, Safety, Stable, Clarity, Good Judgement, Equilibrium, Restore and Growth.
Brands using Green: BP, Holiday Inn, Tic Tac, Starbucks, The Body Shop and Spotify.
Black
Black is a dominant colour and often evokes feelings around death and mourning, however it can also denote elegance: Power, Elegance, Mystery, Formality, Classy, Elite, Pristine and Opulent.
Brands using Black: Guinness, Hotel Chocolat, Chanel, Dior, Prada and Armani.
White
White is often associated with purity and emotions of innocence: Pure, Clean, Modern, Innocence, Cool, Virginity, Goodness, Light, Positive, Simple, Hygienic and Efficient.
Brands using White: Apple.
How you can mix pink and purple?
If you look on a color wheel, you will see that pink and purple are direct neighbors. In fact, it can be said that pink and purple are variations of one another, as either can be turned into the other.
They are both known as secondary colors on the color wheel, and they can be created in a few ways. Pink is created by mixing red and white, whereas purple is made from mixing red and blue.
That being said, purple can also be made by mixing blue with pink. Because these colors are so similar, you may be wondering how you can mix and use them together.
You will find that many shades of pink and purple go well with one another, but you should make sure you pick the right shades for your needs.
This can depend heavily on the kinds of colors you need for whatever you’re creating. Because these colors are so similar, they can work well as a gradient.
That means that the pink will gradually morph into purple and vice versa. You can also get some really pretty combinations with many shades of pink and purple.
You can mix these colors no matter what you may be using. In physical media, you have mediums like paint and pastels that make mixing the colors so much easier.
You can also mix these colors with paint you may be using for a room or some decor. If you are creating digital art, then that makes it even easier to try out different combinations.
The short answer is that you can mix pink and purple in many different mediums and combinations. This is true whether they are being mixed or simply used next to one another.
In the next few steps, we will be covering not only how you can mix them but whether it is a good combination in the first place.
Are pink and purple a good combination to mix together?
Earlier, we mentioned that pink and purple are two very similar colors. If you start adding colors like white, red or blue you can very quickly see your pink turn into a purple and vice versa.
This can make it tricky to mix these colors, as one can simply swallow up the other. With many other color combinations, there are lots of results you can get from mixing colors.
Some color combinations can give you multiple variations depending on the shades you use. With pink and purple, you will always get a variation of one of these colors.
It is a way to make the colors more dynamic and adjustable to your tastes, but you won’t get browns or any other colors from pink and purple.
Throughout this guide, we will be using what are known as hex color codes. Every shade of every color has a code that you can enter into an image search to see.
Some websites even let you combine these codes to see what they create. If you search these hex codes as we provide them, you will find it much easier to follow!
For now, let’s do a very simple combo. For pink, we will use #ff2ed2 and for purple we will use #7800f0. If you look these up, you will see that they are fairly similar in brightness.
They result in a beautiful and rich purple color of #bc17e1. We will go over some more nuanced combinations later, but this already shows us that they will give us a result of either pink and purple.
To summarize though, pink and purple are definitely a great combination if used wisely. If paired well, these colors can really enhance one another, but some thought does need to be put into it.
Next, let’s go over some of the results that you can potentially anticipate when mixing pink and purple.
What results you can expect?
We have very briefly touched on some of the results you can expect from mixing pink and purple together. While you will get a variation of pink and purple, you can still create a wide range.
Experimenting is a big part of seeing what you can get, but we will look at some of the ways you can anticipate the result.
To do this, we will be showing you three combinations: dark colors, light colors and a mix of both.
For dark colors, we will use #e600b4 for pink and #5400a8 for purple. This gives us #9d00ae as a result. If you look up that hex code, you will see a rich purple with a reddish tone to it.
Next, let’s try #ff9eea for a light pink and #c48dfc for a really light purple. This gives us a stunningly delicate light purple with #e296f3.
These two combinations have shown us something to remember. If you mix dark colors, the colors will be dark and if you mix light then that will have the opposite effect.
But what if you make one color dark and one light? For this combination, we will use the same dark pink from earlier, #e600b4.
We will then use an even lighter purple with #ebd6ff. This gives us the color of #e96bda, which is a nice dark pink.
As you can see, the darker color overpowered the lighter one. If we had made purple the darker color, then you probably would have seen the end result be a purple shade.
If you use hot pink, then there will probably be a red tone to the color that makes it a bit warmer. The results can vary, but you can logically predict what the color may be to a point.
Just keep these examples in mind and remember how we reached each result as you start to mix your own colors.
Remember, if you don’t get the color you wanted right away, you can change it with some subtle tweaks. This is something we will cover in much greater detail for the final step of this guide.
For now, we will be looking at some of the best ways that you can use pink and purple along with some of the ways you can use the mixes you get from them.
Is There A Specific Wavelength Where One Becomes The Others Or Is It Dependent On The Observer?
- Both pink and purple are not a single wavelength but a combination of wavelengths, which is why they do not occur in a rainbow.
- The pink wavelength is a combination of red and violet light created by our brains, so it doesn’t have a wavelength, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a pink wavelength.
- Every color we see is not a combination of wavelengths; it consists of combinations of many wavelengths, so pink also requires many wavelengths.
- For example, you can make pink light with parts of white and red light. Similarly, purple light cannot be made from one wavelength; it would also require a red, blue, or violet wavelength.
- Not every color in the scientific world is a mixture of wavelengths. There are an unlimited number of combinations of wavelengths that will be the same “color” to your eye.
- This is because the human eye’s sensor for seeing each color only contains three specific wavelengths. (Red, Green, and Blue) with visual sensitivity focused on a single wavelength, i.e., color is encoded by the eye as only three numbers, removing a massive amount of “data.”
- Other color-seeing animals, such as the mantis and shrimp, have sets of wavelengths around which their color sensors are centered.
- Pink and purple are not saturated. These colors cannot be seen using monochromatic light. The light producing these two colors must have a spectrum that divides the energy between multiple frequencies of light.
- Therefore, the light of either of the two colors cannot be produced by one wavelength.
I have heard many times that some people cannot identify between purple and pink, which makes it difficult to choose a color. With the help of the column below, you will find it easy to identify pink and purple, and your difficulty will become much easier.
| Characteristics | Pink | Purple |
| Combination | Pink is made by mixing red and white. In a pink color, if the amounts of red and white are not equal, and if the amount of white is greater, then the color will be light pink. If the amount of red is increased, a deep pink color will appear. | Red and blue colors are mixed to make purple. How purple is formed will depend on the ratio of red to blue. If red and blue colors are mixed with white and yellow, light purple will be produced. And when red and blue colors are mixed with suitable black colors, a dark purple shade will be obtained. |
| Shades | Pink has a spectrum of colors, from light to dark. The following list is some color shades. Rose, blush, coral, salmon, strawberry, peach, hot pink, rosewood, etc. |
There are many shades of purple; the following list of purple colors will help you find the perfect shade for your work. Mauve, violet, magenta, lilac, lavender, mulberry, orchid, etc. |
| Energy | Pink light represents the energy of love and has a very high vibration. It brings a sense of lightness, calmness, and ease. Pink light is soft energy and provides gentle yet strong healing. | Many people are not aware that each color has its own energy frequency. The energy of purple indicates innovation, ethics, integrity, and sensitivity. The energy of purple usually has a calming effect |
| Wavelength | There are no wavelengths in pink. | Purple does not have one wavelength. |
| Direction | Pink is known as a positive color. Some of the characteristics associated with pink include: this color is full of calmness, hope, passion, warmth, and love. | Purple is included in the positive color category. Purple is a loving, spiritual, healing power, and powerful color. |
Comparison Table
Codes Of Pink And Purple
Purple pink has the hex code #EDABEF. The equivalent RGB values are (237, 171, 239), which means it is composed of 37% red, 26% green, and 37% blue.
C:1 M:28 Y:0 K:6 is the CMYK color codes used in printers. In the HSV/HSB scale, Purple Pink has a hue of 298°, 28% saturation, and a brightness value of 94%.
Let’s watch this video.
Conclusion
- The following are some important points at the end of this article:
Color is the most important part of this world. This world is known for its colors. - Colors not only describe our culture, but at the same time, they also show our feelings, our emotions, and our happiness and sadness.
- While painting, the choice of colors should be made thoughtfully because the color is our identity.
- Pink and purple are also similar colors, but you cannot use purple instead of pink to do any work. Each color has its own identity and its own story.
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