Our brains are hard wired to respond to red. Evolutionary psychologists explain this by pointing out that in the time before writing, when our brains were developing, if you saw that color, something was happening that was worth your attention. You could be leaking blood, something might be trying to eat you with its mouth open, delicious meat was that color, your loincloth might be on fire, those brightly colored berries might kill you, etc. It became a signal for us to live longer, stronger and healthier lives. We relied on it to tell us what we needed to know and over time began to depend on it. Because your reptile brain learned these things, we still fixate on the color today.
After black and white, it is far and away the most requested ink color by our clients. It’s so common, it’s cliche. For fun, ask a graphic designer to make something redder and bigger, sit back and watch them regret being born.
Think about all the most popular brands in America for example. Most of them use it in their packaging, advertising and commercials. It’s an easy way for companies to flip the switch they know is in your brain to make you pay attention to their product as if your life depended on it, like it did when we lived in caves and ate anything that moved, which was probably a better nutrition choice that what seeing red will lead you to today.
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