How to Use Color Theory in Poster Design?

By Mitali Purkait Ghosh on June 25, 2025

Did you know that color theory has an integral part to play in poster design?

Color psychology is a well-researched discipline that has been proven to impact our emotions, influence our perceptions, and regulate our moods!

This intricate relationship between colors and emotions is the element that marketing agencies utilize to capture users’ attention and drive action. And that’s exactly why these professional agencies focus so much on implementing the right color combination in their poster designs to ensure their marketing campaigns succeed.

In this blog, we will take a tour of color theory and poster design, and explore how color psychology can be channelled to craft impactful poster designs.

Understanding the Color Wheel

Let’s start with the basics to understand how color psychology works in design.

By definition, a color wheel is a visual representation of colors, arranged according to their wavelengths. It enables us to understand the connection between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors respectively.

• Primary Colors: There are three primary colors in the wheel- Red, Blue, and Yellow. These three form the base of the wheel, as all the other colors are a combination of these three!
• Secondary Colors: Secondary colors emerge through a mixture of equal amounts of any two primary colors. The three secondary colors that encircle the primary ones in the wheel are Orange, Purple, and Green.
• Tertiary Colors: Tertiary colors are made by mixing two primary colors but in unequal amounts. For instance, colors like Red-orange, or Blue-green, or Yellow-orange, etc., are tertiary colors.

Other than these three categories, there are tints, shades, and tones of hues in the color wheel. These colors emerge by mixing white, black, or grey colors with one of the above ‘pure’ colors.

Colour Psychology- How We Respond to Different Hues

Colors have been shown to trigger human emotions and responses. Although a lot of those responses might be because of the personal experiences of the individuals, here are some common, universally accepted emotions that are triggered by different colors—

• Red: Stands for energy, passion, and power.
• Blue: Stands for tranquility, loyalty, and trust.
• Yellow: Stands for warmth, joy, and positivity.
• Orange: Stands for success, confidence, and fun.
• Purple: Stands for wealth, ambition, and magic.
• Green: Stands for healing, harmony, and growth.
• Brown: Stands for comfort, reliability, and humility.
• Black: Stands for strength, mystery, and drama.
• White: Stands for peace, simplicity, and purity.
• Pink: Stands for compassion, femininity, and romance.

So, whenever professional graphic designers work on marketing campaigns, they make use of the psychology of colors in poster design for maximum impact and engagement! A successful marketing campaign, therefore, implies that the designers have worked well with the perfect color combinations that have intrigued the users optimally. To explore more, read our latest blog on the latest graphic designing trends for your online business.

How to Use Color Theory in Design?

Now that you’re aware of color theory, and color psychology, let’s move on and explore how can the former be utilized in designs.

Well, for things like limited-period deals, or heavy discounts, always go for high-contrasting color combinations. For instance, red and black, or blue and orange are great eye-catching combinations that users won’t miss out usually!

Keep in mind: As much as color theory is important, typography also plays a massive role in design philosophy!

On the other hand, if you’re planning to convey some information, you must take clarity and readability into account. Combinations like black and white or green and white are great options in such situations.

Also, in such cases, you must ensure that the font color contrasts well with the background hue. Two similar high contrasting colors can affect readability, because of which, yellow texts on a white background become difficult to read.

To Conclude

Whether it’s a promotional campaign or just an informational one, you can’t just deny the importance that color psychology brings into the picture! That’s why we at Digital Concepts make sure to focus on color theory for designers and strategize our posts accordingly to get the best results. For any further queries, email sales@digitalconcepts.in to know more!

Mitali Purkait Ghosh

Mitali Purkait Ghosh, the Co-Founder of Digital Concepts, brings a wealth of knowledge and innovation to the marketing sphere. Mitali and her dedicated team offer unparalleled expertise in digital marketing and content writing, among other key online strategies.