Color Therapy: Spring's Most Important Shades (and Why Red Makes you Hungry)

By Dana Linett-Silber
March 25, 2011

Leslie Harrington Since 1915, The Color Association has been offering color trend forecasting, consulting and education services to major brands in need of color therapy. Companies like Benjamin Moore, Sherman Williams, Nine West, Saks, Estee Lauder and Procter & Gamble turn to the esteemed organization to help make product and The Color Association brand managment decisions that can mean the difference between red and black for their bottom lines.

Leslie Harrington, who has served as the Executive Director of The Color Association for the past three years, talked with us about the color of her parachute, her rise from mere “color girl,” and why making good color choices is serious business.

The Inside Source: What’s your background and how did you become a color expert?

Leslie Harrington: My mother was a decorator, so I grew up thinking everyone changed their wallpaper every three months and everyone tried to match their towels and sheets with their kitchen blender. After getting a degree in interior design, I went to work for Benjamin Moore and took on many different roles including retail design, picking colors for institutions and trend work.

Eventually I moved up to head up color and design for them. I became frustrated with companies not understanding how important color can be to stimulating consumer purchase—I was just being viewed as the “little color girl,” so I went back to get my MBA for some much-needed cred in the board room. Then I went on to get my PhD in color strategy and leveraging color to add to and extract value from brands.

I eventually went out on my own and started a consulting business and got into consumer goods, cosmetics, pharma, working with companies experiencing “color chaos.” Back then, companies were still making color decisions in a whimsical way.

I have been here [at the Color Association] three years and associated for many more years prior, though I'm still active in the consulting industry.

The Inside Source: How do your clients use The Color Association?

Leslie Harrington: Today, companies are increasingly relying more on data to make important color choices. So the question for a lot of companies now is: How do I make good color decisions? We augment color forecasting with education because we’re finding a lot of professionals are craving a higher level of knowledge about color and how to use it in new product development.

The Inside Source: What is color intelligence?

Leslie Harrington: For us, color intelligence refers to the intellectual understanding of color and having some level of awareness of the research behind color. It’s the intel behind the forecasting. So it’s not just blowing smoke; it’s knowing why certain colors have certain effects. Red makes you hungry but it’s understanding the "why" behind the phenomenon.

The Inside Source: Why does the color red make you hungry?

Leslie Harrington: It has to do with the way it affects your brain. Red releases endorphins into your system that stimulate the appetite.

The Inside Source: Wow! That’s fascinating! Give us another fast fact about color.

Leslie Harrington: Color is the #2 reason after size for online returns. It’s so hard to present the exact color of something on a website…

The Inside Source: Why are some people colorful in one area of their life but not in another—i.e. they play it safe by wearing mostly neutrals, but then go wild with splashes of color around the home, or vice versa?

Leslie Harrington: Actually I think for many, it works this way. Think about it—a colorful wardrobe in a colorful space is just too much color. Even if you don’t see yourself, you know what you look like in your environment on a subconscious level.

The Inside Source: The shopper is thinking spring color trends. What kind of color advice can you give us?

Leslie Harrington: The economy hasn’t been good, so we’ve been buying neutrals and safe colors. Now things are starting to look up; we’re slightly more confident, and there’s a strong desire to add color back into our lives. It’s been a tough winter with crazy weather, so we’re going to be craving happy, bright feel-good colors. Look for springy, Kelly greens that represent new growth.

Also, yellow continues to be strong and we’ll find a full range of yellow shades. Now we’re understanding how to make it more sophisticated; when it first came out, it was a little immature, too bright and primary. Now we’ll see more mature, wearable yellows out there.

We also think that blue will be strong, but not aqua blue or teal—more water blues and more toward the dark side. Northern lakes blue—not as bright or intense, but a blue that makes a much better neutral. Also, there will be a move away from black to navy or deep plum.

The Inside Source: Can you give us some advice for introducing more color trends into our lives?

Leslie Harrington: If you’re risk-averse to color, try adding it in small doses with accessories handbags, shoes, etc. Also, try to introduce it in its less dramatic form. For example, if you’re going to try pink, go for dusty rose instead of fuchsia. Ease into it; go for the gentler side of a color. As you become more accustomed to it, you’ll be able to take on larger doses or stronger versions. It’s like tasting something for the first time. You may try tequila in a margarita, but once you get used to it, you can actually do a shot!

Here, finds that reflect spring's hottest colors, plus resources to aid in your own color education.

Roll over items for details

A Glaze of Color: Creating Color and Design on Ceramics

(buy it now price, $22.59)

New Polymer Clay Color Inspirations Book

(buy it now price, $14.55)

New Kelly Green Tote Bag (lot of 48)

(buy it now price, $158.96)

New Seven Color Changing LED Shower Head

(starting bid, $0.99)

New Yellow Toywatch

(buy it now price, $189)

New Swarovki Crystal Beads

(buy it now price, $4.78)

New Special Effects Hair Dye

(buy it now price, $12.79)

New BCBG Kelly Green Ruched Ruffle Dress

(buy it now price, $49.95)

Vintage Stiletto Pumps

(buy it now price, $50)

New Women's Sperry Authentic Originals

(buy it now price, $59.99)

New J. Crew Clutch

(buy it now price, $199.99)

New Blue Leather Handbag

(buy it now price, $39.99)

Blue Twist Tank J. Crew Swimsuit

(buy it now price, $49.99)

New Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic Colors

(buy it now price, $25.26)

The Elements of Color

(buy it now price, $36.50)

Color Therapy: Spring's Most Important Shades (and Why Red Makes you Hungry)

1. A Glaze of Color: Creating Color and Design on Ceramics: This tome, by an experienced ceramic artist, offers lots of ideas for how to put colors together.

2. J. Crew Clutch: A festive clutch in one of spring's favorite shades.

3. Kelly Green Tote Bag (Lot of 48): Harrington suggests that the color-averse try adding bright fashion trends to their wardrobes via colorful accessories.

4. Yellow Toywatch: A bright plastic watch is another way to add a shot of sunshine to your wardrobe.

5. Swarovki Crystal Beads: Beads by renowned crystal manufacturer Swarovski highlight the newest colors of the season. Harrington cites these as an excellent source of color inspiration.

6. Seven Color Changing LED Shower Head: Also among Harrington's picks: the LED light in this shower head automatically changes the color of the water—what a way to wake up in the morning!

7. Polymer Clay Color Inspirations Book: This rainbow of a book offers instruction and ideas for using polymer clay as a tool to develop an understanding of color principal. Harrington recommends for a quick brush-up on color theory.

8. New BCBG Kelly Green Ruched Ruffle Dress: Pair this trendy dress with shoes in a nude hue to look totally of-the-moment

9. Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic Colors: Interior designer Jonathan Adler is renowned for his bold color and pattern combinations. This book provides loads of ideas.

10. Blue Leather Handbag: Harrington has identified this neutral shade of blue (somewhere between Northern Lakes Blue" and navy) as an important color trend right now.

11. New Women's Sperry Authentic Originals: Loafers are having a style moment. Why not try an iconic shoe style in an unabashedly bold color?

12. New Special Effects Hair Dye: Harrington suggests turning to punk hair dye manufacturers for the wildest palettes of the moment.

13. Blue Twist Tank J. Crew Swimsuit: This suit is super flattering—both for its color and its cut.

14. The Elements of Color: This book, originally published in 1970, provides a good overview of color theory.

15. Vintage Stiletto Pumps: Great green pumps are surprisingly versatile—pair with black, nude or navy.

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