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Following on from Mental Health Awareness week and our presence at the Design in Mental Health Show this year is our Colour psychology e-Book.
Colour impacts the way we feel daily, without us even realising. This is how it can be an asset when used in vulnerable environments such as healthcare, education and care.
This blog gives a brief overview of colour, how it impacts us and how Contour comes into the mix. For more information view our full e-Book on Colour psychology below.
The Science Of Colour
Research around the influence of colours shows that the human brain can be drawn towards or away from a company, product or service, purely because of the brand colour palette.
According to Psychology Today, 90% of judgements made about products are based on colour alone.
Colour counts in first impressions. It’s the first thing we notice and the last thing we remember, so it's important to get your colour choices right.
Colour tends to be dependent on personal experiences so can’t be universally translated into a wider meaning. However, research has noted broader patterns in the moods that colours evoke.
Physical Reaction To Colour
Each time you encounter colour, your adrenaline, blood pressure and heart rate either increase or decrease. Warm colours usually increase these, whilst cool stimulate a decrease.
This is why cool colours are recommended for relaxing environments, such as psychological health facilities. Meanwhile, a combination can be useful in schools, for learning inspiration.
Colour Association
Hospitals and other healthcare environments carefully consider colour association when designing each area individually.
Certain departments in a hospital are better suited to a certain colour than others. For example, while yellow is associated with positivity, it can have a distressing effect on young babies so is not typically used in maternity or paediatric wards.
Building Better Healthcare writes that it isn’t just patients who are affected by the colour choices of a hospital; staff are too.
Surgeons, working for long hours at a time on an operation, spend much of their time looking at the violent red shades of a person’s internal structure. Operating theatres are generally painted green to counteract this.
With colour playing such a clear role in the operational capacity of hospital staff and the overall outlook for patients, the need for streamlined thinking when it comes to the design of healthcare environments becomes clear.
Hospital management shouldn’t just be considering the colour of the walls when working to create a space; the whole environment needs to be considered. This includes the type of work taking place, the service users in that area and the type of equipment being used. All of these factors play a role in the potential outlook for a patient
Warm Colours V Cool Colours
The presence of warm colours in spaces makes rooms feel closer and can impact on the way people behave within a space, often on a subconscious level.
Art Therapy Blog suggests that in places where food is consumed, warm colours can directly impact appetite. Warm colours orange and yellow are closely associated with food in the human mind, they stimulate our appetite and can make us feel hungry.
In the healthcare sector, these colours are avoided in places where eating disorders are treated.
Warm colours are at the heart of creating an area where people feel safe and comfortable. In care spaces, it's about putting the mind at ease without the use of distressing colours that could negatively impact on the service user. Through warm colours, this can be successfully achieved.
Art Therapy Blog, who have researched the implications of both warm and cooler colours for human behaviour, report that the effect of cooler colours such as pale blue or green can create calmer, more tranquil feeling environments.
Often, these colours are used in school environments to encourage a more peaceful learning atmosphere for students.
Green can also help learners when it comes to decision making; potentially making it beneficial to have in classrooms where students are carrying out experiments and have to make predictions about what the outcome could be.
How Does This Apply To Contour And Radiator Guards?
When considering the colour scheme in a room, the hue of the radiator cover may be the very last thing that is considered.
Contour Heating believe in changing this and have made colour coordination a primary factor of thought in the way that we supply our products.
While many of our customers are happy with a standard white radiator or guard, we have also carried out many jobs in which colour specification was at the forefront of customer concerns when bringing new radiator covers into their environment.
These include health care settings for dementia patients in need of calming environments and educational facilities where a distraction-free setting was key to student success.
Click here to view our case study on Leighton Hospital, as shown below they required green radiator guards to not only match their floor but complete the jungle theme look.
Conclusion
Through close consultation with you, we can make recommendations using our expertise to ensure that the right colours are coordinated with your needs.
We know that recommending a bright blue radiator guard to a facility treating those with eating disorders would be wholly inappropriate because of its suppressing effect on appetite, so we would never do so.
This is just one example of the in-depth colour expertise that you can expect from our heating team.
We’re more than happy to work with you to ensure your project is fulfilled to your satisfaction, whether it’s for 1 radiator guard or 200 as all Contours radiator guards are manufactured in the UK and bespoke made.
About Us
Contour produces a range of innovative, safe surface temperature systems for healthcare, education, mental health, commercial and secure sectors, working in close partnership and collaborating with architects, M&E engineers, NHS Trusts, local authorities, design consultants and contractors to deliver outstanding safe heating solutions.
Contour is the exclusive partner of BioCote® anti-microbial technology for LST and anti-ligature radiators. BioCote® additives reduce bacteria by up to 99.9%. Contour combines an extensive range of colour-paints is with BioCote® for a durable, high-quality finish.
Contour’s heating solutions offer secure, single-person quick access to radiator guard interiors for regular deep cleaning and maintenance. Each year, Contour save the NHS millions of pounds in cleaning costs, therefore delivering cleaner, safer environments. Contour is redefining the marketplace and therefore many regard us as a design and innovation leader within the industry.
Contour has a quality- first philosophy. Our customer-focused team possess a ‘can-do’ attitude, they take pride in developing solutions for your heating requirements.
Contact us at:
The Mansions, 43 Broadway Shifnal
Shropshire TF11 8BB United Kingdom
+44 1952 290 498
Twitter: @Contour_Heating
LinkedIn: Contour Heating Products Ltd
