CRACKING your head over the choice of colour for your home, office, show unit, shopping mall, product or even brand?
Well, you may need the advice of a colour psychologist like Karen Kow, the managing director of Colours In Motion Sdn Bhd that specialises in providing colour consultation to homeowners, interior designers, renovators, property investors and commercial property owners.
Karen Kow
Kow, who set up the company early this year, believes that colour could make or break the feel and value of a property.
“Many people have difficulty picking the right colours for their home. Some have a good idea of how they would like their room to look like but they may end up with mix-match of everything,” she said.
She added that many people were not very adventurous with colours and still kept the builder's white after many years.
“Light and colour can affect your emotions. For instance, it is important to choose bedroom colours that will calm and soothe a hyperactive child. Other colours encourage appetite or study,” she said.
“Colours can be used for corporate identity or it can be used to create a better working environment,” said Kow, who has a doctorate in metaphysical psychology, master's degree in metaphysical science (both from the United States) and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Britain.
Kow said colour could also affect one's perception of a product or brand.
“If you are looking to re-brand your corporate identity, we can suggest the most appropriate colours to send out the message you intend for the public and to attract your target market for your services or product by working closely with your branding, advertising, and creative team,” she said.
The use of distinctive colours to identify products, she said, could be seen everywhere. Some products are packaged in a variety of distinct colours while others tend to be packaged in variations of the same two or three colours in different designs.
She said each colour has its own individuality, wavelength and frequency.
“All physical, mental and emotional levels respond to colours. The application and usage of colour psychology is limitless because we live in a world full of colours,” she said.
“Colours can harmonise and produce effective results when used to complement an individual's character, home, and even the working environment,” said Kow, who has given consultations to clients in the US, Britain, Malaysia, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, China and Singapore.
Her corporate and individual clients are from the hospitality, fashion, retail, banking, and property development industries.
She said research showed that people made a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment was based on colour alone.
Since colours used for a product, website, business card and a logo could cause powerful reactions, choosing the right colours is critical to successful sales.
Kow, who believes in enjoying everything she does and achieving a balanced and healthy lifestyle, said most people have their own favourite colours that reflected their personality, likes and dislikes.
“I do not have any favourite colours and I hope people will also like all colours and treat them impartially,” she added.
According to a handout, she is also a master practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming and holds a certification in professional clinical hypnotherapy.
Trained and certified as a colour therapist, she understands how colours affect human behaviours, emotions and physical health.
Kow is also founder and director of Path To Excellence, a company that does corporate training, hypnotherapy, executive life coaching, stress management and neuro linguistic programming.
By The Star (by S.C.Cheah)
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