Thinking of the upcoming gallery show, Mellow Yellow, at Chagrin Valley Arts Center Gallery, I wanted to research further into this bold and vibrant primary color.

What do we know about the color?

• Yellow is the first color a person distinguishes in the brain. Associated with stress, caution, and apprehension, yet it stimulates an overall sense of optimism, hope, and balance. Excellent for use in classrooms.

Cheerful sunny yellow is an attention getter. While it is considered an optimistic color, people lose their tempers more often in yellow rooms, and babies will cry more. It is the most difficult color for the eye to take in, so it can be overpowering if overused. Yellow enhances concentration, hence its use for legal pads. It also speeds metabolism.

I found this interesting article about the color, and the psychology of yellow. Yes, there is a real influence and psychology of various colors in our lives.  Commonly we think of the red cape making the bull mad, and this is just one of the million experiences cited of how color influences mood, affect and outcome.

The Color Yellow

The color yellow is the color of

the mind and the intellect
This color relates to acquired knowledge. It is the color which resonates with the left or logic side of the brain stimulating our mental faculties and creating mental agility and perception.

Being the lightest hue of the spectrum, the color psychology of yellow is uplifting and illuminating, offering hope, happiness, cheerfulness and fun.

In the meaning of colors, yellow inspires original thought and inquisitiveness.

Yellow is creative from a mental aspect, the color of new ideas, helping us to find new ways of doing things. It is the practical thinker, not the dreamer.

The color yellow loves a challenge, particularly a mental challenge.

Within the meaning of colors, yellow is the great communicator and loves to talk. Yellow is the color of the networker and the journalist, all working and communicating on a mental level. Yellow is the scientist, constantly analyzing, looking at both sides before making a decision; methodical and decisive. Yellow is the entertainer, the comic, the clown.

Yellow helps with decision making as it relates to clarity of thought and ideas, although it can often be impulsive. Yellow helps us focus, study and recall information, useful during exam time.

The color yellow can be anxiety producing as it is fast moving and can cause us to feel agitated.

Yellow has a tendency to make you more mentally analytical and critical – this includes being self critical as well as critical of others.

Yellow is non-emotional, coming from the head rather than the heart. Yellow depends on itself, preferring to not get emotionally involved.

Yellow is related to the ego and our sense of self worth, to how we feel about ourselves and how we are perceived by others.

Yellow is the most highly visible of all colors which is why it is used for pedestrian crossings. Take note of the crossings which are marked in white – they are less easy to see than those marked yellow, particularly on wet and cloudy days.

If you are going through a lot of change in your life you may find you can’t tolerate the color yellow very well – this will usually pass. It just means that you are having trouble coping with all the changes at the moment and yellow vibrates too fast for you, making you feel stressed. Introduce green or a soft orange into your life for a while to balance and restore your energies. Many older people don’t respond well to large amounts of yellow because it vibrates too fast for them.

If your favorite color is yellow, it will reflect in your personality! 

Effects of Yellow:

Creative: The color of new ideas, yellow helps us find new ways of doing things.

Quick decisions: Yellow helps with clear thinking and quick decision-making but it can also be impulsive.

Anxiety producing: Yellow is fast moving so too much time in its presence can agitate and lead to nervousness and emotional instability.

Critical: Yellow makes people more mentally analytical and self critical of both themselves and others.

Non-emotional: Yellow relates to the head not the heart.

Article taken from: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-yellow.html