If you’re looking to buy some business journals for your staff, you could well be stuck wondering what colour you should go for. If you’re not going to get a custom colour that matches your branding, choosing a colour that stimulates the mind and promotes productivity makes a lot of sense, but what are the best productivity colours for the office? Let’s find out!

What is colour theory?

Before we dive in, we thought it best to give a brief explanation of what colour theory actually is and why we should pay attention to it.

In short, colour theory is the relationship between colour as we see it and human behaviour. The idea is that different colours will elicit different emotional responses in us. While some of these responses are cultural in nature, others are a result of evolution.

Green

Green is a cooler colour that we, as humans, closely associate with nature and the great outdoors. As such, green tends to have a positive, calming effect on us, something which is backed up by researchers from the University of Georgia who found that, out of 13 colours, green brought about the most feelings of peace and relaxation in participants.

Looking at this, you might think relaxation and productivity don’t go hand in hand, so green would be a poor decision, but this isn’t the case. We’re actually at our most productive when stress is at a minimum, so green is an excellent choice!

Blue

Blue, like green, is a cooler colour that tends to have a calming effect on us. Unlike green, however, blue is considered somewhat clinical and impersonal. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. In fact, it’s exactly because of these qualities that blue is perceived to be a colour which promotes clarity of thought, which is perfect when you’re trying to promote productivity!

Red

On the other end of the spectrum, we have red. Red is a much hotter colour than blue or green, and we tend to associate it closely with both passion and danger – it’s also been shown to actually increase our blood pressure! Red is used very sparingly in office environments, and for good reason: due to the strong feelings it evokes in us, it can be very distracting when we’re trying to work.

As a result, we would avoid opting for red notebooks for your colleagues as we wouldn’t consider it one of the best productivity colours.

Yellow

Yellow is similar to red in that it’s on the warmer side, however, yellow is more closely associated with optimism and happiness than danger and passion. Yellow does have a stimulating effect on us, which some say can enhance creativity, but it certainly doesn’t offer the same sort of stimulation as red, which means that it could serve as a happy medium.

With this in mind, yellow is certainly a colour that you could consider for your office notebooks!

Curious Book Co. is one of the UK’s leading custom notebook companies. We can create some of the wildest notebooks you’ve ever seen, or we can keep it simple with crisp colours and high-quality construction. If our guide to productivity colours has got you inspired, give us a call. Alternatively, use our online notebook builder to create your perfect notebook today!