This Ted Talks video with Golan Levin discusses a bizarre condition called synesthesia where the senses blend together and people can hear color or taste shape. Color Controls You.

Although this is a rare case, Golan Levin explains how everyone associates specific letters with certain shapes.  For example, the letters l, m and b are seen as a rounded cloud-type shape.

This Ted Talks video with Golan Levin discusses a bizarre condition called synesthesia where the senses blend together and people can hear color or taste shape, color controls you. Although this is a rare case, Golan Levin explains how everyone associates specific letters with certain shapes.  For example, the letters l, m and b are seen as a rounded cloud-type shape.

This may seem like something that should be left to the medical field to discuss, but it can relate to marketing more than you think. For instance, when you sell a product you need to develop some type of packaging to put it in. If people associate letters with shapes and vice versa, this information can be used to decipher what branding will work best. If you are selling male products, you ideally want people to think of masculine shapes. Rectangles and bulkier shapes are seen as manly whereas round and oval shapes are more attractive to women.

Similarly to letters, colors give meaning to the consumer. Color Controls You.  People associate red with danger or passion, blue gives a calm and trustworthy feeling, and green gives the sense of nature and health. When advertising a product, picking appropriate colors to match what you are selling will encourage others to purchase, even if it is only subconsciously. Check out this very cool info graphic below to see what else drives consumers to purchase a specific product.

This infographic was taken from michaelhartzell.com