Speaking the language of color isn’t like telling someone your name and expecting him to remember it. Our minds just don’t process color like that.

While vague color descriptions are sufficient for many people—“Turn left at the blue house” or “Choose the reddest strawberries”—if you work in an industry where color is important, you need to know how to speak a much more specific color language.

How do you create a color that “pops” or “radiates?” What color is “sunshine?” Is “raspberry” red, blue, or purple? And what do you do when your customer asks for such a color?

Unfortunately this is how people communicate in the color industry all the time. When it comes to vague nuances, the chances of getting color right using verbal communication alone are very low, which leads to rework when the color isn’t right.

Don’t just shake your head and try again. Color communication doesn’t have to be so difficult. Let’s look at the main reasons color communication goes wrong as well as some simple ways to fix it.

There are many reasons color communication goes wrong. Luckily, they’re all pretty easy to control.

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