Michel Pastoureau, a French specialist in medieval history who worked on the history of colours, stated that colour is a cultural phenomenon, which is perceived differently depending on time, society and culture.

Did you know that for the Romans, blue was a negative colour, associated with the enemy and with a feminine attitude in men? Today blue is the favourite colour of the West, and is used to symbolize the male gender extensively.

Nikki Burton, the head of colour marketing at AkzoNobel, the world’s largest paints company and owner of Dulux, is an expert on the culture of colour. Being aware that colour in an environment influences the way people think and feel about the space they are in, the Dulux team painted schools, streets, homes and squares in vibrant colours in Brazil, France, the UK and India.

“Colour artist” Sophie Smallhorn has been working with architectural consultancy Populous as a consultant on the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. “We have tried to create the sense of a journey of colour as you move through the stadium”, she says. “It’s a bold use of colour on a huge scale: it’s life-affirming and has a sense of coming together”.

When translating marketing documents, such as websites, brochures, leaflets and banners, don’t underestimate the power of colour. Although colour preference is always a subjective matter, picking the right colour will always cultivate a more positive response. Conversely, overlooking the issue of colour and cultural sensitivity when translating and typesetting your documents may go so far as to offend your readers.

Further reading on colour preferences:

• Ford reveals Europe’s color preferences by country
• Colour Trends 2011

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Over the last few months we have seen famous brands such as Mother Care and Habitat heading to the Far East or reducing in size. Some economic analysts forecast that major brands such as Sony Pictures, Nokia, and Saab will soon disappear in 2012.

• Sony Pictures
• A&W
• Saab
• American Apparel
• Sears
• Sony Ericsson
• Kellogg’s Corn Pops
• MySpace
• Soap Opera Digest
• Nokia

There is much debate over whether this is mere conjecture and questioning the future of established brands like Sony Pictures can indeed be hard to believe.

However, it is far more important to avoid getting into situations where such speculation can grow over your business. Think step by step and get yourself known through our professional translation service. Make sure you spend time to plan so that you and your business are safeguarded through times of economic turbulence.

Think SanTranslate.

We Jump the Language Hurdle for You!
	Certified Translation		Document Translation Services		Interpreting Services
Just 2 steps to get the cost of translation for your certificates.		We translate documents in any format. Click to find out the cost of translation.		Interpreting Service for legal, business and community interpreting