Utilising the Psychological Effects of Colours

A report must give an impression of reliability. You can use the psychological effects of colours to convey such an impression. Cool colours, especially blue, which symbolises loyalty and integrity, create a sense of trustworthiness. This is why blue is used for (1), the title of the document (the first place the reader's attention focuses). The dark blue background for the title text provides a unifying sense for the entire document.

Guiding the Eyes of the Reader

The title of the sample document is "Monthly Sales Report," and thus its most important content is contained in (2), the table "Sales results [by branch, October]"at the top. It is necessary to take steps to draw the reader's attention to this area.

To guide the eyes of the reader to the tables, brilliant colours are used for parts of them (in the example, the cells on the left-hand side). This creates a strong contrast with the white background and grabs the reader's attention.

In the table at the bottom of the page "Market Share"and its accompanying pie chart which uses a 3-D effect, yellow is used to highlight the company's share. The bright yellow stands out and attracts the attention of the reader.