Colour is a powerful tool in business and understanding its impact could help companies improve their bottom line.

That was one of the messages to come out of a presentation by Jill Morton, president of colour consultancy Colorcom, at AF Smith's Colour Everywhere Expo at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute on Friday.

Ms Morton, a university lecturer and author whose company has advised Fortune 500 companies on the effective use of colour, flew in from her home in Honolulu, Hawaii for the event.

She said businesses could use colours to establish their brand and even to increase productivity in the workplace.

"When you think of brown, you automatically think of the brown UPS trucks," Ms Morton said. "That colour says this company is trustworthy and dependable, nothing too exciting or flamboyant.

"Yellow and black is the highest visibility combination of colours and is excellent for signage.

"An interesting use of yellow is by Yellowtail wine, which is now the most imported wine into the US. It used to be that wine labels had to be French style, with white labels and gold lettering against the burgundy wine.

"Yellowtail's yellow labels changed all that and have been very effective."

The choice of colour depends heavily on the demographic targeted by the business. When Eurodisney opened in France, for example, its purple signage was a big hit with younger people, but a turn-off for older generations.

Businesses in Bermuda Businesses in Bermuda face a real challenge making an impact with colour, however, she added, since colour abounds on the Island. "I feel like I'm in colour heaven here," Ms Morton said.

Ms Morton gave a few key facts to business people and AF Smith guests in the audience, including:

• Advertisements in colour are read up to 42 percent more often than the same ads in black and white, according to a study on phone directory ads.

• Research has shown that a black-and-white image may sustain interest for less than two-thirds of a second, whereas a colour image may hold attention for three times longer.

• Colour increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent.

• Colour can improve readership by 40 percent.

Ms Morton said research had also shown that employees tended to work more productively, if they were exposed to their favourite colours in the workplace.

"Even if it's only a chair or a cushion in your favourite colour, it can make you feel calmer and happier and that can help you to be more productive," she said.

The colour scheme of an office and how it affected different personality types was the subject of research at the University of Texas, Ms Morton said.

Low screeners, characterised as people who were introverted and need a quiet place to work effectively responded very differently to certain colours than did high screeners, those who thrive on activity around them.

"High screeners did really well in the red with green trim surroundings, but had a horrible time with calming bluish green," Ms Morton said.

"The low screeners did not like the red, but they were even more upset by completely white surroundings."

Ms Morton also spoke to interior designers and architects in a second presentation on Friday.