Writing articles about aesthetics and the meaning of colors are some of the most difficult, but very fun to do. In honor of the lively, green and flowery nature of spring, I decided to make a post with the meanings of the color dominant in nature: the green (and the green aesthetic). In this article, you will learn how the color green interferes with our mood (within Western culture) and how different tones make the meaning and emotions triggered by those greens change.
For example, a rainy night in a dark green forest makes us feel emotions of fear, adrenaline, and mystery, while a green pasture during the day takes us to a place of peace and health. And if in the middle of a walk in the forest, we find an emerald gem, our mind will automatically associate it with feelings of power, rarity, mystery, and exclusivity.
Anyway, green is a dominant color in nature that should be part of everyone’s life. This article will help you understand the associations of green, so you know how to use it in a project, which shade is perfect to convey the mood you want in a certain situation, the negative associations, or simply inspire new knowledge about the beauties of this world.
Images sources: Pexels and Unsplash
I may seem repetitive here, but in every post about aesthetics, I reinforce my intention to promote aesthetics as a visual tool to achieve authenticity, not as another “newest TikTok trend”.
The Mood Guide is not a fashion magazine, but a shortcut for a meaningful lifestyle. To achieve authenticity, the things we wear and consume must be linked to a big purpose in our hearts. From there the transformation will come from within, and then the magic happens on the outside.
So, to write this post, and help you find meaning in colors, shapes, and things, I do extensive research and merge the results with my graphic designer academic knowledge.
Images sources: Pexels and Unsplash
“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions”
Pablo Picasso
More about color aesthetics:
✦ Pink Aesthetic: The Ultimate Guide To Live In A Pretty & Sweet Fantasy
✦ Light Blue Aesthetic Guide: All about the Daydreamer’s Color
Green Aesthetics Symbolism: the effects of this color perception
Color symbolism is a widely studied topic across various disciplines, including psychology, anthropology, art history, and cultural studies. Different cultures and societies attribute meanings and associations to colors based on their historical, religious, and societal contexts.
Additionally, color psychology examines how colors can influence human emotions, behaviors, and perceptions. I write for The Mood Guide considering this last aspect (psychology) and the common associations with color in everyday language and cultural practices in the present historical moment in the Occident.
So, artists, interior designers and movie directors always use the appeal of colors to reach our feelings and affect our moods. According to this article on how color impacts moods, feelings, and behaviors, certain colors have been associated with physiological changes, including increased blood pressure, increased metabolism, and eyestrain, and can truly impact our mood and influence our behavior.
Main symbolic associations and effects of the color green:
Although the different shades of green can trigger different feelings in us, there are some main, widespread meanings for green:
✦ Life and Breathing: To me, this is the most underrated and vital meaning of green: LIFE. After all, Chlorophyll present in the lush foliage of trees, plants, and landscapes gives plants their green color, absorbs light and uses the stored energy to convert water and carbon dioxide to produce the oxygen we breathe! (Source).
The cycle of life that we can see in the cycle of seasons when the bright green pops up with the new life in spring and fades in autumn until it disappears in winter is also a strong symbolic indication of green meaning renewal.
The silence, peace and unpolluted air that places with a lot of green provide symbolizes equilibrium, tranquility, and inner peace, promoting a sense of well-being and stability.
So, we need green not just in healthy food to be alive, but green is a vital part of all plants that provide the clean and pure air that we breathe, which takes us to other meanings of green aesthetics: purity and health.
Images sources: Unsplash
✦ Fertility, prosperity, growth and health: These are the most commonly known associations of greens, and nature pushes on our face this fact every day, every time, because of the prosperous and abundant life that grows from the fertility of the earth and produces the greens that are so healthy for us – and so many people take for granted.
Besides, green leaves are part of every fructiferous tree and veggies, which are also vital for good health, not to forget that green spices like basil can boost our well-being and massage our senses with their powerful properties and wonderful aroma.
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Green healthy beverages and snacks made with refreshing natural greens are examples of the green aesthetic associated with a wholesome and restorative lifestyle. Fresh green juices, fresh green food plus the shadows and winds created by the trees generate an association of green to freshness. It is consuming greens and recognizing: “I am cleaning, growing, and renewing my body and soul”.
To evoke a feeling of a clean house, fresh spirits, a slow and healthy natural lifestyle and prosperity, green is always a good option, especially when associated with equally light elements, fabrics, and materials.
✦ Envy & Poison: There is a dark side to the meaning of green.
When a person is very ill, or smoked cigars their whole life, their skin gets a greyish-green color. Even animated villains like Maleficent or Rasputin from Anastacia are portrayed with green color, as if green was the color of evil. Green is also the color of Slytherin, the house where belongs all the villains in the Harry Potter series. Curiously, this meaning opposes the green healthy, and positive definition.
So, where does this negative association come from? Nature is our biggest teacher and symbolic reference, and reveals that some poisonous snakes and frogs are green, and there is also the dangerous green crocodile. Envy is likely associated with green because it is an emotion that feels like poison in our veins, and poisons are also portrayed in green in association with toxicity and these animals (a woman is called a snake when she is envious) or, to the sickness and illness skin tones I mentioned above.
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There are several toxic chemicals with a green color, which reinforces the convention of using green as a symbol of death, evil, envy, and fear.
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Black and green is an interesting combination that is beautiful, modern, sophisticated and slightly intimidating because we can associate both meanings: the elegant symbology of green and black, and also the dangerous symbology of green and black. It will depend on the context and each person’s personal experiences with these colors.
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✦ Fairytale magic: Almost all fairytales are set in an enchanted woodland filled with greenery and magic. Green fairies that are guardians of a forest (hello Tinkerbell) or powerful wise witches hidden in the woods. So, the witchy, whimsical, and mystical symbology of greens has been influential since the first fairy tales and myths.
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Fairycore Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Embrace the Fairy Aesthetic
30+ Fairy Wallpapers for a Fairycore Aesthetic Phone Background (Cute, Dark & Exclusive)
The Best Fairy Makeup (Ideas, Tutorials and AI Fairycore Inspiration)
✦ Positivity, clean path, approval, optimism: the classic green sign of traffic lights or the green check emoji are the most common symbols of modern society that are in our everyday lives depicting green as a positive and optimist sign that things are all right, free to go, path is clear! ✅
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
✦ ON: Usually when electronic things are turned on, or the internet wifi is green, we get a green light, which is another cultural example of the positive associations of green and positive energy.
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
✦ Lucky: the 4 leaf clover, money and also the association with prosperity and fertility. 🍀
✦ Money: Money’s main symbolic color is green, probably because of the dollar bill color, and also because green is a color of fertility and prosperity as I have shown above and life can be much more prosperous when we have money to live with dignity, food, things and experiences that make us more prosperous. 💵
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
The green of money can also be linked with envy, greed, and poison in the veins. I created the images below with AI thinking about this concept.
Meanings of the main shades of green aesthetics:
✦ Sage green aesthetic
Muted tones of green, like sage green, evoke the peaceful and slow-living moods of green, but are less saturated and, therefore, more low profile and sophisticated.
Sage green is considered as elegant and refined as beige in fashion and interior, and you can read all about this color here: How to Embrace the Sage Green Aesthetic for Living Well & Chic. Capture the overall moods evoked by sage green in lifestyle below:
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
To romanticize your life with the purity and sophistication of sage green, check out the followig guides.
Sage Green Kitchen Cabinets Ideas for a Chic & Soothing Ambiance
Sage Green Bedding & Comforters to Make you Feel like Sleeping in a Fairy Nest
41 Light Green Nails Ideas (Matcha, Sage, Jade, etc) For a Soft Manicure
✦ Olive Green Aesthetic
Olive green is a reference to the olive tree. Its muted tones represent a slow and clean lifestyle. It is sophisticated like sage green, but slightly less modern and more rustic.
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
✦ Dark green aesthetic or forest green aesthetic
Intriguing, mysterious, dangerous yet sophisticated, whimsical, and welcoming, this is how I perceive the dark green forests.
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
The sophisticated dark green aesthetic in the lifestyle. See how the living room with a rustic vibe evokes a feel of being merged in a cozy dark forest. See how all the images below evoke sophistication without the coldness of modernity. We can feel warmth and peace from the natural dark green shades in them.
✦ Emerald green aesthetic
This green represents Slytherin in Harry Potter and is the cursed stone in the witches’ necklace in Mayfair Witches. Emerald green is a direct reference to the precious gem that carries the nature colure within it. Emerald’s rarity and beauty have made it a symbol of wealth, prosperity, and abundance throughout history. In many cultures, owning emeralds is seen as a sign of affluence and social status.
The magical sophistication of emerald green in Nature.
Fashion and interiors: The concept and symbology of Emerald Green applied to real life and embraced by Luxury brands such as Marc Jacobs and Lacoste. A modern luxury yet intimidating vibe, the type that imposes a sort of respect and exclusivity, is what you achieve by embracing emerald green in your lifestyle.
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
✦ Neon green aesthetic
The extremely bright green hue of green also known as neon green, is easily associated with technology and hackers due to the black screen with codes and 01 binaries written in bright green. Pop culture strengthened this hacker-alternative-underground-tech master who lived out of the box association of neon Green with the big success of the movie Matrix. Now I am wondering if Neo’s name has any linking to this!
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
✦ Pastel or mint green aesthetic
Mint green evokes feeling of freshness and rejuvenation, much like the cooling sensation of mint. This freshness is also associated with youthful and playful moods, guiding the mind to childhood innocence. Therefore, it is a common pastel aesthetic shade to represent sweetness and feminity more playfully and refreshingly.
Images Sources: Pexels and Unsplash
In conclusion, the green aesthetic will be perfect for your house or brand to represent vitality, purity, and freshness. For a more sophisticated and luxurious take on your home interior our outfit, go with emerald green and gold. With this combination, your home or brand will look and feel alive, fresh and pure, but also wealthy!
But if you prefer an elegant yet rustic decoration, forest green is perfect. If slow living and less information is what your moods are asking for, the olive green is the perfect choice.
If besides the freshness, purity and tranquility you love some sophistication, go with the sage green! And if you are a very sweet and playful person, yet calm and pure, mint green is the hue for you!
