All caps feel loud. That’s the point. From social feeds to supermarket shelves, marketers lean on capital letters hoping to exaggerate the point they want to make. But does this typographic shortcut actually help messages stick? 

What defines a relationship? Whether it’s with a friend, colleague, customer—or a brand—we intuitively understand the dynamics. But until recently, these social bonds were difficult to quantify across cultures and contexts.

What gives color its meaning? Why does red feel urgent, blue feel calm, or green feel fresh? Marketers and designers have long understood the emotional power of color—but a recent study (“The origin of color categories.” Garside et al., 2024) published in PNAS pushes this understanding further, into the foundations of human cognition. 

Marketers have long understood that emotions influence behavior—but a new study reveals just how deeply momentary mood states can shape the decisions people make around risk, reward, delay, and effort.