The colours around you are doing more than you think. Research shows they can shift how creative your ideas are, often without you noticing. Here are two experiments that show blue at work, one on screen and one on paper, and how you can use what they found in your everyday thinking.

Study 1: Blue and creative thinking

• Researchers: Ravi Mehta and Rui (Juliet) Zhu
• Where: Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada
• Published: Science, February 2009
• Participants: six experiments with more than 600 people

Mehta and Zhu wanted to settle a long-running debate. Some earlier studies found blue helped people perform better, while others found red did. Their experiments showed both were right, but for different kinds of thinking.

When people worked against a red background, they did better on detail-focused tasks like remembering words and proofreading. When they worked against blue, they did better on creative tasks, like coming up with new uses for everyday objects. According to UBC, people produced around twice as many creative ideas with blue as they did with red. And compared with a plain white background, people working against blue came up with 80% more creative ideas, which independent judges also rated as more creative.

The researchers explained that it comes down to the meanings we attach to colours. We link red with stop signs, emergencies and mistakes, which puts us in a careful frame of mind. Blue works the other way. Zhu explained that through the sky and the sea, most people associate blue with "openness, peace and tranquility." That feeling of safety makes us more willing to explore new ideas.

Mehta even suggested the findings had practical uses, such as using red for detail-heavy jobs like filling in tax forms. The flip side is simple: when you need ideas, choose blue.

Study 2: Blue on paper

• Researchers: Ravi Mehta and Rui (Juliet) Zhu
• Where: Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada
• Published: Science, February 2009 (Study 4 in the paper)
• Participants: 42 people

In the same paper, Mehta and Zhu ran an experiment that's much closer to everyday life. Instead of a computer screen, they gave people a sheet of paper printed with drawings of 20 different parts. Half saw the parts printed in blue, and half saw them in red. Each person had to pick five parts and design a toy for a child.

Independent judges then rated every design, without seeing the colours. The designs from the blue group were rated as more original and novel, while the red group's designs were rated as more practical.

It's the closest the research gets to a notebook: real paper, colour printed on the page, and a creative task. And once again, blue was linked to more original thinking.

How to use blue to think better

You don't need to repaint your office. A few small habits can help you use colour with intention:

1. Brainstorm on blue. When you need new ideas, plans or solutions, open a blue page and let your thinking run freely.
2. Separate creating from checking. Capture ideas first. Switch to a different mode, or even a different colour, when it's time to edit and get the details right.
3. Make it a ritual. Use the same notebook at the same time each day, so opening the page becomes your signal to start thinking.
4. Notice your environment. Pay attention to the light and colours where you think best, and recreate them wherever you work.

Built for everyday thinking

We designed Notedfy to bring this research out of the lab and onto your desk. Every page is blue, every notebook comes with a white gel pen that stands out clearly, and every notebook sold plants a tree.

It's a small change to your day, built on real research, for the moments that matter most: the ones where your next idea begins.