The colour of creative ideas: how online creativity comes out of the blue

The shift to remote work has made online brainstorming a core component of creativity. This raises important questions about how to design virtual workspaces that effectively support creative thinking, including the role of ‘soft’ factors such as colour, often overlooked in digital workspace design. Research suggests that cool colours like blue may enhance creative performance compared to warm colours. However, their specific influence on online creativity and the underlying psychological mechanisms remains underexplored. We conducted an experiment manipulating the background screen colour of an online creative task (blue vs. white) and examined hedonic valence and regulatory focus as two potential mediators. Data from 122 participants showed that a blue background directly increased the number of ideas, but not their originality. Moreover, we identified an indirect effect of colour on creativity through hedonic valence, moderated by arousal: a positive mood enhanced both flexibility and originality, but only under high activation levels.