| Blog | Status Updates | About | Contact | Advertise

December 20, 2008 / Filed under: Gmail, Labels, Tags, Organization

The key to any email inbox is organization. The more organized you are, the more efficiently you'll be able to process and find the important information contained within your emails.

Gmail's colored labels are a good start. I've included a selection of common label names, with corresponding colors that relate to the mood of the label name, and help them stand out more amongst a crowded inbox. Feel free to mirror these label examples in your own inbox!

First, make sure Custom Label Colors Labs feature is turned on, which will provide an extensive selection of colors, with the ability to edit both the background and text color of a label.

The label names I've chosen to illustrate reflect common names that many Gmail users may already be familiar with.

To illustrate the labels, I've opened my Spam folder and applied one label per message:

As you can see, no two labels are similar in color or appearance. This makes it very easy to locate certain messages while scanning my inbox. Here is a breakdown of the color choices, and the meaning behind each:

"Attachment" (Light Red background; Red text)

I want emails with attachments to stand out a bit, so having red as the primary colors makes sense. However, I don't want it to stand out too much, so that's why the background is a lighter red so it's not screaming out.

"Billing" (Red background; Gray text)

Billing emails suck, let's face it. They're usually about money you've just paid, or money you owe. Having them with a red background allows me to quickly pick out the unpleasant emails. The red also serves as an "alert mechanism" to inform me of important bills that are due soon.

"Business" (Brown background; White text)

I chose brown for business because briefcases are often brown. So are many business outfits, including shoes. For some reason this makes me think of business-related things.

"Confirmations" (Gray background; Black text)

Confirmation emails are almost equivalent to bacn. They only serve to notify you of some activity you've just performed. So I chose gray and black because those are "blah" colors - matching my mood when I see confirmation-type emails in my inbox.

"Events" (Pink background; White text)

Events are exciting! Pink encapsulates some sort of excitement, I believe.

"Family" (Blue background; White text)

Blue is a strong color, indicating solidness and deep, core values. This is just what family is.

"Forwards" (Black background; White text)

Forwards are emails that have a subject beginning with "FW: ... ". These emails are usually not directed at one person, but a bunch of people, and are not all that urgent. It's usually some sort of chain letter, or news story that friends and family pass around. To me, it's a waste of inbox space. Start a blog already.

Black tells me it's probably not very interesting.

"Friends" (Light Green background; White text)

Friends are fun, homely, and not pretentious - exactly how green feels to me. The lighter green makes it feel less dense, and more earthly.

"Health" (Dark Red background; White text)

Blood is dark red, and I don't have to explain to you how blood relates to health.

"Holiday" (Light Blue background; White text)

Light blue indicates "soft pleasantness," like the sky or a baby boy. A holiday is typically pleasant - a little mini-vacation.

"Jobs" (Dark Green background; White text)

Let's face it - the word "job" has money written all over it, which is dark green as well.

"Links" (Very light Blue background; Blue text)

The default link color in most web browsers is blue, so I mirrored this appearance for emails containing links.

"Photos" (Light Pink background; Purple text)

Photos are usually full of colors and hues. I chose pink and purple because they are happier, brighter colors, and photos are typically about happy things.

"Shipping" (Brown background; Yellow text)

When I think of shipping, I think of UPS, whose colors are predominately brown. The yellow text helps to bring out the brown more. Also, shipping boxes are typically brown in color.

"Sports" (Orange background; White text)

Orange indicates caution, and sports are all about competition and challenges. I should probably change the text from white to something else - right now it looks like a "dreamsicle!"

"Travel" (Light blue background; White text)

Light blue is the color of the sky (on nice days). Traveling usually involves airplanes, which fly high in the sky! The white text could be suggested as being the color of soft, white clouds in the sky.

"Work" (Purple background; White text)

This was more random than anything, but since I started using purple for work, the association has stuck. Now I consider anything labeled purple as work-related.

Wrap-up