diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 049ae52..23520a5 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@ PATH
   remote: .
   specs:
     format-staged (0.0.3)
+      colorize
 
 GEM
   remote: http://rubygems.org/
   specs:
     ast (2.4.2)
+    colorize (0.8.1)
     parallel (1.22.1)
     parser (3.1.2.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
diff --git a/bin/git-format-staged b/bin/git-format-staged
index 6e20263..f325ac3 100755
--- a/bin/git-format-staged
+++ b/bin/git-format-staged
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ parser = OptionParser.new do |opt|
     puts FormatStaged::VERSION
     exit
   end
+
+  opt.on('--[no-]color', 'Colorizes output') do |value|
+    parameters[:color_output] = value
+  end
 end
 
 parser.parse!
diff --git a/format-staged.gemspec b/format-staged.gemspec
index bf7935a..6711751 100644
--- a/format-staged.gemspec
+++ b/format-staged.gemspec
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.license     = 'MIT'
   s.required_ruby_version = '~> 2.7'
 
+  s.add_dependency 'colorize'
+
   s.add_development_dependency 'rake', '~> 13.0'
   s.add_development_dependency 'rubocop', '~> 1.29'
   s.add_development_dependency 'rubocop-rake', '~> 0.6'
diff --git a/lib/format-staged/entry.rb b/lib/format-staged/entry.rb
index 3684b7d..4a5962d 100644
--- a/lib/format-staged/entry.rb
+++ b/lib/format-staged/entry.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 class FormatStaged
+  ##
+  # Entry in the git index.
+  #
+  # Data as produced by `git diff-index`
   class Entry
     PATTERN = /^
       :(?<src_mode>\d+)\s
diff --git a/lib/format-staged/io.rb b/lib/format-staged/io.rb
index 6e99768..04b633b 100644
--- a/lib/format-staged/io.rb
+++ b/lib/format-staged/io.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 require 'English'
+
 class FormatStaged
   def get_output(*args, lines: true, silent: false)
     puts "> #{args.join(' ')}" if @verbose
@@ -30,16 +31,32 @@ class FormatStaged
     [pid, r]
   end
 
-  def read_output(r, lines: true, silent: false)
-    result = r.read
+  def read_output(output, lines: true, silent: false)
+    result = output.read
     splits = result.split("\n")
     if @verbose && !silent
       splits.each do |line|
         puts "< #{line}"
       end
     end
-    r.close
+    output.close
 
     lines ? splits : result
   end
+
+  def fail!(message)
+    abort "💣  #{message.red}"
+  end
+
+  def warning(message)
+    warn "⚠️  #{message.yellow}"
+  end
+
+  def info(message)
+    puts message.blue
+  end
+
+  def verbose_info(message)
+    puts "ℹ️  #{message}" if verbose
+  end
 end
diff --git a/lib/format_staged.rb b/lib/format_staged.rb
index 2201c21..0cae333 100644
--- a/lib/format_staged.rb
+++ b/lib/format_staged.rb
@@ -5,21 +5,29 @@ require 'format-staged/version'
 require 'format-staged/entry'
 require 'format-staged/io'
 require 'shellwords'
+require 'colorize'
 
+##
+# Runs staged changes through a formatting tool
 class FormatStaged
   attr_reader :formatter, :patterns, :update, :write, :verbose
 
-  def initialize(formatter:, patterns:, update: true, write: true, verbose: true)
+  def initialize(formatter:, patterns:, update: true, write: true, verbose: true, color_output: nil)
     @formatter = formatter
     @patterns = patterns
     @update = update
     @write = write
     @verbose = verbose
+
+    String.disable_colorization = !(color_output || $stdout.isatty)
   end
 
   def run
-    root = get_output('git', 'rev-parse', '--show-toplevel').first
+    verbose_info "Finding repository root"
+    root = get_output('git', 'rev-parse', '--show-toplevel', lines: false).chomp
+    verbose_info "Repo at #{root}"
 
+    verbose_info "Listing staged files"
     files = get_output('git', 'diff-index', '--cached', '--diff-filter=AM', '--no-renames', 'HEAD')
             .map { |line| Entry.new(line, root: root) }
             .reject(&:symlink?)
@@ -36,12 +44,12 @@ class FormatStaged
     return true unless write
 
     if new_hash == file.dst_hash
-      puts "Unchanged #{file.src_path}"
+      info "Unchanged #{file.src_path}"
       return false
     end
 
     if object_is_empty new_hash
-      puts "Skipping #{file.src_path}, formatted file is empty"
+      info "Skipping #{file.src_path}, formatted file is empty"
       return false
     end
 
@@ -51,7 +59,7 @@ class FormatStaged
       begin
         patch_working_file file, new_hash
       rescue StandardError => e
-        puts "Warning: failed updating #{file.src_path} in working copy: #{e}"
+        warning "failed updating #{file.src_path} in working copy: #{e}"
       end
     end
 
@@ -59,7 +67,7 @@ class FormatStaged
   end
 
   def format_object(file)
-    puts "Formatting #{file.src_path}"
+    info "Formatting #{file.src_path}"
 
     format_command = formatter.sub('{}', file.src_path.shellescape)
 
@@ -87,6 +95,8 @@ class FormatStaged
   end
 
   def patch_working_file(file, new_hash)
+    info "Updating working copy"
+
     patch = get_output 'git', 'diff', file.dst_hash, new_hash, lines: false, silent: true
     patch.gsub! "a/#{file.dst_hash}", "a/#{file.src_path}"
     patch.gsub! "b/#{new_hash}", "b/#{file.src_path}"