That works unless STDOUT uses the same stream as STDERR, in which case all printed code after the STDERR prints are also red.

You should use

or use the colored ("red", string) approach.

If you need more than just colors, like indents or modification, you can use Text::OutputFilter as an alternative:

use strict;
use warnings;

use Text::OutputFilter;
use Term::ANSIColor;

tie *STDERR, "Text::OutputFilter", 0, *STDERR,
    sub { color ("red")."$_[0]".color ("reset") };

print STDOUT "Normal\n";
print STDERR "Red?\n";
print STDOUT "Normal again?\n";
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