- 1. Understanding Color:An Introduction for DesignersAn
Introduction for DesignersChapter 3: The Human Element
2. More than 80% of oursensory experiences arevisual. 3. The
instrument used in solving color problems in the design studio is
the normal, unaided human eye. 4. For artists and designers, even
when aided by the tools of color technology, final decisionsabout
color are made by the human eye alone. 5. The experience ofcolor
begins with asensation.A sensation is anactual, physicalevent. 6. A
sensation is the bodys response to a stimulus,something that is
encountered from the outsideworld. 7. Light, which is visible
energy, is the stimulus for thesensation of sight. 8. A stimulus is
measurable; the color and quantity of light emitted by a light
source can be measured. 9. Sensations are also measurable.An
individuals ability to detect light is measured as visual acuity,or
sharpness of vision. 10. Visual acuity is theability to sense
patterns of light anddark and to resolve detail.It is a measure of
theweakest light stimulus that anindividual can detect. 11.
However, the ability to see differences between dark andlight is
not the same as visual acuity for color. 12. Visual acuity for
color is the ability to detect differences between wavelengths
(colors) of light. 13. The strength and wavelength of each color of
light can beseparately measured using scientific instruments, but
humanbeings do not see the spectrum as a progression of individual
colors. 14. The spectrum of light is sensed as a flowing and
unbrokencontinuum, with each color blending into the next like a
rainbow. 15. The thresholdof vision is thepoint at which
anindividual can nolonger detect adifferencebetween twoclose
samples. 16. The thresholdof color vision isthe point atwhich
adifferencebetween twosimilar hues canno longer bediscriminated.
17. Each persons individual color acuity is influenced by
physiology,health, and age. 18. Infants are believed to be able to
detect differences between dark and light before they can see hue.
19. Many older peopleexperience a progressive loss of theability to
discriminatebetween blues, greens,and violets - thought tobe caused
by a gradualyellowing of the lens of the eye over time. 20. An
interval is a step ofchange between visual sensations. 21. An
individuals threshold establishes the single interval; the point at
which a detectable middlestep can no longer be inserted between two
close colors. 22. DescendantParent Parent They are illustrated as
three colors arranged in a linearseries, with a parent at each end
and the descendant, a middle step between the two. 23.
Parent-descendantmixtures can beset up betweencolors having onlyhue
difference, likered and blue; onlyvalue difference,like black
andwhite; or onlydifference insaturation, likebrilliant blue
andgray-blue. 24. Intervals can also be set up between color
samplesthat contrast in more than one quality.A brilliant
red-violet and a tint of gray green have hue,value, and saturation
contrast, but a middle step can still be found between them. 25.
Even intervals occur when the middle step is visually equidistant
between the two parents. The important thing about even intervals
is that themidpoint be just that; no more like one parent than the
other. 26. Intervals are not limited to the three steps of
parent-descendant color mixtures.In a series of even intervals,
each step is the visual midpoint between the samples on either side
of it. 27. Parent-descendant color mixtures occur so frequentlyin
color study that the word interval alone is often taken to mean an
equidistant step, but intervals canalso be uneven. 28. Creating
order out of random information is afundamental function of human
intelligence. 29. Images composed of even intervals are more
quickly and easilyunderstood than images in which intervals are
uneven or random. 30. Intervals are visually logical mixes. They
arejudged by eye alone and no two people mayagree on the exact
midpoint between twosamples. 31. A gradient is a series of
progressive, even intervals so close that individual steps cannot
be distinguished. 32. It is a seamless transition between
differences. 33. Gradients can be from light to dark, from one hue
to another,or from one saturation to another. 34. A sensation
alonea touch, taste, smell, sight or soundis an incomplete event.
The occurrence of a sensation isimmediately followed by perception.
35. Perception is the critical connection between human beingsand
their environment. It is the understanding andawareness of what has
been sensed. 36. Perception decides what has been sensed. It
recognizesand identifies the sensation. It acts as a filter,
separatinguseful and important information from competing stimuli
inthe environment. 37. When the brain receives a light stimulus it
first interpretsform as distinct from background by sensing
patterns oflight and dark. 38. Figure-groundseparation,
orpatternrecognition, is thefirst cognitive step inthe process
ofperception. Itidentifies situationsby forms and theirarrangement
39. Color plays an important, but secondary, role in recognition.A
red file folder and a blue file folder seem at first to be
identified by color, but both red and blue folders are identified
first as filefolders, and only secondly by color. 40. The initial
recognition in vision is of form, not color. 41. Recognition is
based onlearned information from amultitude of sources:individual
experience,social and cultural traditions,environmental
surroundings,and formal teaching. 42. Everything seen is understood
because its identity has beenlearned and the experience of it held
in memory. Something newis recognized, correctly or incorrectly,
because it is associatedwith some familiar thing that has similar
characteristics. 43. Most perceptions occur unconsciously and at
such high speedthat they seem simultaneous with sensation. 44. What
we think of as the sensory experience of color is always afusion of
sensation and perception. Unlike a sensation,a perception cannot be
measured. It can only be described. 45. Understanding how we see,
and how we process and respond towhat we see, translates directly
into design applications. That is why designers study the
fundamentals of perception. 46. Physiology studiesthe body and
itsfunctioning. It is ameasurable sciencethat can quantifythe bodys
physicalresponses to astimulus of color. 47. Psychology
studiesbehavior; or howorganisms perceive andreact to situations
whenthey are stimulated indifferent ways.Psychology candescribebut
notprecisely measuretheways in which humanbeings
recognize,interpret, and respondto the stimulus of color.Psychology
deals withperception. 48. Physiology:Responding to LightResponding
to Light 49. The nervoussystem is aninformationpathway from the
outside world tothe brain. 50. The nervous system is made upof
three kinds of cells: receptor cells transmitter cells brain cells
51. Receptor cellsreceive informationfrom the outsideworld
(stimuli) andchange it into aform of electricalenergy that thebrain
can use.Transmitter cellscarry these signalsto the brain. 52. The
brain decodes each sensory event first by identifyingwhich sense
has been stimulated, then discriminates specific qualities within
that sense. 53. Processing the information and generating aresponse
to it is the final step. 54. The eye is a sense organ that detects
light. 55. Light enters the eye through the pupil and falls on the
retinathe inside back of the eye. 56. The retina is made up of two
kinds of light-sensitive receptor cells, rods and cones. 57. Both
rods and conesconnect to the opticnerve, which transmitsthe sensory
message tothe brain. 58. Rods and cones respond selectively to
available light 59. Cones dominate vision when a great deal of
light is present.Cones are responsible for color vision and the
ability to seedetail. 60. Objectsappear morecolorful andfine
detail, likesmall print, isclearer whencones aredominant. 61. Rods
dominate vision in low light 62. Rods are responsible for
peripheral (surrounding, lessfocused) vision. 63. Colors appear
muted, and fine detail is more difficult to see, when rods
dominate. 64. The visual field is the extent of area that can be
seen by the two eyes of a viewer standing in one position. 65. The
fovea is a tiny area at the back of the eye that is the center of
the visual field. 66. The fovea contains only cones. It is the most
sensitivearea of the retina, detecting patterns of light and dark
and color with the greatest clarity. 67. Images and colors are seen
less clearly when the light stimulus moves away from the fovea. 68.
Both rods andcones are alwaysat work. It isalmost as if thereare
two separatesystems, one forday and one fornight. 69. Adaptation is
theinvoluntary response of theeye to the quantityof available
light. 70. The retina moves back and forth (adapts) quickly between
rodand cone dominance as the amount of available light increases or
decreases. 71. Color perception lessens in dim light when rods
dominate: perception in low light is in shades of gray. 72.
Adaptation takesplace under anylighting
conditions:lamplight,fluorescent,incandescent, orany other type
oflight. 73. Lateral inhibition is an aspect of vision
thatincreases the eyes ability to distinguish edges. 74. Lateral
InhibitionWhen a pattern of light and dark contrast reaches the
retina, the cells that receive the light part of the imageinhibit
the ability of the ones next to them to detect light. 75. As a
result, areas next to bright spots appear darker.The greater the
quantity of light, the more lateralinhibition takes place: light
areas appear lighter and dark areas appear darker. 76. The
sensation of light is received intwo areas of the brain: the
cerebral cortex hypothalamus (or midbrain) 77. The cerebral cortex
is the center of cognitive activity. It receives information and
processes it; recognizing,interpreting, and structuring a response
to each stimulus. It receives information and processes it;
recognizing,interpreting, and structuring a response to each
stimulus. 78. The midbrain, orhypothalamus,controls the internal
environment of thebody. Sensations of light transmitted to the
midbrain act as a biologicalstimulus to the central nervoussystem.
79. The midbrain controls blood pressure and bodytemperature. 80.
It also stimulates glands that control the production and release
of hormones. When the brain is stimulated by athought, mental
image, or outside stimulus (like light), the midbrain triggers the
release of hormones. 81. A color stimulus has an effect on the
strongest human needs andemotionsstress, hunger, thirst, and sex.
82. Sunlight, which contains all colors, is essential to human
life. Thehuman body is genetically adapted to function at a normal
level in response to the suns pattern of energy emission. 83.
Changing the strength of a color stimulus causes an actual change
in the body.Exposure to an elevated level of redstimulates hormone
production and raisesblood pressure...Exposure to an elevated level
of redstimulates hormone production and raisesblood pressure... 84.
...while exposure to an elevated level of blue has been shown to
lower blood pressure and depress hormonal secretions. 85. The
immediate biologic response of the body to a stimulus isphasic
arousal. Phasic arousal is abrupt and lasts very briefly, like the
surge of adrenalin that is experienced in asudden and frightening
situation. 86. Phasic arousal requires a stimulus. 87. Tonic
arousal is the bodys response over a prolonged period.The body has
a norm for tonic arousal, and the brain continuallydirects the
adjustment of hormone levels to keep it at that norm. 88.
Stimulation by a strong color causes phasic arousalanimmediate
reactionthat can be physiologically measured, but the arousal is
short term: the duration of the effect is not continuous. 89.
Because exposure to color changes the bodys hormonal balance, it
can also cause changes in behavior. Colors can be chosen to
stimulate, depress, or otherwise alter mood. Inenvironmental
design,both overstimulation and understimulationhave equally
negative effects. 90. Human beings respond best to living spaces
that have color, but not an overload of highly stimulating color.
91. A graphic designer may choose a brilliant color to arouse
short-term attention. 92. Restaurant designers use red to
stimulateappetite. 93. The muted colors of funeral homes aremeant
to minimize emotional response. 94. An extreme example of color
used to modifybehavior occurs with a color known asBaker-Miller
pink. 95. It has been hypothesized that exposure to Baker-Miller
pink reduces aggressive behavior. 96. The effects of phasic arousal
begin after a short period of exposure and last for about half an
hour. 97. Colors can also be experienced without a stimulus
oflight. The brain alone, without a light stimulus, allows us to
dream in color, or to imagine color with closed eyes. 98. A
headache or ablow on thehead can triggervivid images ofblue
stars.Color can beseen in theminds eye.Color can beseen in theminds
eye. 99. The eye is not the only organ that responds tolight. Light
is also absorbed through the skin. 100. The use of colored light to
act on the body through the skin is a routine medical practice. The
treatment of jaundicedinfants with light is a standard and
effective therapy. 101. Color therapyremains an active field,
although no clinical studies haveshown any efficacy, and the
practice ofmedicine by colortherapists is illegal in America. 102.
Synaesthesia is a long-recognized but largely unexplainedphenomenon
in which one sense responds to the stimulationof another. 103.
There are reports of persons who are able to determine thecolors of
objects through touch only, people that hear a sound when they see
a certain color, and people having particulartastes when hearing a
piece of music. 104. All of the types of visual responses talked
about so far areinvoluntary, biologic responses of the body to a
stimulus of light. 105. The perception of color also includes
involuntarypsychological responses. 106. The cerebral cortex,the
reasoning part ofthe brain, identifies andorganizes a
responseQuickTime and ato each color stimulusGIF decompressorare
needed to see this picture. that is unconscious,but based on
pastlearning. Storedinformation has aprofound influence oncolor
perception. 107. One of theseresponses is a kind ofexpectation
calledmemory color. 108. Memory color meansthat the viewer makes an
unconscious assumption about the color of something - the orange of
anorange, for example. 109. Color constancy is a second and equally
powerful form of expectation. It means that the colors of familiar
objects retain their identity no matter what the general lighting.
110. Color constancy is a second and equally powerful form of
expectation. It means that the colors of familiar objects retain
their identity no matter what the general lighting. 111. An image
stored in memory overrides what is actually seen. 112. A second
kind of color constancy occurs when close colorsare perceived as
being identical. 113. In an all-white kitchen, the white of the
refrigerator, the counters, thefloor, the cabinets and the paint
may all be different, but the immediate cumulative effect is that
they are the same. 114. Color constancy is also called chromatic
adaptation. 115. Designers need notalways beconcerned
withfractionaldifferences betweencolors becausememory color
andcolor constancyscreen outimportant colordifferences fromones
that do notmatter. 116. Naming Colors 117. Color is
universallyrecognized as aparticular kind ofvisual experience. 118.
When the brainreceivesinformation, itidentifies it byname. In a
widely-accepted study,Berlin and Kaydetermined that 98languages
hadnames for elevenbasic colors. 119. These are the eleven colors
inorder of recognition. 120. We believe that most people experience
the same sensation whenthey look at somethingthat is red. They
maydisagree about theexact name for the red - crimson, ruby, or
scarlet - but thesensation is the same. 121. Color study requires
only six names forcolors;red, orange, yellowgreen, blue, and
violet. 122. Design and marketing professionals use romantic names
for colors, like Venetian Red, Bermuda Blue, or Aztec Gold. 123.
Both ways of naming colors are important in design as long asthe
critical difference between the two is recognized:the six hues of
color study deal with eye training, color recognition and color
use; the countless color names ofmarketing are about product image
and sales. 124. Color as Language:From Name to MeaningFrom Name to
Meaning 125. Color is a living language. The meanings of colors can
changeover time. 126. The norm used to bepink for boys and blue for
girls because lightblue was associated with the Virgin Mary and
pink wasconsidered a moreaggressive color at the time. 127. For
every individual the meaning of a color orgroup of colors, isshaped
by a hierarchy of outside forces: culture, spokenlanguage, social
status, setting, time, andindividual lifeexperience. 128. For
instance, in someAmish communities,you never see the coloryellow in
their beautifulquilts because it isconsidered the color
ofcowardice. 129. Colors and color groups can be used as symbols.
Symbols for major societal concerns like nationhood tend to
maintain theirmeaning over time and can be thought of as permanent
for each population. 130. Semantics is the study of meaning of
words,passage of words, or other form of languageincluding the
language of color. 131. Awareness of cultural differences in the
semantics of color is criticalto the marketing of any product
intended for the global market. 132. Even with the same audience
and with the same time period nocolor is limited to a single
meaning. 133. Some symbolic colors are soimportant incommunicating
ideas that theirmeanings havebeen legislated. 134. Red Blue When
colors are seen with simultaneous and conflictinginformation, the
area of the brain that responds to color competeswith other parts
of the brain in structuring a response. 135. The resultingdelay
andconfusion inperception iscalled theStroopInteraction. 136.
Fashion colors, thecolor trends of consumermarketing, are
transitoryand cyclical.(These are the colorforecasts for 2013.)
137. But the experiences andassociations buried inour memory have
moreeffect on our emotionalresponses to colors thanany passing
trend.You might get a greatdeal of satisfaction fromviewing a
particularshade of blue because itreminds you of yourGrandmothers
garden -a happy memory for you. 138. Impressional or associative
colors evoke imagery without symbolic meaning.For instance, grayed
blue-greens may call to mind the icy cold of a winter sea. 139.
Color as Words Alone 140. YellowWritten and spoken words for colors
communicatethe same symbolic ideas as actual colors but theyare
understood more indirectly. Words areprocessed as thought rather
than as a sensoryexperience. 141. The immediacy of a color symbol
diminishes when it is presented as words.However, its meaning is
unchanged. 142. Reading the words red, white, and blue takeslonger
to process than the sight of a flag in fullcolor.
