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When it comes to color, it’s what’s underneath that counts. Color is dynamic and energetic. Every color has a vibrant public persona, but it also has more subtle attributes that the human eye does not immediately see. This is what makes color both fascinating and frustrating. One of the most effective techniques for alleviating frustrationContinue Reading

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Accent Lighting: Lighting layer that highlights or builds emphasis, also known as key lighting. Achromatic: Free of color, without color, colorless. Achromatic Simultaneous Contrast: Simultaneous contrast occurring between white, black, and gray. Additive Color: The process of mixing the colors of light. Afterimage: Visual illusion in which retinal impressions persist after the removal of aContinue Reading

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Most white animals are just as vulnerable to the effects of the sun as humans. The absence of color which results in their white coat indicates that there is an absence of natural protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays. An animal’s skin and fur’s natural color is what provides protection from the UV rays.Continue Reading

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Interaction of Color App for the iPad

Video: Interaction of Color App Demo

Video: The designers involved in the project talk about the importance of color and the influence of Albers.

Audio: Design Matters -- Interaction of Color

50th Anniversary Edition of the Book: Interaction of Color

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Study Finds That Your Night Light Can Change Your Mood

The post What Color is Your Night Light? It May Affect Your Mood appeared first on Sensational Color.

Wish you felt more awake during the daytime?

Looking for new color options for their hotel chain, Travelodge UK discovered that the best quality sleep can be induced using soothing, calming color choices with blue being at the top of the sleep color chain.

Yellow and green also received high marks for creating a restful environment. The warm, life-giving quality of yellow is one of the things that make it a very healing hue. Green is a balance of both ends of the color spectrum. It evokes both warmth and coolness. A color ever-present in nature, it nurtures both body and soul.

Large doses of reds or purples would not be useful when trying to design respites for the end of your day. These colors are far too stimulating. Thinking warm browns in your sleeping space? Think about adding tan, aqua or another inviting color. Too much brown can create sad, depressed feelings according the study– the antithesis of the mood you are trying to achieve.

Ellen Kennon, creator of Full Spectrum Paints agrees, “ Nature-based colors are the most restful”. Her paints are "blended from the 7 colors of natural sunlight and closely mimic nature's elements such as sky, water and stone, with infinite color and variation." Here are a few full spectrum bedroom-perfect blues and greens.

Mary Lawlor of Kelly-Moore Paint added, "Soothing greys that mimic moonlight are said to cue the brain to know that it’s nighttime, and time for sleep have been found to promote good sleep and motivate exercise too." She recommends these five sleep-inducing colors from their The ColorStudio Collection.

Wondering why color would have an affect on you even when your eyes are closed?

How do you create an environment that supports the darkness your body desires and helps you to begin your day with a bright, energetic start?

Burnett thinks green is a ideal choice in the bedroom. She suggests deep Sage. Mid-tone neutrals are good color options for your sleeping space, as well.  She suggests avoiding high contrast colors in your space. Paint ceilings a shade lighter than walls, rather than stark white. These same rules apply for trim on walls and windows.

Whatever color you choose for tranquility in your bedroom, keep the design quiet, calm and soothing. Pay close attention to your body’s natural reactions to color and light then follow its lead.

You might also like:  Infographic: Missing Out On Sleep? Your Bedroom Wall Colors Could Be To Blame

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Alan Alda asked scientist to answer the question, "What is color?"

Here is how it works

Interested in participating?

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Flamingos pink is well known but it is not the color these birds are born with. They begin life with light gray feather and the coral pink is something they acquire later, but why? Gaining Their Iconic Color: Flamingos Pink These long-legged birds live in wetland areas and consume two things that produce the pigment that changesContinue Reading

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To understand how different types of light affect color you have to know a little about what light is, how it “works”, and its relationship to color.

Light is one of the many waves found on the electromagnetic spectrum. Other waves on the spectrum include ultra violet, radio, microwaves and x-rays. What differentiates light from the others is that it is the only one that can be detected by the human eye.

All of the colors we see are a byproduct of spectrum light, as it is reflected off or absorbed into an object. An object that reflects back all of the rays of light will appear white; an object that absorbs all of the rays, black.

All of the millions of other colors are produced by a combination of light rays being absorbed and reflected. Grass, for example, absorbs all colors except the ones that make up its color of green.

The Effects of Natural Light

Natural light can vary greatly depending on the weather, the season, the time of day, the position of the sun in the sky, the location of the building and where the space is located within the building. Understanding these factors can help you to anticipate how natural light will affect a color.

Light that enters a room from the north casts a cool, bluish tint on the objects is washes over. Using clear hues rather than ones that are muted or greyed. Northern light is indirect and can make colors appear darker and less saturated so you may want to compensate by considering a paint color that is a bit lighter or slightly more intense. (Illustrations: I would show three sets of AP swatches in popular colors. Colors that work best with northern light are light value, bright and clean. Colors best for rooms with southern exposure are medium value, toned, muted or greyed colors. Colors for rooms with either eastern or western exposures are warmer and less muted than those for southern exposure. If you want me to confirm the colors you select just let me know the color # and I will look at my AP fan guide.)

The color of northern light is the most diffused light and remains quite consistent throughout the day. This is why the colors of your paint and fabrics in a room with a northern exposure will remain the same color throughout the day than the same paint and fabrics used in a room with an east, west or southern exposure.

Rooms with southern exposure benefit from beautiful warm light but at time it can be too much light that is too intense or glaring. To solve this problem use colors that are muted with a bit of grey to absorb a bit of the light so the room feels more comfortable.

Light that comes from an eastern or western exposure is also warm. It cast a yellow to orange-yellow or red-orange tint that will change throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky. Light is softer and yellowish in the morning moving to intense and orange or reddish in late afternoon. Using colors that are warmer and less muted will help the color to work even when the sun is not streaming in.

The Effects of Artificial Light

Artificial light supplements natural light so it is important for you to know how a space will be lit when selecting colors. The type of artificial lighting in a space influences how a color looks. Some of the most common sources are fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs, halogen bulbs, and LED lighting.

Halogen lighting is nearly white and the closest to natural light on a clear day around noon. Fluorescent lighting is more bluish although now some fluorescent bulbs produce light band that is close to daylight. Incandescent lighting produces a yellowish light.

When thinking about how your lightening and colors will work together, consider that warm, yellowish light can intensify warm colors and mute cooler hues, while cool bluish light does the opposite. For example, incandescent lighting cast warm light that can enhance reds, oranges and yellows; Cool fluorescent light works best with blues, violets and greens.

The value and intensity of a color are affected by the amount of light, too. In lower light, colors appear darker and less intense. As you increase the amount of light, the value lightens and the intensity increases until you reach its true color. Just keep in mind that too much light can make a color appear less saturated or washed out.

While you can understand how light affects color, choosing colors that will work in a particular lighting situation is still not an exact science. The best way to find the right color is to view a sample of the actual color and material that is at least a 12” x 12” in the space where you plan to use it and look at it in the actual lighting conditions of the space during different times of the day. Always look at the sample in the same plane it will be applied. For example, view wall paint vertically not flat on the floor or table; view rug or carpeting color flat on the floor. By doing this you can see how the color is affected by the light and make the perfect color choice.

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This fun color theory t-shirt design is available on Threadless. It has blue ink printed on a red t-shirt, visually making the letters appear purple.

The designer’s tongue-in-cheek saying cleverly plays on a phrase -- (fill in the blank) is the new black -- that is overused by the media when talking about color.

If only mixing blue and red did always produce purple. Anyone that has mixed colors – whether with paint or dye or clay – knows that what when you mix two colors, the result may not always be what you expect. But that’s a post for another day.

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Every design project is a balancing act. Designers must manage an array of elements – composition, color, lighting, function, shape, and texture – in order to create a cohesive, compelling space. Whether you’re tackling a small scale room remodel or you’re designing an eye-catching poster, one of the biggest challenges both professional and amateur designers face is pulling all the elements together in a way that feels complete and creates an appropriate atmosphere.

Color is frequently a hard-to-manage element, as its very nature resists accurate description, and its perception varies from person to person. Understanding a little color theory can help designers make the transition from adequate to outstanding, and mastering the use of high key and low key color is one of the best ways to get started.

A low key scheme contains a range of dark value colors; high key contains a range of light value colors.

High key color describes the set of colors that range from mid-tone hues to white, while low key color spans the range from mid-tone to black. In general, the high key range provides upbeat options, while low key colors provide more dramatic tones. The role these colors play in a project is a major factor in the mood or atmosphere that’s created because color elicits emotion – helps to play up the feeling that a designer wants to evoke.

Although color is only one of the design elements used to create feeling in a design, it’s one that can create the framework around which other elements can be employed. Establishing the mood or tone of a space should be one of the very first steps in the design process, as it’s related to function and guides many of the decisions that have to be made, beginning with the color palette. Color precision is frequently the single element that is at fault in designs whose moods are just slightly off – designs that almost work, but don’t quite. Discussions with clients about mood and high key or low key color should often happen early in the design process, as they’re fundamental to getting a project right, right from the start.

So how does a discussion about high key or low key color work? Let’s play with some examples.

We’ll start with some color theory everyone understands – we think of blue and other cool colors as calming. We tend to associate cool colors with tranquility and peace, so designers frequently use blues and greens when they’re creating a calm space. Seaglass tones – softened, worn green and lavender, along with greyed, low chroma blues are the classic palette used to evoke serenity.

Like all colors, though, blue isn’t a single shade. Possibilities are endless – from high key, pale blues all the way along the continuum to deep, low key shades. High key turquoise can create a cheerful, bright space, while deep, saturated navy blue can evoke a dramatic atmosphere, particularly when it’s paired with other deep tone, low key colors or contrasted with neutral colors.

Conversely, we think of warm colors – reds, yellow, and oranges – as sunny, dramatic shades. Using low key, deep gold and crimson can be dramatic, but a designer can create less stimulating spaces with higher toned, paler versions of warm colors. Particularly by using tones with little contrast, along with neutral shades, the impact and emotion of a warmer palette can be toned down.

High key low key color schemes used in interior design

For example color consultants and interior designers don’t always have the luxury of working in ideal spaces. We frequently have to manage limitations like an abundance or shortage of natural light. We might be faced with quirky room sizes or shapes. We may have to create a cohesive mood in a space that’s used for multiple purposes. The deliberate use of high and low key color can be the key to making a difficult project work.

A room that typically bakes in the summer sun is the perfect spot to use a high key cool palette to mitigate the warm atmosphere. A kitchen that doubles as an office could be overwhelmed by desk clutter and cooking paraphernalia, but an accent wall in a deep, low key color can draw the eye away from the less appealing elements in a space. Dark spaces – particularly ones with low ceilings – benefit from bright, high key shades that create the illusion of space and light.

Whether you’re looking to create a particular mood, tie together multiple spaces with a cohesive palette, or solve a sticky graphic design problem, playing with high key and low key colors can help you bring balance to your design project. You may opt to flout the rules, using colors in an unexpected way for an edgy, unique atmosphere, or you may opt for a more traditional, classic approach, but understanding how high key and low key colors work lets you make your choices skillfully.

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BAUHAUS COLOR THEORY

We think of color as transcendent – a language of sorts that signifies independent of cultural differences, time period, or aesthetic movement.  Color is a powerful tool that permits designers to influence mood, compose spaces, and even make profound statements.  We accept these truths about color, but we don’t often take the time to examine the roots of these core beliefs – where these ideas came from and how they were promoted.

If fact, it surprises many designers to discover that part of the foundation of our modern understanding of color and its uses is rooted in a design movement dating back to the early 20th century.  The Bauhaus movement and its institute were born in Germany in 1919.  Though the German school only lasted until 1933, when the Nazi government forced it to close, the Bauhaus not only educated many influential artists in a variety of disciplines, but it also spawned programs in other countries, including the US.

One of the most enduring influences of the Bauhaus, though, is the color theory that was taught under four prominent artists.  The contributions of Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Josef Albers undergird much of what we currently understand and believe about color, and an examination of the teachings of these four artists helps us understand not only the formation of modern color theory, but indeed how color theory is developed and transmitted.

BAUHAUS COLOR ACCORDING TO ITTEN

"Farbkreis Itten 1961" by Zeichner: Malte Ahrens - Quelle: selbst erstellt

Johannes Itten taught at the Bauhaus from 1919 until 1922, and he taught one of the fundamental preliminary courses that – among other things – grappled with color theory.  Itten gave us a color sphere comprised of twelve colors (three primary, three secondary, and six tertiary) that shows the relationship among colors, as well as gradations of saturation.  The influence of psychoanalysis is apparent in Itten’s color theory, as he was one of the first to associate different colors with specific emotions and study the impact of color on our moods.  He also studied how individuals perceive color.

Itten taught that there were seven different methods of contrast:  contrast of saturation, of light and dark, of extension, complementary contrast, simultaneous contrast, contrast of hue, and contrast between warm and cool colors.  One of his particularly interesting practices in the classroom was to work students through an examination of color and in particular his theory about contrast by first examining abstract works, reflecting the Bauhaus’ move away from exclusively representational works.  After students studied the abstract pieces, they would move on to look at more realistic works, and finally would apply what they had learned of color theory to their understanding of classical works.

Itten’s most enduring contribution to modern day color theory, though, is his characterization of colors in terms of temperature, and his designations of certain colors as warm and others as cool persists to this day.

BAUHAUS COLOR ACCORDING TO KANDINSKY

Composition 6" by Wassily Kandinsky, 1913 - State Hermitage Museum

Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian painter best known for his bold, geometric abstract works, taught at the Bauhaus from 1922 until it closed in 1933.  He considered color to be an utterly transcendent language of sorts, a way to examine the universal aesthetic.  He adopted a synesthetic relationship with color, associating particular colors with both specific geometric shapes and with musical tones and chords. Yellow, for example was best expressed as a triangle and was the color expressed by a middle C played on a brassy trumpet.  Circles were blue, and the color black in musical terms was the color of closure.  The examination of color in terms of the fullness of its expression is certainly one of Kandinsky’s legacies.

BAUHAUS COLOR ACCORDING TO KLEE

"Paul Klee Zeichen in Gelb 1937" by Paul Klee

Paul Klee taught at the Bauhaus from 1921 until 1931.  Like Kandinsky, Klee tended to think of color in musical terms, making the connection between harmonious sounds and complementary colors, as well as dissonant sounds and colors that clash.  Klee wanted his students to understand that color wasn’t just a tool for the faithful reproduction of nature.  Color for Klee was a powerful device that enabled a painter to shape, compose, and influence paintings, rooms, and even the people who interact with artwork.  In order to fully understand the power of color, students had to see color as freed from its naturalistic, descriptive role.

BAUHAUS COLOR ACCORDING TO ALBERS

"Josef Albers's painting 'Homage to the Square', 1965"

Although the Bauhaus closed in 1933, its legacy was far from finished.  Josef Albers first was a student at the school, studying under Johannes Itten, became a professor in 1925, and emigrated to the US after the Bauhaus’ closure.  He taught at several institutions in the US, most notably Black Mountain College and Yale.  Albers dealt both with the very physical reality of color and of paint, in particular, making detailed notes on the precise materials he used in his work, but he was also intrigued by the more abstract aspect of color theory and concluded that colors were governed by an internal and deceptive logic.

As we see in other color theories, the Bauhaus movement acknowledged the frustrating fact that even though color is fundamental, powerful, and versatile, it is also difficult to discuss.  Much in the way that language itself resists our efforts to understand it, the language of color is similarly resistant.

What the Bauhaus gave us, though, is an understanding of color that pushes us to think beyond the representational.  It forces us to confront the real emotional weight of our color choices, and it urges us to try out our terminology that applies to shape and sound in our understanding of color, giving us alternatives that open our minds to innovative and powerful ways to employ color in our work and lives.

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Color can be subtle. It can be vibrant. It can be puzzling, maddening, and elusive. Color can be polarizing, leading us to proclaim our affection for or dislike of a given hue. But one thing we can all agree on is that color is difficult to talk about. Color resists our attempts to understand, explain, and describe it. In fact, for hundreds of years great thinkers have devised various methods and means of understanding color and the relationships between and among the various hues.

We have a variety of color wheels, each with a subtle difference from all the rest, and we have both additive and subtractive models for obtaining a variety of different colors. The reason it’s so important to have a standard, reproducible means of both describing and creating color is that color can be subjective – or at least the way we interact with color can be. Your idea of a perfect spring green might look more like lime green to me. If we rely simply on words, we’re likely to end up going in circles.

The book Color Matching and Mixing explains Alfred Hickethier color theory and cube

Alfred Hickethier certainly had an interest in finding a precise way to describe and blend colors. He wanted to make lithography and printing in color more consistent, and he published his color cube – a three-dimensional model comprising 1000 individual colors – in 1952. Though there are more than 1000 possible colors, Hickethier believed that more than 1000 didn’t yield meaningful differences – that the human eye couldn’t really discern more colors than his cube contained.

A page from the book Color Matching and Mixing shows the Hickethier color cube

Hickethier Color Cube

After Hickethier published the color cube, he published his color mixing system in 1963, and this system is a stunning translation of color – that slippery, vexing topic – into a crystal clear, remarkably simple numerical system. Here’s how Hickethier did it:

• There are three primary colors – Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow – along with white and black used to create every one of the 1000 colors on Hickethier’s cube.

• Hickethier’s system is subtractive, meaning that the addition of pigment absorbs and reduces some wavelengths of light.

• In the Hickethier Color Theory each color is assigned three-digit numerical values. The five basic color are White (000), Cyan (009), Magenta (090), Yellow (900), and Black (999). Every three-digit number indicates the proportion of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow pigment used to obtain a given color. The first digit always refers to Yellow, the second digit to Magenta, and the third to Cyan.
• When you use pure pigment, delivered in measured drops, it’s easy to mix colors consistently. For example, Cyan uses 0 drops of Yellow, 0 drops of Magenta, and nine drops of Cyan. Orange (990) is 9 drops of Yellow, 9 drops of Magenta, and 0 drops of Cyan. Using the numerical formula – and adding black and white for darker and lighter color values – you can create Hickethier’s entire cube of 1000 colors – all with only five pigments.

How Hickethier Color Theory Is Different

So what differentiates the Hickethier color theory model from other competing or complementary models like Albert Munsell’s? Munsell’s model – both at first glance and on a deeper look – is far more complex in terms of its language. We have to understand the particular way in which Munsell used the primary aspects of color – hue, value, and chroma – in order to makes sense of Munsell’s color sphere. Hickethier reduced everything – all 1000 of his colors – to a mere three digits. He adopted a far less subjective language – numbers – to describe color.

By translating color into numbers, Hickethier achieved something perhaps no one else ever has – making color understandable in a completely objective (rather than subjective) way. When you think about the relationship among a set of greens, for example, understanding those relationships in terms of a different number of drops of Cyan and Yellow pigments greatly simplifies what differentiates one color from another by revealing the formula used to create each distinct color.

How Simple Is Hickethier’s Color Mixing System?

So simple a child can do it. It turns out that the most common pure use of Hickethier’s model is found in art classrooms. Using a curriculum developed by art teachers, Rock Paint Distributing, and Triarco Arts and Crafts, students learn to mix pigments, build color wheels, and discuss the subjective aspects of color, all using Hickethier.

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You might blame a lack of motivation at work on the previous night’s sleep or the project you’re on or a droning series of meetings. But what about color? The color that surrounds you during your work day plays a bigger part in your productivity than you might imagine. The reason why is that color has a profound effect on the brain, causing it to feel tranquil or depressed, hungry or excited.

For workspaces, that means some colors are better suited to the goal of some spaces than others. For example, blue tends to engender feelings of tranquility and calm, making it a good companion for brainstorming areas. White, on the other hand, obviously offers spaciousness that’s enviable for creativity. How you use color will help determine how well various spots in your office work to their intended goal. Want more advice on color in the workplace? Use this graphic for some ideas.

Productive Palette: How color can influence workplace behaviorInfographic by Quill

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