Colour & symbolic association

1. Colour & Symbolic Association; Colour & Individual Differences;Colour & Cultural DifferencesCategories of Colour

2. Colour & symbolic association Various theorists consider that colour may convey symbolic association or meaning (see Albers, 1963; Goethe, 1810; Kandinsky, 1911) Colour meanings and symbolic associations are not universal and often vary among individuals as well as across different cultures and sub-cultures. An explanation for this diversity may be symbolic interactionist theory, which suggests that humans behave towards objects and settings (and by logical extension, colour) on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to them and these meanings tend to be both arbitrary as well as culturally defined (Blumer, 1969). However, caution is advised... Symbolic meanings & associations are subject to individual differences, cultural and sub-cultural experiences & may vary depending on context & time

3. Lucid Serious Reflective Mighty Melancholic Serene Colour & symbolic association Josef Albers (1888-1976) – initially a student and then teacher at the Bauhaus (1922 to 1933) then Head of Design at Yale University (1950 to 1958) • Albers considered that certain colours conveyed meaning... Note: We will talk more about Albers later in the course

4. Colour & symbolic association RED: frequently used to symbolise revolutionary ideas, socialism & communism Che Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries & Mao’s Quotations; Maoist China & Soviet Russia poster & advertisement for Rock n’ Roll play, Sydney Theatre Company

5. Colour & symbolic association RED: also used to symbolically convey virility, passion, romance

6. Colour & symbolic association RED: also used to symbolise danger

7. Colour & symbolic association GOLD: often used to symbolise quality, opulence & wealth Frequently used in advertisements for jewellery, whisky, perfume, good wine, cigars, etc

8. Dependable, reliable, approachable blue (60, 90, 150) Colour & symbolic association Symbolic colour-associations have become common in marketing and branding. Some examples include blue & green... Blue: synonymous with dependability and reliability and often features in the logos of banks and IT organisations (eg ANZ Bank & the Reserve Bank of Australia) IBM’s logo (designed by Paul Rand, 1972) conveys a sense of stability and dependability, and has contributed to the company’s nickname of ‘‘Big Blue’’. Similarly, Facebook’s blue which is similar to IBM’s blue, was also chosen because Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colour-blind (Vargas, 2010).

9. Dependable, reliable, approachable blue (60, 90, 150) Colour & symbolic association Symbolic colour-associations have become common in marketing and branding. Some examples include blue & green... Green has become associated with organic, eco-friendly products and services world-wide. In Australia, green is the corporate colour of the Organic Federation of Australia; Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA) and the Sustainable Living Association (NASAA, 2011; OFA, 2011; SLA, 2011). Eco-friendly green (0-100-0)

10. Colour & symbolic association Caution! Colour & symbolic association do not necessarily represent definitive universal or fixed linkages. Symbolic meanings & associations may be influenced by individual & cultural differences as well as perceptual, contextual and temporal factors. Red & pink used to symbolise….? Romance? Danger? Warning?

11. Colour: Individual & cultural differences

12. Colour & individual differences A range of individual differences and characteristics, such as age and gender, are considered to influence responses to colour (Manav, 2007). Preference: Colour preferences tend to vary on an individual basis and on a general basis by age group (Kose, 2008). While blue is often cited as a preference in a quick test, this has become known as the “blue phenomenon” whereby subjects from countries such as the United States, Australia, Kenya and Japan respond with blue when asked to produce a colour name or preference. This phenomenon is not universal and in countries such as the Netherlands, Niger, and the Congo, red is the colour named when subjects are asked to produce a colour name or preference; and black in Senegal and the Transkei (Wiegersma & Van Loon, 1989).

13. Colour & individual differences Age and gender: Men and women may experience colour differently perceptually due to the X-chromosome gene that encodes the photo-pigment from the cone receptors in the retina. Women have two copies of the X-chromosome, while men have only a single copy of the X-chromosome (Pardo, Perez and Suero, 2007). In addition, age and gender are considered to influence, to an unspecified level, aesthetic response to colour (Manav, 2007). Children: Tend to prefer brighter, more saturated colours in terms of environmental settings (Cohen & Trostle, 1990; Zenter, 2001); • This tendency is often translated into interior design recommendations featuring bright colours in child care centres, hospitals, etc; • Bright colour contrasts are also an effective tool for way-finding , spatial orientation and space definition in children’s environments (Read, 2003).

14. Colour & individual differences Children Colour preference studies for children indicate that red is the overall preferred colour for both males and females (Zentner, 2001). Rankings of colour-emotion associations in male & female children as follows: (Zentner, 2001)

15. Colour & individual differences Older people: Vision during low illumination tends to decrease with age (Jackson, Owsley & McGwin, 1999); • Hence, stronger colour contrast is advisable in interior/graphic design for older people to improve legibility Familiarity: Evaluation of colour and colour preferences may be influenced by the associations that we hold in relation to specific colours and it is suggested that familiarity plays a key role in these associations (Svedmyr, 1997).

16. Colour & cultural differences Colour meanings and associations are considered to vary considerably across cultures (Feisner, 2000; Gage, 1995). A cultural analysis of colour meanings and associations shows distinct differences across cultures with respect to the seven colours: white, blue, green, yellow, red, purple, and black (Aslam, 2006).

17. Colour & cultural differences Aslam’s (2006) cultural analysis of colour meanings

18. Colour & symbolic association Colour associations & sub-cultural groups Anecdotal evidence suggests that people aligned with specific sub-cultures may prefer/exhibit unique colour characteristics as evidenced in their clothing and personal ornamentation. Colour, along with other design elements, thereby providing a means of signalling membership of that particular sub-culture. A current example includes Heavy Metal musicians and fans...

19. Colour & symbolic association Heavy metal fans Heavy Metal: genre of rock music that emerged in late 1960s /early 70s. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple played essentially blues-rock/psychedelic rock and their music featured loud, distorted guitars and power chords coupled with strong rhythms and a dense bass and drum sound. Subsequent heavy metal bands include Iron Maiden, Mötörhead, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth, Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Korn. Visual imagery plays a key role in heavy metal bands and is used to create and maintain a strong connection between the band and its audience. Colour plays a key role in the visual imagery associated with this particular sub-culture...

20. Colour & symbolic association Key colour characteristics of Heavy Metal Debut albums of Heavy Metal bands including Led Zeppelin (1969), Black Sabbath (1970), Iron Maiden (1980), Metallica (1983), Megadeth (1985) and Korn 1994).

21. Colour & symbolic association A limited palette of colours feature predominantly in the clothing & personal ornamentation of heavy metal fans

22. Categories of colour conventional colour, substance colour, formula colour & spectral profile colour (Green-Armytage, 2006)

23. Conventional Colour Conventional colour: The basic appearance that is associated with an object or substance: Green apple;bluesky; redcar An array of green colours:

24. Substance Colour Substance colour: Specific pigments or dyes that may be derived from natural or synthetic sources. (eg Turquoise, indigo, amber, etc) Substance colours can be identified via chemical analysis and/or colour notation systems.

25. Carmine Introduced during the Renaissance period, carmine was also known as crimson lake. A deeper, stronger red than madder lake, carmine is sourced from carminic acid which is derived from the cochineal scale insect. Lacking high stability carmine is now produced synthetically but cochineal is still commonly used as a food dye. Vermilion A bright, orange-red, vermilion was originally derived from cinnabar and often used in ancient Roman frescoes. An expensive pigment, vermilion was used as a status symbol to display wealth and reserved as a key colour in paintings to depict the robes of key nobles and dignitaries Categories of Colour – Substance Colour

26. Indian yellow Originally from India, Indian yellow was distilled from the urine of cows fed on a diet of mango leaves and water (Finlay, 2004). Frequently used in the 17th and 18th centuries, the pigment process was outlawed in 1908 and replaced by a synthetic pigment. Tyrian purple A deep, pinkish purple, this pigment was derived from the secretions of the Mediterranean molluscs of the Murex family. Also called Tyrian red, this pigment was expensive to produce and, in ancient Rome, it was reserved for the robes of the imperial family (Delamare & Guineau, 2000). Categories of Colour – Substance Colour

27. Indigo Extracted from the indigo plant (Indigofera tinctoria) imported from India (1.7 million hectares of Indigo plant in 1897), Indigo dye was renown for its colourfast and fade-proof qualities – hence, it was a popular colour for army uniforms. Blue denim jeans were originally dyed with Indigo dye. Ultramarine The name comes from Latin for ‘beyond the sea’ as it was imported from Asia. Natural ultramarine is a double silicate of aluminium and sodium derived from lapis lazuli. It was first used in cave paintings in Afghanistan in the 6th century and also in Chinese paintings of the 10th-11th centuries. A costly pigment, synthetic ultramarine became available in the mid 1800s. Categories of Colour – Substance Colour

28. Categories of Colour – Formula Colour Formula colour: Colour derived via a specific formula from any one of a number of colour notation systems: • NCS Colour system • The CMYK system • The Pantone system, etc Colour mixed to a formula devised by manufacturers of paints, printing inks, pigments, etc • Porters Paints • Taubmans Paints • Dulux Paints, etc

29. Categories of colour – Formula colour INS 129 Allura Red RGB 205-0-0 Food colour International motor racing: British teams British racing green

30. Categories of colour – Formula colour CMYK Process colours BLACK (Key) RGB 0-0-0 CYAN RGB 0-183-235 YELLOW RGB 255-239-0 MAGENTA RGB 255-0-144

31. Categories of Colour - Spectral Profile Colour Spectral profile colour: Colour in the form of light-waves such as colours visible in a rainbow.

32. Categories of Colour - Spectral Profile Colour Spectral profile colour: Colour as it appears in computers, television monitors, cinemas, theatre lighting, light shows, etc.

33. References Albers, J. (1963). The interaction of color. New Haven, NY: Yale University Press. Aslam, M. M. (2006). Are you selling the right colour? Journal of Marketing Communications, 12(1), 15-30. Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Berkeley: University of California Press. Chevreul, M. E. (1855). The principles of harmony and the contrast of colours: And their applications to the arts (Facsimile edition; Trans. C Martel). Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. Cohen, S., & Trostle, S. L. (1990). Young children's preferences for school-related physical-environmental setting characteristics. Environment and Behaviour, 22(6), 753-766. Delamare, F., & Guineau, B. (2000). Colour: Making and using dyes and pigments. London: Thames & Hudson. Feisner, E. A. (2000). Colour: How to use colour in art and design. London: Laurence King. Gage, J. (1995). Colour and culture. London: Thames & Hudson. Gage, J. (2000). Colour and meaning: Art, science and symbolism. London: Thames & Hudson. Green-Armytage, P. (2006). The value of knowledge for colour design. Color Research and Application, 31 (4), 253-269. Goldstein, E. B. (1996). Sensation and perception. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Hard, A., Sivik, L., & Tonnquist, G. (1996). NCS, Natural color system - from concept to research and applications. Part 1. Color Research and Application, 21(3), 180-205. Hard, A., Sivik, L., & Tonnquist, G. (1996). NCS, Natural color system - from concept to research and applications. Part 2. Color Research and Application, 21(3), 206-220. Itten, J. (1961). The art of color (Revised edition, 1973). New York: John Wiley. Jackson, G. R., Owsley, C., & McGwin, G. (1999). Aging and dark adaptation. Vision Research, 39(23), 3975-3982 Manav, B. (2007). Color-emotion associations and color preferences: A case study for residences. Color Research and Application, 32(2), 144-150. Munsell. (2003). Munsell: The universal language of color. Retrieved October 2003, from http:/www.gretamacbeth.com/Source/Solutions/munsell/index.asp

34. References Munsell, A. H. (1921). A grammar of color. Retrieved 20 October 2003, from http:/www.gretamacbeth.com/Source/Solutions/munsell/index.asp Munsell, A. H. (1912). A pigment color system and notation. The American Journal of Psychology, 23(2), 236-244. Newton, I. (1704). Opticks: A treatise of the reflections, refractions, inflections and colours of light (4th ed.). Retrieved 30 March 2010, from http://books.google.com/books?id=GnAFAAAAQAAJ Newton, I. (1704). Cited in J.Gage (2000) Colour and Meaning: Art Science and Symbolism. London: Thames & Hudson. Pardo, P. J., Perez, A. L., & Suero, M. I. (2007). An example of sex-linked color vision differences. Color Research and Application, 32(6), 433-439. Read, M. A. (2003). Use of color in child care environments: Application of color for wayfinding and space definition in Alabama child care environments. Early Childhood Education Journal, 30(4), 233-239. Shillito, P. (1979). Shillito Design School syllabus: Recollections of Zena Stefanek, SDS student from 1977 to 1979. Sydney: Shillito Design School. Wiegersma, S., & Van Loon, A. (1989). Some variables in the blue (red) phenomenon. Journal of General Psychology, 116(3), 259-269. Zentner, M. R. (2001). Preferences for colours and colour-emotion combinations in earl childhood. Developmental Science, 4(4), 389-398.

35. Websites A&BC. (2005). Argyll and Bute Local Plan: Conservation, Character Appraisal and Key Environmental Features for Tobermory. Retrieved 20 April 2007, from http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/localplans Adobe. (2011). Adobe Photoshop CS5 - Overview. Retrieved 9 May 2011, from http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html Aristotle. (335). Poetics. Section 1450b Retrieved 23 April 2010, fromhttp://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0056 Barragan, L. (1980). Acceptance speech, Pritzker Architecture Prize. Retrieved 20 April 2007, from http://www.pritzkerprize.com/barragan.htm CAUS. (2009). Color Association of the United States. Retrieved 30 November 2009, from http://www.colorassociation.com/ CIE. (2008). CIE 1931 XYZ colour space. Retrieved 14 July 2008, from Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage http://www.cie.co.at/ Colourways. (2011). Colourways - Overview. Retrieved 9 May 2011, from http://www.colourways.com.au/pdf/Colourways%20Overview.pdf Cullachange. (2011). Cullachange - Colour charts. Retrieved 9 May 2011, from http://www.cullachange.com.au/colour-charts.html Dailyicon. (2009). Nestle Laboratory by Rojkind Arquitectos. Retrieved 25 March 2010, from http://www.dailyicon.net/2009/04/nestle-laboratory EFCD. (2011). Eva Fay Colour Design Retrieved 9 May 2011, from http://www.efcd.com.au/index.html EurekaVideo. (2010). Metropolis (A film by Fritz Lang, Germany, 1927; Reconstructed & restored 2010). Retrieved 23 June 2011, from http://metropolis1927.com/#home Funny Wildlife. (2012). Funny Wildlife Sleeping Animals. Retrieved on 28 November 2012 from http://www.funnywildlife.com/funny-sleeping-animals.html Frampton, K. (2002). The architecture of Glenn Murcutt. Pritzker Architecture Prize 2002 Essay Retrieved 10 March 2009, from http://www.pritzkerprize.com/laureates/2002/essay.html HSA. (2010). North Apartments - Project description. Retrieved 3 November 2010, from http://www.seidler.net.au/ ISO. (2011). ISO 15076 - Image technology colour management. Retrieved 10 May 2011, from http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=54754 JVA. (2010). Jarmund Vigsnaes Projects - The Red House. Retrieved 25 March 2010, from http://www.jva.no/ Metrolic. (2012). Metrolic – Brothes Into Sleep. Retrieved 27 November 2011, from http://www.metrolic.com Morovic, J., & Morovic, P. (2003). Determining colour gamuts of digital cameras and scanners. Color Research and Application, 28(1), 59-68. Munsell. (2003). Munsell: The universal language of color. Retrieved October 2003, from http:/www.gretamacbeth.com/Source/Solutions/munsell/index.asp

36. Websites Munsell. (2011). Munsell: Products and services. Retrieved 10 May 2011, from http://www.munsellstore.com/default.aspx?menuitemid=476 Munsell, A. H. (1921). A grammar of color. Retrieved 20 October 2003, from http:/www.gretamacbeth.com/Source/Solutions/munsell/index.asp Newton, I. (1704). Opticks: A treatise of the reflections, refractions, inflections and colours of light (4th ed.). Retrieved 30 March 2010, from http://books.google.com/books?id=GnAFAAAAQAAJ OFA. (2011). Organic Federation of Australia - webpage. Retrieved 28 March 2011, from http://www.ofa.org.au/ MCSL. (2011). Munsell Color Science Laboratory. Retrieved 10 May 2011, from http://www.cis.rit.edu/mcsl/ NASAA. (2011). Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA) - webpage. Retrieved 28 March 2011, from http://www.nasaa.com.au/ NCS. (2009). The Natural Color System (NCS). Retrieved 14 July 2009, from http://www.ncscolour.com/ NCS. (2011). NCS Notation and colour space. Retrieved 10 May 2011, from http://www.ncscolour.com/en/rm/about-us/colour-knowledge/how-ncs-works/ncs-notation/ NHPL. (2011). NHPL Colour Pty Ltd - Calibrated digital capture of colour Retrieved 9 May 2011, from http://www.nhplcolour.com/digitalcolour.html Pantone. (2011). Pantone - Products and services. Retrieved 10 May 2011, from http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/index.aspx Rorke, M. H. (1931). The work of the Textile Color Card Association. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 21(10), 651-653. Schroeder, M. D. (1997). JPEG compression algorithm and associated data structures. <http://people.cs.und.edu/~mschroed/index.html>. Retrieved September 2003SLA. (2011). Sustainable Living Association - webpage. Retrieved 28 March 2011, from http://www.sustainableliving.org.au/home Shocking Newz. (2012). Shocking Newz. Retrieved on 28 November 2012 from http://shockingnewz.com/animals-sleeping-with-funny-styles.html Travel Photo. (2012). Travel Photo Animals. Retrieved on 28 November 2012 from http://www.travelphoto.net/a-photo-a-day/wordpress/category/photos-by-subject/animals/

37. Websites UNESCO. (1987). Venice and its lagoon (Reference 394). Retrieved 27 April 2010, from http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/394 UNESCO. (1994). World Heritage Site 712: City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto. Retrieved 1 February 2011, from http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/712 Vargas, J. A. (2010). The face of Facebook - The New Yorker, 20 September 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2011, from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_vargas?currentPage=all Wall Paper Us. (2012). Wall Paper Us Animals Rocks Fennec Sleeping. Retrieved on 28 November 2012 from http://wallpapersus.com/animals-rocks-fennec-sleeping/ WallpapersWa. (2012). WallpapersWa Animals Sleeping Polar Bears Sunbathing. Retrieved on 28 November 2012 from http://wallpaperswa.com/Animals/Bears/animals_ sleeping_polar_bears_sunbathing_1920x1080_wallpaper_36045 Zuza Fun. (2012). Zuza Fun Sleeping Animals. Retrieved on 28 November 2012 from http://www.zuzafun.com/sleeping-animals Other images: Wiki Commons and Public Domain