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Color Importance
What is color? To better understand power of color, let us first understand how color is perceived by the eye. There are two ways to illustrate color – subtractive and additive. Additive is where different spectrum colors are added together to make a color. Subtractive is where a color is perceived only because every other color has been ‘absorbed’ or taken away from the object that you see. If you, for example, see a lemon, you can only perceive a lemon because the yellow of the lemon is the only color that remains showing in the lemon. The rest is hidden or absorbed by the lemon. How do we show color? So, the way a computer shows color is by additive method. The natural way is through subtractive method. Thus, it has been a problem from the start how to show colors on a monitor. Nevertheless, the computers of today are getting better and better. They can fine tune million of colors! There are three basic sub-categories for color imaging on the computer. These are hue, saturation and HSV. Saturation – the power of the color – higher is rich and stronger, and the lower number is more subtle or gray tones. Hue – The basic color type from the primary colors of Red, Yellow, and Blue. HSV – Brightness – Basically the amount of white added or not to the color. This is the simple method to explain color. There are other ways, but outside of the scope of most people’s needs for website design. So what is the difference on choice? Different color types make different impressions! Red, is a powerful color statement. In Asia (China and Japan) this is a powerful color to show strength. But in America, Red can psychologically mean ‘hot’. In America, we are brought up with the notion of hot and color meaning red and blue! Not so in Europe! Blue is the color of many European flags and so it is a powerful color for them (ie: France and Sweden!) There have been many studies done of even saturation and strengths. For example, did you know that ‘pink’ can calm aggressiveness in prisons? Some states have the uniforms of the prisoners colored in pink to calm the tendencies. It actually worked! Similarly yellow has been known to ‘enhance’ depression and sadness. Most hospitals has changed from the normally ‘off white’ yellow to be a happier color – the results are outstanding: Less deaths and faster recoveries! How does this affect my business? Well, for many years the Hornets of New Orleans were non-profitable in the NBA. The owners went to work on redesigning the brand and identity…The same year that they played with the new logo and brand identity the franchise sales of accessories and jerseys went through the roof even though the team did not reach the playoffs! Final Note An independent group was founded in 1963 that standardizes color around the world. They are called ‘Pantone’. There have always been issues between printers, monitors and paper output. So, this firm offers standard colors that are widely used in the industry to level the results across industries and media. It is worth looking at a Pantone catalog to see the latest color samples and even some of the new trends. So, next time you look at color on a site…think about your impressions and how the company is trying to direct your thought processes. Then, design your site to do the same process to others. MediaFane Articles is powered by Otlix Ad Server solutions for Publishers and Advertisers. Otlix has been dedicated to optimizing the use of media since 2006. They provide media solutions as Ad Serving, Ad Delivery, Ads Rotation, Video Advertising and Ad Management tools. These tools can be used to simplify and better ad Campaigns, and they give you a comprehensive overview of all of your campaigns with their smart Analytics and Statistics system. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com |
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