Module 2

Color Psychology Psychoanalysis

When we look at anything from a painting to a package or even Psychiatrists have long been interested in perception and color
a simple product, we bring a lifetime’s worth of memories, and their combined effect on the psyche.
experiences, and psychological baggage that impacts and
affects our perception He saw the artist’s use of color as a manifestation of the
unconscious.
Color psychology and market research go hand in hand, but
these two areas have had an uneasy relationship or alliance Laurie Schneider Adams sees a close relationship between art
since the days of Sigmund Freud. and psychology, and she believes that the artist’s use of the
color, form, and imagery are autobiographical in nature.
The goal is understanding this complex relationship of color,
psyche, and emotion that enables artists and designers to While Sigmund Freud was one of the first to begin to discuss
produce effective works of art and designs the use of color and its relationship to psychology in his
monograph on Leonardo da Vinci, it was Carl Jung in Man and
Artists must have more than the technical knowledge of His Symbols who began to see color as a primal element that
creating and mixing color, they must also understand its impact needed to be addressed.
on the viewer
The Luscher Color Test
This knowledge enables the artist and designer to intentionally
create a work that will elicit the specific desired response from Dr. Max Luscher – in 1960, developed a color test to determine
the viewer. personality traits and disorders.

Innate responses The Luscher Color Test

Two factors that determine our reaction to color - become the standard and is considered the most reliable of
all of the color personality insight tools
- Inherited
- The simple and most widely used version of the test contains
- Innate responses to color eight colors.

We are born with certain “wired in” responses to color. These - The four psychological primaries—dark blue, yellow, red-
are reactions that are common to all people regardless of their orange, and green—make up the first group of the color test
place of birth, cultural upbringing, or social status.
- violet and neutrals of brown, gray, and black (the absence of
Innate responses all color) making up the second or auxiliary group.

Most primal and innate responses to is our reaction to the - By placing these colored swatches in descending order of
combination of yellow and black They are the colors of poison preference, it revealed aspects of personality, including
and danger. Bumblebees, wasps, police caution tape, and road anxieties, conflicts, and compulsions.
hazard warning signs all contain these two colors. So, while
they are easy to recognize and read, they are not inviting and The Brain and the Cortex
rarely used in design.
Edwin Land - the inventor of the Polaroid camera, idea came
Learned Color Responses from his retinex theory.

Our response to color is not purely unconscious or intuitive; it is Retinex - a combination of the words retina
learned. Blue for boys and pink for girls is a cultural response
and cortex.
to color taught to us by our family and reinforced in the
marketplace Colors are also cultural, having religious Colors are not determined in isolation and that colors change in
connotations. relation to one another. We can take two swatches of the same
color and depending upon the background color they are
Learned Color Responses
placed on, radically change their visual appearance.
Today, yellow green is used for fire trucks and hydrants
Color Constancy
because it can be seen from farthest away, regardless of the
light and time of day. Land’s conclusion - cognitive function and our learned
responses to objects played a dominant role in our color
Fire trucks have been painted red, hence the name
recognition and the consistency with which we viewed an
“Fire-engine red.” objects’ color. Even in the dark, we expect an object to retain
its color
But several years ago, it was discovered that this red hue is
hard to see at dawn and dusk when there is little light. The brain and psyche ignore the reflected wavelength light
impulses, overriding the incoming data, and decide based on
years of knowledge of the color of the item. When we think of
how we see, our first thought is of our eyes, but the mind and
subconscious play a much more significant part in how we
perceive color than we can imagine.

Color Function and Cognition

By changing the color of an object, we can drastically alter its

function and use. Picasso’s Blue Period

We tend to recognize objects such as signs by their color as Picasso’s blue period starts with the death of his closest friend,
much as by their shape or lettering. Casagemas

Red is the color of a stop sign and whether it is the octagonal The death of his best friend started a serious depression that
shape as in America or a circular format as in Europe, the color lasted for several years, corresponded to his Blue Period; a
red automatically signals us to stop time wherein Picasso only used the color blue in all of his
paintings
Color Function and Cognition
More on Color Psychology
In several psychological studies in controlled situations, stop
signs were changed from red to green changed from red to Psychological Perception
green Everything else about the signs remained exactly the
Colors have a physiological effect on our bodies and well-
same.
being. Color red will increase skin temperature and raise blood
Drivers go right through the intersections without stopping. pressure and respiration Blue will lower skin temperature,
When pulled over by the researchers, the people in the car blood pressure, respiration, and pulse. Color can also affect
would say, “Yes, I saw the stop sign.” When asked why they our perception of objects as well.
don’t stop: “But the sign was green and green means go.”
Mink ranchers use blue lights to keep the normally vicious and
The drivers were more influenced by the color of the sign than ill-tempered animals calm and to allow them to handle the
the printed word or the shape of the sign animals more easily.

A History of Blue Color associations can change and be as Mink ranchers use blue lights to keep the normally vicious and
relative as the application of color itself. ill-tempered animals calm and to allow them to handle the
animals more easily.
Blue can stand for being “true blue,” loyal, and steadfast.
These identifications with the hue go as far back as 1340 B.C. Mood and Emotion
to the Egyptian civilization and the reign of King Tut. In western
Mood and disposition can also influence our perception of
culture, the color blue dates to 431 A.D. when the church
color.
began to associate specific colors with the saints and religious
figures to bring the stories of the Bible to life. As an experiment on color and emotion---- the U.S. Navy
painted its holding cells in the “brig,” its military jail, pink. They
Blue is America’s favorite color. It may be a toss-up whether
found that even the most hostile and agitated sailors became
navy or denim is number one. The name jean is derived from
docile and calm while in the pink holding area. However, the
the Italo-English genoese, meaning from Genoa where the
study also revealed that if the prisoners were left in the pink
fabric style, originally linen and cotton, was originally
holding cell for more than a short period of time, they become
developed.
even more aggressive and violent.
The pants became known by the name of their material in the
The color that at first subdued and quieted, over an extended
1850s. What makes jeans so special is their denim fabric,
period of time, irritated and aggravated the sailors so much that
which is very dense and will not completely absorb all of the
they became uncontrollable.
indigo dye. The colorant fades out little by little through
continued washing, producing a unique look for each pair of While pink may be questionable to use in certain situations,
pants. This has become part of their mystique and their rugged
appeal. GREEN, on the other hand, can be a very welcoming hue.
People adjust well to new surroundings under the influence of
The blue jean is uniquely American, invoking the West and era green.
of the cowboy
If you paint the interior of a cabin in green, there will be fewer
Blue is also associated with water and sky incidences of homesickness among the children. Green
interiors are also frequently used in bed-and-breakfast inns to
Lighter blue hues do not have the same impact or meaning as
create a warm and inviting atmosphere for the guests.
the darker varieties. Unlike the statement of authority in navy-
blue, a light blue hue has a more calming and peaceful feel. Color and Appetite
This may be in part why the United Nations uses this hue as Fast-food restaurant chains have perfected the use of color to
the identifying color (helmets, flags, etc.) For their sway emotion.
peacekeeping forces.
Color and Flavor
the earth is often referred to as a “big blue marble.”
 bread is normally sold in packaging decorated or tinted with In the late 1990s, Apple came along with the iBook and iMac
golden or brown tones to promote the idea of homebaked and and revolutionized the world of home computers.
oven freshness. Adding yellow to the wrapper will boost bread
sales bread sales and give the product a sunny bright appeal. Today, the computer is a fashion accessory and decorative
home item. It is now considered a part of the room like
When margarine first was introduced there were laws in the furniture, and color is used to accent and decorate it.
dairy states preventing manufacturers from coloring the
product yellow, the color of butter. Initially it came with a
separate packet of yellow dye; the consumer would have to
mix it in to make the white pasty substance resemble the
natural product. Socio-economic Aspects of Color
In fact, if you are on a diet, replace the normal light bulb in your Color choices are determined by many factors. There are
refrigerator with a blue bulb. The food will look unappetizing socioeconomic aspects that affect your choice of favorite hues
and can help to reduce the amount of food consumed. and that determine which hues you feel more at home or
comfortable with. The higher your economic status, the more
In fact if you are on a diet, replace the normal light bulb in your
you will favor darker, less saturated, complex hues. People in
refrigerator with a blue bulb. The food will look unappetizing
the lower economic brackets tend to prefer and respond
and can help to reduce the amount of food consumed.
favorably to simple, bright, pure hues. This can be seen in
If you still have any reservations that color affects flavor, take a everything from department stores to hotels.
look at the ingredients on most food products and you will see
Tiffany’s, an ultra high-end retailer, is known for their use of a
that one or more of the items listed is a coloring agent or dye.
muted turquoise palette.
BLUE - most recent entry into the food-coloring fray
Robinsons, a department store for middle class, uses bright
In the past, blue was not considered edible because it was not red
a color found in fresh, natural food products; rather, it reminded
Socioeconomic factors influence everything.
customers of mold and decay. Even today, the blue that is
used is a very saturated bright hue and never a blue green. Carlton Wagner, a color consultant, says that one group does
not fit this model is the so-called yuppie (young urban
These new products are mostly directed to a younger market
professional).
who have not yet formed negative color associations and
usually it is used in candy, soft drinks, and sports drinks. Yuppies tend to pick color choices based on where they want
to go, and they look ahead to the next higher economic bracket
Packaging and Products
for their color choices.
The exact opposite of this approach would be the way food and
The use of orange opens up a product or service to the widest
beverages are packaged. Color is used to signify the object as
audience . It is not an exclusive color and is never used for
well as to enhance the flavor or taste. We recognize specific
high-end goods or services. Orange declassifies and may be
brands of food, cigarettes, and even magazines by their
considered the lowest common denominator in color usage.
trademark colors.
Whether it’s used in a logo, on the product itself, Or in the
We reach for a product by recognizing the color of the package décor, it signifies that the company or products presented are
before we have even consciously read the name of the being marketed to a mass audience.
product. Shoppers scan the shelf and recognize the product
Oppenheim’s Blue Shirt
they wish to purchase in 0.03 seconds
Socioeconomic connotations is evidenced in how we relate
We recognize the color yellow of the Cheerios box long before
color to the names given to certain occupations.
we see or read the name of the product.
“White-collar” workers are executives and others engaged in
What other products do you recognize solely by their
office work
color?
“Blue-collar” denotes manual labor and has undertones of
60 percent of acceptance or rejection of a product is based on
negative associations of the working class as unskilled and
its color. That decision is also made very quickly. Within 90
undereducated.
seconds, a person will make a choice to accept or reject a
purchase. Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport announced plans to erect
a new work of art by Dennis Oppenheim’s called Blue Shirt.
If the color is not right, people will not purchase the product. If
When the piece was first unveiled to the public, it was felt that it
you don’t think the color of an item is this critical, consider the
was derogatory and a slap in the face to the city’s working
role it plays in the purchase of a major ticket item such as a car
class. But the artist felt that the piece was positive and exalted
Apple Changes Everything the working class that is the core of the city.

One of the newest products to be sold in a variety of colors is Artists’ Use of Color
the computer. Traditionally, they came in the standard gray or
Saturation and brightness are also essential elements in our
putty color.
perception of color. Warm, bright, fully saturated colors appear
to advance—they make objects seem larger and closer to us. In Ritz, Francesco Clemente departs from his usual use of oils
Intense and highly saturated hues are normally used in the to work with the fluid aspects of watercolor. The media has a
foreground and bring the viewer into the painting or work of art. murky quality that adds to the haunting nature of the work. The
Tints will also create a similar optical boost and open up the large red mass in the lower right is balanced against the green
space, which makes objects appear larger and closer to the shades in the upper left portion of the image. The figures’
viewer. These will also imbue the image with a positive, gazes act as implied lines, keeping the viewer’s eyes moving
uplifting feeling. Cool, dull, low saturated dark colors make around the work.
objects look smaller and appear to recede in space. They have
a restrained feeling and evoke emotions such as sadness,
depression, loss, and longing.

As objects move back into space, they lose color and

Thilo Heinzmann, O.T., 2010
saturation and blend or melt away into a middle or light gray.
This effect is called atmospheric perspective Thilo Heinzmann uses oil and pigment to create his dramatic
mixed media works.
As items move into the background, there is less light falling on
them and subsequently there is less color, detail, and texture. He has been concentrating on what he feels are the “endless
This is why when we look at a mountain range, the peaks possibilities” of using a white background. In O.T. the white
seem to dissolve into thin air and fade away. backdrop acts as a stage for red pigments and oil. They burst
across the canvas with a volatile force resembling a blood
Local color (referred to when working in a representational
spatter from some crime scene or the aftermath of an
manner) and value are synonymous with the exact appearance
explosion.
of the object.
A more conceptually subtle use of color for its meaning and
In Pat Rosenstein’s painting (on the right), The Ack Bassward
significance is the work of Francis Alÿs.
Painting, the colors used accurately reflect the natural colors of
the objects portrayed. This style of painting is also known as In 2005, Alÿs walked across the length of Jerusalem carrying a
photorealism. can filled with green paint. The can was pierced with a tiny hole
allowing some of the green liquid to dribble out, creating a
Color as a Means of Expression
wavy line.
Use of heightened color –
His walk retraced a path drawn in green on a map at the end of
- Another method of using color as visual expression. 1948 Arab-Israeli war demarcating land to be controlled by the
newly created state. Alÿs’ body of work is about creating
- makes elements of a painting or image stand out. metaphors about history.

- Used by Fauves, this theory of color to make their images Topic 4 Color Harmonies
stand out
Artists or designers rarely, if ever, work with one color alone.
- also a liberating idea that an artist could paint an object—for Most work with many hues, and therefore need to know how
instance, a tree— any color he wanted. these various colors will interact with one another.
And by making the tree blue or red or violet, force the viewer to Color harmonies, schemes, and color ways are synonymous
stop and rethink just exactly what a tree is and what its true terms, meaning the same thing.
meaning may be.
• color schemes are formulas or combinations that can be used
André Derain, Charing Cross Bridge, 1906. Derain used a to create a cohesive unified picture.
heightened or arbitrary color palette to convey emotion and
was not concerned with the natural or local color of the items. • These formulas are timeproven methods of using color to
create a pleasing harmonic balance.
Color as a Means of Expression
Color
German Expressionists
• The terms hue, chrome and color are all names for the same
- Outlasted the Fauves thing.
- German artists of The Bridge (Die Brucke) and the Blue Rider • A hue is the actual, or proper name of any given color.
(Der Blaue Reiter)
• The term color tends to be more universal, while hue tends to
- They used identical concepts of enhanced and elevated color be more specific and refers to a color found in the spectrum or
to imbue their paintings with strong emotional and on the color wheel
psychological content.
If all colors is eliminated entirely, we would be left with
- Artists began to understand the power that color alone could achromatic range.
achieve in pushing the cerebral and expressive state of an
artwork. A – not Chroma – meaning color In theory, if you mixed all the
hues on the color wheel, you would get black.
Francesco Clemente, Ritz, 1983.
Black and white are not considered color. Along with the full - The specific placement of the hues along the circumference
range of grays, black and white are neutrals, not hues or colors of the wheel will help illustrate the relationships or harmonies.

Each hue has its corresponding, or related, value. - each hue is spaced an equal distance from each other. - can
have as few as six hues and then doubles itself as more hues
• This is known as inherent value. are distinguished.
• Understanding this relation of each hue and its corresponding The next and most commonly used would be the twelve-step
value assists the artists and designer in developing and setting color wheel
up color
Color wheels must always have an even number of hues and
• There is no direct correlation of white to a hue. It is too light in that number must be divisible by three. Any other combination
value and even the most bright intense yellow would be darker, would not be a true and accurate color wheel.
which is why yellow starts off our relational value and hue scale
as a light gray. THE COLOR WHEEL

Tints, Tones and Shades • There are three types of colors by mixture: primary (red for
example), secondary (violet for example) and third (blued
• The most simple color harmony possible is a monochromatic green for example).
scheme.
Color Temperature
• The full range of a color from its lightest tint to its deepest
shade and everything in between, but it is always one very • Color wheel can be divided into 2 basic areas or groups of
specific hue. warm and cool

TINT – the hue plus the addition of white • Color temperature can also be used to create spatial effects.

• We often think of them as Pastel colors, soft, full of light • Visually, warm hues appear to advance on the picture plane.

If a hue is mixed with gray, a TONE is created More Spatial Effects

• The base gray mixed with the hue can be very light to • More Spatial effects – atmospheric perspective is another
extremely dark and everything in between the full range. method of using color to create spatial effects.

Mixing black with the hue will produce a shade of that color • Not only do they become desaturated as they recede in
space, the farther back the objects are from the foreground, the
- You can vary the intensity of the shade depending less texture and detail that will be visible.
upon which type of black paint is used in the creation.
Transparency and Space
To illustrate this point more clearly
• For a hue to look transparent, the middle hue must be a
HUE, VALUE & SATURATION visual mixture and middle ground of the two hues expressed.

• They are the 3 components that artists consider when • This can be achieved through a middle mixture of hue or
working with color. value within the same hue

• Each can be controlled and have significant impact on how • This is one of the underlying concepts that allows artists to
the hue may be viewed. create many optical illusions

• The value of the hue can be changed or adjusted as needed, Topic 4 More on Color Harmonies
and more white or black can be added as required.
This refers to the property that certain aesthetically pleasing
three components that artists consider when working with color combinations have.
color. Each can be controlled
These combinations create pleasing contrasts and
• The value of the hue can be changed or adjusted as needed, consonances that are said to be harmonious. These
and more white or black can be added as required. combinations can be of complementary colors, split-
complementary colors, color triads, tetrads, or analogous
SATURATION- colors.
• The final component is SATURATION or the intensity and Color harmonies, color ways, color schemes – the same thing
purity of the given hue.
• They are ways in which artists pick and use a combination of
• It’s the brightness or dullness of a color hues, knowing they will work together in a composition
• Brighter, more intense colors usually denote a purer • They take the guesswork out of choosing color
saturation of the particular hue. Any hue can be desaturated to
make it appear more gray, drab, and dingy in appearance • These relationships reinforce the importance of why hues are
placed in a circular format.
The Color Wheel
Color Harmonies
•Analogous –Any three hues directly next to each other Pros: This scheme has more variety than a simple
complementary color scheme
• Always directly next to each other.
Cons: It is less vibrant and eye-catching - it is difficult to
• Has the least contrast harmonize the colors
• the colors are so close in hue, they almost seem to blend into Sandy Skoglund used these colors in her Revenge of the
one another Goldfish to heighten the brilliance of the hues and create a
more dynamic composition.
We tend to think of these color ways as working only with paint
and pigments, but they are also used in other forms of art, from Double Split Complementary color scheme
performance to conceptual art.
–Two colors next to each other and their two corresponding
complements are selected.
Analogous Colors • Allows for greater variation and complexity in design
• Usually, one of the three colors predominates Neutrals
• Pros: Great selection of possible combinations makes this If two complements are mixed together, they form a neutral
scheme versatile - the similarity of colors makes the schemes When white is added to a neutral, it becomes almost gray in
harmonious with great results because it is used in nature and color.
is usually soothing and restful
Romare Bearden (1911– 1988), Early Morning, 1964. Bearden
• Cons: The use of more than three colors can dilute the overall uses neutralizations of blue and orange as the dominant color
effect of this scheme scheme in his mixed media creation using both collaged
elements and paint.
Complements
Triads
• Complements –Two colors that are exactly opposite from
each other • Composed of three hues, must be of equal distance in the
color wheel
• They represent the highest form of contrast within the color
wheel • The points on the triangle indicate the colors you should
choose
• If placed next to each other, they seem to vibrate. They also
appear to be brighter and more intense. • This scheme is very appealing and well balanced
Complementary contrast is a reaction in the viewer’s eye and • Most effective color scheme consists of the three primary
not with the actual pigments. colors - the extreme contrast has immense visual impact.
Wolf Kahn, Blue Ridge in the Distance, 2005. Kahn uses the • Pros: Extremely stable, each color perfectly balances with the
complementary pair of orange and blue. The use of other - the bold nature makes for a vibrant color scheme and is
complements intensifies the two hues and creates the effect of useful for presenting information in bold decisive patterns
the figure floating on the background. They are so bold in their
visual effect that we almost fail to notice the pale tint of yellow- • Cons: The vibrancy may be too garish and detract from the
orange in the picture. message

Complementary Colors Roy Lichtenstein used a triad in As I Opened Fire The intensely
saturated primary hues add to the graphic nature of the piece
In the illustration below, there are several variations of yellow- and are reminiscent of action hero comic books. The simple
green in the leaves and several variations of red-purple in the bold use of unmodulated color and elements from popular
orchid culture were thematic of Pop art.
• These opposing colors create maximum contrast and Tetrads
maximum stability – they heighten and accent one another
• If a square were placed inside the color wheel, each of the
• Pros: Extremely eye-catching and vibrant, sometimes more corners of the box would touch upon a hue.
so than the triadic scheme
• The hues touched on create or form a tetrad
• Cons: The limited number of colors in complementary
schemes means the colors are easily digested and then • Like a triad, each hue must be an equal distance from one
discarded by the viewer. another.

Split Complements – The Bezold Effect

• instead of selecting both opposites, one end is selected and • By Wilhelm von Bezold
at the other end the two colors adjacent are picked. • They
form an upside down “Y” shape or one that resembles a peace • If one color was changed in a design, it could have a radical
symbol without the center leg. effect on the overall composition and feeling of the design.
• By changing the dominant hue in a pattern, the entire
composition could be modified,

Simultaneous contrast

• Occurs when one color is seen on differing backgrounds • It is

commonly associated with complements

• but it can also occur in any situation when two or more hues
are placed next to each other.

• This is because the appearance of color is relative and is

always affected by the surrounding hues.

Interactions of black and white

• Colors react quite differently when surrounded by either black

or white

• If a color is seen against a black outline, it frames the hue

and constrains its visual presence.

• But if the color is viewed against a white outline, the hue

seems to visually expand into the white area.

• Even though the white boundary isolates the hue from the
background, it allows the color to visually swell into its space.

Value Contrast

Value Contrast –

- The concept is closely related to simultaneous contrast - One

of the easiest ways to change the look of a color is to place it
on a contrasting background.

- Colors may appear very different, depending upon the

background they are placed on or next to.

Luminosity and Luminescence

Luminosity –

• The perceived light given off by an object and goes hand in

hand with value.

• it most often refers to the lightest part of an image and can be

created through the use of high contrast lighting such as
chiaroscuro.

• Contrasting a bright, intense hue off a darker, less saturated

cooler hue will also produce a similar effect.

Hiromi Takizawa, Crossing the Pacific Ocean, 2007. In

Takizawa’s work, the luminous quality of the work is created by
the use of neon light. The lamps give off a soft glow that
expands out onto the picture plane. Unlike the visual
luminescence in Rothko’s work, here Takizawa works with
actual light