BJKL .Bik

Color Studies
Prof. Somaya Ghorab

- Color
- Historical Perspective
Lecture One Topics

Color
Color influences all aspects of our lives, from the food we eat and the clothes we wear
to the environment in which we work, The color of an item of apparel worn by someone
has an impact on how they are perceived by others and how they perceive themselves.
This means that consumers are extremely sensitive to color when choosing apparel
goods. There are several factors that influence color choice, and while tradition and
convention may for certain items dictate a restricted and well-understood color palette,
there are other items where there is considerably more scope for color choice.
This presents those with responsibility for merchandising decisions with a series of
opportunities with regard to color.
Color
Many researchers around the world are now recognizing the importance of color in
order to reach increasingly sophisticated customers on a deeper level. From the careful
observation that 'emotions can be stirred by color' to the more dramatic claim that
'whoever controls color, controls the world' (Woodhuysen, 1994), it has been argued
that when color has a specific, predetermined function that acts to support the overall
strategy, your marketing effort can do all you've designed it to do. An understanding of
color and the factors influencing color decisions is therefore important for those making
decisions about color.

Factors Influencing Color Decisions
Being directionally and contextually driven, color trends not only
influence how material, product and design interact, but they are
also influenced by them. I am often asked about the influences on
color trends and the main factors that have a sway on them. Most
trend researchers would agree on the fact that, although many
factors have an influence on color trends, perhaps the most
influential are the changes in our society, the memorable (or
unforgettable) events we witness and the technologies that support
new creations.
Significant events that shake society and are remembered for
long time have such an influence on trends and colors that they
cannot be overlooked. As such, the pink ribbon has had a
tremendous effect, since the mid-nineties, on fashion and interior
design. As the pink ribbon became the symbol of breast cancer
awareness campaigns, pink started to appear in women’s and men’s
clothing, in furniture, interior design, kitchen appliances and many
other market segments, as a gesture of support for breast cancer
patients.The categories are aesthetic, cultural and traditional, social-
psychological, economic and political, managerial, and physical.
- AESTHETIC: This category includes factors such as creativity, taste and what is
considered to be attractive or beautiful at a particular time. The desire to decorate and
improve our lives could also be considered within this grouping. These factors clearly
influence how colors are used together.
- CULTURAL AND TRADITIONAL: Colors have different connotations and
traditional uses across cultures and this can have a huge impact for manufacturers
and producers. For example, in South-East Asia, where light blue symbolizes death
and mourning, the drink Pepsi-Cola lost its dominant market share to CocaCola when
they changed the color of their coolers and vending equipment from deep 'regal' blue to
light 'ice' blue. Traditionally in the UK, pastel shades are associated with spring,
bright colors for summer and dark shades for winter.

- SOCIAL - PSYCH0LOGICAL: in this category include self and group identity,

personal expression, reference groups, group expectations / peer pressure, role and
social status. How people see themselves and how they wish to be perceived is often
reflected in the interior environment surrounds them.
- ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL: that come into this category include technology,
production and distribution of goods, consumer demand, income and price. Color has
to be available, affordable and accessible. Historical and political events can have an
affect on colors for apparel, for example In years past, as people climbed up the social
ladder or made money and achieved a higher status, they tended more and more to
select pastels. One could thus conclude that with opportunity and advantage, a
person's life was not so restricted and did not depend on immediate environmental
stimuli.
- MANAGERIAL: The factors included in this grouping include needs and desires,
management of resources, buying habits and practices
- PHYSICAL: Psychologists have discovered that merely by looking at different colors,

blood pressure, along with heart rate and rate of respiration, Pink has a calming effect
on stressed individuals and every theatre has a green room to help achieve a calm and
relaxing atmosphere.
- Physical taste too can be affected by color. Swiss research has shown that the same
strength of coffee served in brown, yellow and red mugs was perceived to be different
(Porter, 1990). In the brown mug the coffee was consistently recorded to be too strong,
in the yellow mug too weak while in the red mug the coffee was considered to be just
right.
- Small color deviations can make a decisive difference to the psychological impact of a
color. For example, research indicates that dark-eyed people are much more sensitive
to color than light-eyed people. Itten (1961) reports that light blond types with blue
eyes and a pink complexion usually prefer the very pure colours. People with black
hair, dark skin and brownish-black eyes prefer to mix the pure colours with black
(Wright, 1998).
Historical Perspective
- Ancient Egyptian:
- The ancient Egyptians had a great appreciation for life

which is clearly depicted through their art. Images of
people enjoying themselves - whether in this life or the
next - are as plentiful as those most often seen of the
gods or funerary rituals. The early Egyptologists who
first encountered the culture focused their attention on
the many examples of funerary art found in tombs and
concluded that Egyptian culture was death-obsessed
when, in reality, the ancient Egyptians were wholly
absorbed in living life to its fullest.
- Color Symbolism:
1. Red: used to create flesh tones and symbolizing life but also
evil and destruction. Red was associated with both fire and
blood and so symbolized vitality and energy but could also
be used to accentuate a certain danger or define a
destructive deity.
2. Blue: one of the most popular colors, commonly referred to
as "Egyptian Blue", symbolizing fertility, birth, rebirth and
life and usually used to depict water and the heavens.
- Color Symbolism:
3. Yellow: symbolizing the sun and eternity. Yellow was

darkened for the golden flesh-color of the gods or lightened
with white to suggest purity or some sacred aspect of a
character or object.
4. Green: symbolizing goodness, growth, life, the afterlife, and
resurrection.
5. White: symbolizing purity, sacredness, cleanliness, and
clarity. White was the color of Egyptian clothing and so
associated with daily life but was frequently employed in
artistic pieces to symbolize the transcendent nature of life as
well.
- Color Symbolism:
6. Black: symbolized death, darkness, the underworld,

as well as life, birth, and resurrection. The symbolic
association of the color with life and fertility may well
have originated in the fertile black silt deposited by
the Nile in its annual flooding.
- Coptic Art:
1. Black: has a powerful association with the negative aspects of human experience. Death,
plagues, famine, disease, mourning, and sorrow all fall under black in description, it is
the color of sin and judgment.
2. Blue: is used throughout the Holy Scriptures. Representative of water, chastening, and
holy service, the color also appears in hanging decorations in holy places.
- Color Symbolism:
3. Green: represent rest, life, growth, that which is fruitful,

freshness, maturity, and frailty. On a whole, it represents
the triumph of life over death.
4. Grey: is typically associated with old age and the beauty of
it, but it can also mean weakness, purification, repentance,
sorrow, and mourning.
5. Orange: is used to describe the overwhelming radiance and
presence of God, but is also used to describe Jesus as the
glory of God.
- Color Symbolism:
6. Purple: associated with the corruption of wealth, and

this is because to acquire purple dye meant spending a
great deal of money.
7. Red: represent skin color, wine, sores or plague,
bloodied water, clothing, shields of might men, and
temptation. It also symbolizes the Pentecost, as it is the
color of fire.
8. White: used to represent purity, righteousness, things
in nature, and a healthy body.
- Color Symbolism:
- Islamic Art:
1. Green: gives an important meaning which symbolizes

nature and life.
2. White: It symbolizes purity and cleanness. It is a color that
represent the universal peace, brotherhood and harmony
and bears a special place in Islamic ways of life.
3. Black: the symbol of holiness in Islamic point of view. The
Holy Ka’abah, which have become the centre of Muslim
physical and spiritual nucleus, a place where Muslim go to
perform the pilgrimage and the one place that is regarded as
God’s home on earth, have been covered by black robe with
gold design and motifs.
- Color Symbolism:
4. Red: was featured on Muslim battle standards.

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Color Studies

Prof. Somaya Ghorab

Lecture One Topics

decisions about color.

- CULTURAL AND TRADITIONAL: Colors have different connotations and

bright colors for summer and dark shades for winter.

- SOCIAL - PSYCH0LOGICAL: in this category include self and group identity,

- PHYSICAL: Psychologists have discovered that merely by looking at different colors,

- The ancient Egyptians had a great appreciation for life

3. Yellow: symbolizing the sun and eternity. Yellow was

6. Black: symbolized death, darkness, the underworld,

3. Green: represent rest, life, growth, that which is fruitful,

6. Purple: associated with the corruption of wealth, and

1. Green: gives an important meaning which symbolizes

4. Red: was featured on Muslim battle standards.

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