ABSTRACT
"Color
is fun, color is just plain gorgeous, a gourmet meal for the eye, the window of
the soul." - Rachel Wolf.
Color subjectivists
claim that, despite appearances to the contrary, the world external to the mind
is colorless. However, in giving an account of color perception, subjectivists
about the nature of perceived color must address the nature of perceived
spatial location as well. The argument here will be that subjectivists’
problems with coordinating the metaphysics of perceived color and perceived
location render color perception implausibly mysterious. Consequently, some
version of color realism, the view that colors are (physical, dispositional,
functional, sui generis, or some other) properties of physical objects, is
correct.
INTRODUCTION
We are
over 7 billion people living in a color-drenched world. In comparison to that
there are one million colors that the human eye can distinguish. Color is a
function of the human visual system. It is not an intrinsic property of an
object. Our eyes allow us to see the colors that surround us so completely. In
today’s world, we live life Technicolor. Colors form a much bigger part of us
than we realize. Right from picking out our clothes in the morning to looking
at every single hoarding and poster we pass, colors have become an element that
we take for granted. It is almost impossible now to think of watching a movie
in black and white when Apple has come out with laptop screens that have
displays as clear as our very own retinas.
Having said all that, color, in
essence is a phenomenon in physics and can be defined as “the property
possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result
of the way it reflects or emits light.”[1]
Of all the wavelengths of light that there are, our eyes can only see a small
portion. A typical human eye responds to light that ranges from approximately
390 to 750 nm.[2] It is in this tiny portion
that all the colors become visible to the human eye. Every color has a
different wavelength of light assigned in the unit of nanometres. The order of
colors in light, arranged from the shortest to the longest form what is known
as the visible spectrum of light. In addition, every color has its own hues and
shades. Companies that manufacture paint have enormous books with every shade
of color that is imaginable.
Colors can be categorized into 3
groups – primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary colors are red, blue and
yellow. The secondary colors are the ones formed by mixing two or more of these
colors. For example, mixing red and blue gives one violet while mixing blue and
yellow results in green. Tertiary colors are formed by mixing one primary and
one secondary color or two secondary colors. Mixing yellow and green leaves one
with lime green. Each color mixed in varying proportions gives a different
outcome. More red than blue in a mixture give red violet while more blue give a
blue violet. They can also be classified as cool or warm colors. Colors like yellow,
red, orange and pink fall under the category of warm colors while blue, green,
purple and gray are cool colors.
The phenomenon of color has been
long observed not only in physics but in psychology as well. Studies have shown
that every color has become symbolic of an emotion or an abstract concept.
Colors influence our choices, the way we feel and even the way we think. They
can be used to calm us down or to grab out attention. One experiment showed
that in a room colored in red light, time was overestimated while in green or
blue light, time was underestimated. In
another study, workers lifting black boxes complained they were too heavy; but
when the boxes were painted green they felt lighter.[3]
Highlighters are brightly colored so that one can easily find the text that is
important. Pastel colors are used in offices to keep help reduce stress in the
environment. The brain also takes time to develop and to be able to identify
all the colors on the spectrum. Hence, children’s books are usually illustrated
with bold, bright colors when they are just learning. They do not learn names
like lavender, crimson and emerald green until later in their education. For
them, primary and secondary colors are their only vocabulary.
Innumerable studies have been done
in the field of psychology to test and come to a definiteness of which color
represents and is associated with which emotion or which abstract construct.
The following are the most popular conclusions on the subject:
1.
Red – action, passion,
energy, power, desire, love, courage, hunger.
2.
Blue – intelligence,
truth, authority, reliability, confidence, loyalty, trust, wisdom.
3.
Green – growth,
relaxation, fertility, nature, luck, healing, youth.
4.
Yellow – energy,
optimism, happiness, caution, warmth, vision, light.
5.
Pink – nurture, warmth,
feminity, love, sexuality, grace, positivity.
6.
Orange – competition,
excitability, force, success, encouragement, determination, vitality.
7.
Purple – royalty,
respectability, magic, mysticism, spirituality, romance, imagination.
8.
Brown – receptivity,
sensuality, earth,
9.
Black –
professionalism, elegance, formality, death, sorrow.
10.
White – light,
goodness, purity, innocence, virginity, sorrow.
As shown
above, colors do have certain meaning to it like we assume red is for love,
desire or passion and then white is for purity, goodness or liking. In
marketing they choose the colors of their logos based on the meaning associated
with the color and the kind of message they want to convey to their target
audience. Banks usually go for logos which contain dark blues or greys. These
shades reflect stability and dependability and hence are deemed appropriate for
banks. The McDonalds logo has a red background with the trademark yellow M.
Studies conducted on the color red in particular showed that it not only stood
for hunger but was also known to elicit hunger responses.
Without
the appropriate use of color in marketing, the product will fail to sell as the
people won’t be attracted to the product and demand for it will gradually go
lower. People show less liking to the product when a darker shade is used.
Sometimes when people look at dull shades of color, they feel that the product
and not worth buying it since it has faded out. So their liking of the product
will decrease. We also see that some paint colors are used for specific
purposes. For example pink is used to paint the room of when a girl is born
into the family or blue for the baby boy’s room. Lighter shades make even small
rooms look bigger. An experiment conducted by psychologists showed that loud
noises were perceived as being louder in a red room than in a white room. This
reflects on the ability of colors to subconsciously manipulate our surrounding
to create an illusion of less or more.
Looking at the way the mind has been conditioned to see
objects in particular color, we can say that people would prefer seeing those
objects in that particular color only. By this principle, it seems that people
begin to dislike logos and products if the colors are changed. For example when
we show the McDonald symbol M which is actually in yellow and we change the M
color into green people will start disliking it and may not even want go to
that place even though they may like the food. On the other hand, surveys
showed that when the packaging of certain products like Vaseline was changed
from the traditional light blue to a darker shade, their sales increased.
Studies in marketing have shown that, the colors for logos,
billboards, paper ads, product packagings are very carefully chosen and they
are very seldom changed. Companies use certain colors to get our attention so
such an extent that people associate those certain shades with only that
product or company. Tiffany’s and Co. trademarked the shade of blue that was
used in their boxes because it became so popular. When logos are made, the
company’ first choice is to use primary or secondary colors’. They use bright
colors which can be easily associated with the brand and successfully get the
buyers’ attention. We see the colors red, orange, green and blue popularly used
in restaurants and fast food franchises. Red is usually used for non-vegetarian
food chains like KFC, Pollo Campero and Venky’s. But even though places like
Subway serve non vegetarian food, the green of the logo makes it primarily
known for its vegetarian selection.
Although these studies have proven that there is certainly a
relationship between colors and emotions, it remains debateable whether these
relationships are chosen by each individual or whether they are conditioned to
think that way. For example, is it that most women prefer pink over blue or is
it because the idea that pink is a ‘girly’ color has been reinforced into their
minds ever since they laid eyes on their first doll? Do men actually prefer
blue or are they conditioned to think that liking pink will lead them to be
called homosexual or metrosexual? The world famous toy store, Hamleys’ was
accused of being sexist for gender stereotyping colors by putting up sign
boards for the male and female toy sections in baby blue and baby pink
respectively.[4] They redesigned the signs
to the kind of toys the floor contained instead of the color representing whom
the toys were for. This gives children the leeway to explore their own preferences
to colors instead of being told what they are automatically supposed to like.
Colors have also been noted as carrying different
connotations in different cultures. Hence, marketing strategies need to also be
culture oriented at times because use of certain colors for a product may have
a completely different meaning in another culture than what was intended. Given
below are some cultural differences we see in the meanings of colors:
1)
Red – for the Japanese,
it is the national symbol of blood and passion and religious symbol. The color is for the robes of the second
highest Zen Buddhist practises.
For
the Chinese a new coat of red for the front door is a traditional New Year’s
practise. It is also a symbol of fire, summer, the couth good luck, joy, fertility
and fortune even in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It is also a traditional color for
Chinese brides. Red is also associates
with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and beauty.
2)
Orange – this is used
all over Asia used for the robes of monks. Oranges symbolizes happiness and
good wealth. It also represents immortality.[5]
3)
Yellow – in China, it
is a color of honour. It is reserved for the high priest. In Malaysia, yellow
is represents royalty. It is the spring festival in India, by putting yellow
color on their body people believe that it bring them good luck, health wealth
and many children.[6]
4)
Green – to dream in
green is good sign of fortune in China. Green is very important for Muslim. The
color signifies the Prophet Muhammad and represents the entire religion. Green
is reserved as a special sign of respect and worship in Malaysia and Singapore.
In the Irish culture, green is associated with the luck brought by Leprechauns
and four-leaved clovers.
5)
Blue – it is color that
is surrounds the sea and sky. It is a representative of water in most cultures.
It symbolizes the heavens, mercy, love and the mysterious nature of truth.[7]
6)
Purple – in almost all
cultures, purple is the color of nobility and royalty. It is associated with
wealth and power. In the western culture, lighter shades of purple are also
used as spiritual colors.
7)
Brown – color of rich,
fertile soil and barks of trees. It is surrounded around us by many ways. In
Arab world it means desert and sand.
8)
White – in the Hindu
culture, white is a sign of mourning. It is also a color globally associated
with peace and surrendering.
9)
Black – in the
Christian culture, black is the color of mourning. It is almost consensually
associated with darkness.
SUMMARIES
OF ARTICLES- NEWSPAPER, MAGZINE, VIDEO, INTERVIEW
The
Humans with Super Vision - Veronique Greenwood (June, 18th 2012) –
A British scientist is
trying to find people who have extraordinary power of sight. In the article she
says the some people have a fourth one in which they see different colors than
a normal human being is able to see. She says that people have their own personal
view and experience with color. And that the people with such powers don’t
realize that they have these kinds of powers present in them. This special
power of having four cones and ability to see many more color are found mainly
in women whereas men have the ability to be more color- blind than see much
more color.
There were different
studies that were made in monkeys and in humans. They have found 25 women who
have this kind of power in their eyes. We also get to know that the women
cannot differentiate or compare themselves with the women having normal eyes
and the color they can see and much different than usual. The private
perception is something everybody is curious about.
Perception
of Color by Language – Kerri Smith
In the article we see
that two groups are being tested for perception of color. One group is the
adult and the other are the 4-5 month old babies. Here we see that there is a
target location and we see how long the participant takes to see the target
with a colored back ground.
By this test we got to
know that adult reacted more quickly and their left hemisphere of the brain
processed it fast. Whereas for babies the right hemisphere allowed them process
the target.
The article gives
examples and test done on how color is perceived with the help of language which
is a part of the human’s integral system.
The
Wine Dark Sea- Color and Perception in the Ancient World by Erin Hoffman
We see in this article
how color is perceived in different ancient cultures like Greek and Japanese.
Color is seen through different paintings. They assumption they were only four
basic colors present and later that they different colors are present in the
nature. We see that color is also used to describe certain things. Like blue is
associated with the sky, green for trees.
From the article we see
that we relate color according to our time and our perception. and that we have
the imaginative capability to perceive color.
Color
Perception is not in the Eye f the Beholder: It’s in the Brain
In this article we see
that they are explaining how human perceive the world. Even though the color cone
differs between human retinas, the perception of color is the same way. We see
through the article that neuroscience is proving that the perception of color
is controlled by our brains than our eyes. They saw the wavelength of color on
each cone and the how it reflects and absorbs and saw how our eye responds to
it. They again did test on people wearing colored contact lens and see the
color wavelength and how people perceive the color after wearing the colored
contact lens. Now they are looking to identify the genetic basis for large
variations between retinas.
Perception of Color –
Video
The Video tell us how different
colors are perceived and have different means to them. It is the way people
associate the color with.
Black in the western
hemisphere is associated with grieving.
Grey - rock solid
product, associate with old age, direction, character
Red - eye looks first,
energy, movement and excitement for people. Symbol of life - red blooded life.
Associated with love, valentines days and hearts
Blue - most favorite
color for people, it brings people to calm down. It is a calming color. People
are focused and more productive in a blue colored room.
Green - color of
growth, nature and money. Peace, harmony and comfortable nurturing
Yellow- Laughter happiness
and good times. People have the feel good felling. Associated with optimism and
flames. Babies cry more in bright yellow rooms.
This color helps in
marketing.
Orange - flamboyant
color on the planet, happy an fun time. Associated with warmth and organic
product and also with ambition. New dawn in attitude.
Brown - Associated with
reliability, stability and friendship. Color of the earth. Natural and organic
White – Purity absent
of color or neutrality. Associate with moaning too in some parts of the world.
It is the compression of colors in the color spectrum.
Interviews - In the interview that have made this how most
people perceive colors.
Imagine a world in just one color. Say grey. One looks around
you and see the various colors in every single thing. Color makes the
difference. Color adds life to everyday life. I go back in time and
see the photos of my parents in black and white. Today photos are shot in
black and white, just to create a different effect. Color is now everything! Certain
colors have come to be associated with certain things. The meaning or
association sometimes changes with the context. A red color while indicating
danger in a traffic signal becomes associated with a political party elsewhere.
Green is the color of fertility, safety, health, nature. I associate blue with
peace and tranquility. While amber tells me to slow down at a signal, white is
associated with purity in my mind. I hope to be in the pink of my health
always. Sometimes I do go green with envy or red with anger. I try to avoid all
black thoughts. People with yellow fever are quarantined. I've noticed
that people in warm or hot climates tend to wear more colorful clothes. For
example, people living in the deserts of Rajasthan, dress very colorfully. By
contrast, people in most of the Western countries, colder
climate, dress more soberly. You go to a beach and suddenly
all around you there is a splash of color. An Indian wedding would be a riot of
color while an English wedding would be less so. The bride is typically in
white, while in many Indian states white is inauspicious for a
wedding. Societies have color coded even children: Blue is for boys and
Pink is for girls! Religion has also given several colors for its followers.
We've black, white, saffron, green all associated in different ways. Colors have come to dominate our lives and
are irrevocably tied to us. We've colors influencing our thoughts, actions and
perceptions. It ‘be difficult to visualize a blue apple! We get
conditioned to associate certain colors with certain thoughts and responses.
While the sight of pristine snow can elevate our spirits, a blank white answer
paper can unnerve an anxious student. Interior designers play with colors to
create suitable ambience in offices and homes and hospitals.
Color is part of our everyday world - clothes,
food, objects we have around us. These give us anticipated tastes, build our
mood and influence our individual experience of happenings around us.
Different thing that are related with different
color
1. white -
purity and peace
2. green and
yellow - freshness, growth, progress
3. orange
-prosperity
4. red -
festive, celebration, auspicious; also blood and gore
5. blue -
cool, water
6. brown -
earthy, rustic
7. grey -
formal
8. pink -
playful
9. purple -
royal
10. black -
uniform
11. khaki -
military
12. peach,
lavender - soft, romantic
How different cultures have perceived color
Red, saffron, yellow - in Indian tradition symbolize
auspicious occasions and are very visible during festivals, religious functions
Black - in most cultures is associated
with grim events like death. Exception - Islamic women are invariably wrapped
in black
Grey, brown, white are strongly
preferred at work for both men and women in the western world
White - universally associated with medical
professionals like doctors, nurses
Red - is the code for danger,
emergencies, stop
Green - go forward
All over the world, except among Africans -
men have very poor color preferences or appreciation and this is a traditional
trait. Bright and bold colors are liked and used in some cultures like
Indians, Africans, Gypsies in Europe; earthy colors and colors derived from
natural products are used by tribal’s and people close
to nature, world over. Subdued colors are worn in western culture.
I have interviewed five people and have taken their
way of perceiving color and most have them have the same view point. They have
the same difference that they see from our country to the countries in the
western hemisphere of the Earth. All of them have color that the associate with
word which are again similar. Like when we say red, people assume it be first
is love and then some feel it is blood. When a doctor hears or sees the color
red, he will immediately relate it to blood and life support than too anything
else. After some minutes he may link it to love and hearts. We see that people
also wear a specific color for that particular day. Like in Andhra Pradesh some
people believe that they must wear a particular color on that day otherwise
some bad will happen and they will punished by god. So people have such kind of
believes that they follow with color and seriously do what is to be done.
|
Day of the week
|
Color
|
Reason (these colored clothes are wore as they are the dear ones to
these gods) this was shown in the tv. It is strictly followed here in Andhra
Pradesh
|
|
Monday
|
white
|
Shiva
|
|
Tuesday
|
orange
|
hanuman
|
|
Wednesday
|
green
|
Krishna
|
|
Thursday
|
yellow
|
Sai baba
|
|
Friday
|
pink
|
Lakshmi
|
|
Saturday
|
black
|
Shani
|
|
Sunday
|
red
|
--
|
FINAL
SUMMARY
Color in our life plays
an important role and special role. Everybody associates color to a particular
personal thin that they have in their mind. Color is perceived through the eyes
but our brain helps process it and create an association to it. Like for example,
for me I love the color of red which I associated to be my favorite color and
the color of love and brightness that brings to me. Whereas when I think of the
color blue I associated it water and the sky and green color to the nature that
is present around. I feel that yellow is associated with flames and fire than
anything else. I never thought that yellow color disturbs a baby and the baby
cries. Orange for me a bright color which I associate it with the sunset and
the day ending to have another beginning for the day after we take a break..
Black is a color that I associate it with evil sprite and a bad omen but I feel
that black is also neutral. Whereas white for me is peace and a color that
people in the west wear for wedding and people in India or the east wear when
somebody dies. Color is basically associated with different thing by different
people. It is the way our brain works and we associate it with. Perception of
color also brings in emotions that we see on people faces. When people see
bright colors they are all happy and cheerful. Where when they see dark and
dull color they become sad and they are very dead. Some people when they see
dull color, they feel sad and start to cry because they would have associated
it with an experience they have had in their life. Like when we took black,
people will associate it with evil sprites and thing s not being right in their
lives. Color has different meanings in
different religion and cultures over the world. Color gives happiness to people
during the festive period of time. Colors are something that will always show
some kind of reaction on people faces, it could be positive or negative or
neutral reaction on people. Color is something that is something that is
important people’s life. People make their own association with color.
Perception of color helps in different fields of life and what people study,
like it helps in marketing. With color we can associate different brands that
are present around us. When we see that particular logo or brand we immediately
recognize the color and next when somebody talks about the brand you
immediately relate to the color and shape of the logo and remember the brand.
Maya Chandrashekaran
FSLE-3
