There’s More Than Love at the Heart of Red

"Monkey Butt Red" and "Flaming Fuchsia" made the news recently - at least in the automotive industry. These are the names of colors created by Toyota and Dodge for the debut of their elite sports cars. Consider the possibility that these colors and their names were intended to generate a lot of press.

In the spirit of Valentines Day, the colors red and fuchsia (aka magenta, hot pink) generated considerable excitement in other arenas in the past year. Here’s some recent news about these two loving colors:

1. Scientists found that red seems to improve attention to detail while blue sparks creativity.
Source

2. Marine biologists discovered that a lot of fish in the sea glow a fluorescent red. This is startling news because scientists believed that fish don’t see red very well or not at all because red light does not penetrate below a depth of 30 feet. Why develop a skill that you will never be able to use?
Source

3. Red is the #1 color in advertising design.
Source

4. Companies see red over rights to the color magenta.
Source

5. When 877 members of USA TODAY's CEO panel took an online personality color test, they were three times more likely to favor magenta than the public at large, three times less likely to select red, and 3 times less likely to choose yellow.
Source

6. India's "pink panties" revolution for freedom from Indian women's sexual prisons begins.
Source

This Valentine's Day, think about your red. What does the color mean to you? Remember that color is like sex. It's mysterious. It's unknowable. No two people see the same thing. No two people feel the same thing.

Color Karma for the Next Decade

Where will color go in 2010? What about the next decade? Will we be under the influence of trends or will the timeless powers of color rule? I’m sure you’ll agree that it will be both - and it all depends on many factors. The good thing about trends is that they inject new life into the color wheel. Yes, but what goes around comes around again and that’s my first take on color karma for the next decade.

Several trends gurus proclaim that mauve is back. It’s a subtle shifty hue that a painter described as “the color of a dead prostitute’s lips.” With that aside, here’s how I remember this color’s popularity in the past: The interiors of homes, offices, and even hospitals were drenched in mauve – and it was usually combined with teal (a blue-green). This new color combination was a sophisticated switch from the organic avocado and harvest gold hues that dominated the previous decade. Note: Pantone has declared that turquoise is the color for 2010.

Consider this: The mauving of America in the 80s followed the avocado refrigerator days of the 70s. Do the math:

Yellow-green / avocado: 1970s + 30 years = 2000 - through the decade
(Note: Shortly before the year 2000 yellow-greens became the cutting edge color for products and advertising.)

Mauve: 1980s + 30 years = 2010 - ?

In retrospect, it seems that one or two colors emerge as the most powerful new trends and this trend lasts about a decade. Also, after a color has dropped off the radar for at least 20 years, it’s a good time to resurrect it.

However, we live in a different world today. It’s so complex that no one dares to proclaim that any single color has the staying power for a decade. Alas! Those who dare to predict trends limit it to one year – as is the case with the recent proclamation by Pantone and others.

Time will tell.

In conclusion, I can now disclose my most recent project. The next generation of Xerox printers has debuted. I was part of an international team that came up with one color (the accent color for the front panel) for all the printers, from the small business models to the huge production machines. Guess what? It’s a classical color that was tweaked with subtle undertones for the next decade.

A word of advice for all aspiring colorists: Build a foundation in timeless color concepts. And have fun!

Busted! What is the color of trustworthy information?

Wikipedia just announced that they will allow a color-coding for text that has been declared untrustworthy. Orange will be used to highlight unreliable text, with more reliable text given a lighter shade. Text earns "trust" over time, and moves from orange to white.

It’s unfortunate that color myths - such as those presented by Benjamin Moore recently - had not been subjected to similar evaluation. For example, their recent “Color Associations” article claimed that:

1. Yellow is the most difficult color for the eye to process and see.
(Fact: Yellow and yellow-green have the highest visibility of all the colors. Just look at caution signs, fire trucks, and emergency rescue vehicles.)

2. Yellow aids digestion and stimulates circulation.

3. Blue is also known as anti-inflammatory, and can provide relief for insomnia and headaches.

So then, if I have severe gastro-intestinal distress, should I get a dose of blue to stop the inflammation or do I choose yellow to aid digestion?

This also raises a question about how to use a color for these cures. Are you supposed to stare at a piece of colored paper, drink a glass of colored liquid, bathe in colored light, or rush out and buy a gallon of paint for the walls? By the way, will a pastel version of the color work as fast as a deep dark shade?

Fortunately, Benjamin Moore decided to remove and review this article after reading Kelly Berg’s blog post, "Benjamin Moore, We Expect More from You." Cheers, Kelly!

Aside from this incident, we are unfortunately subjected to unreliable information from people who stand to make a lot of money from posing as professionals. As Kelly states, “We are not doctors, and we can’t go around prescribing paint colors for physical ailments. The psychology of color is far too complicated for that.”

In the meantime, if you want factual information about using color to transform your home into a place that feels good according to your needs (calm, stimulating, inspiring, etc.), see Color Matters for the Home. It’s an easy to follow guide that you can download it in seconds.

PS. I’m a great fan of Benjamin Moore paint and have specified their hues for many projects. They have the most glorious yellows!

Wet Dog

When I was in art school, a professor commented that my painting looked like a soggy dog. That was a compliment! I was struggling to find my artistic center and had poured turpentine on an oil painting (still wet and workable) and saved the results.

Even though the words “wet dog” evoke this memory for me, I bet you have memory. At the very least, I would be willing to bet that your olfactory sense tuned into this. Does anyone like a wet dog smell?

So why would anyone label the color of a product “Wet Dog?” I might like it for a crazy beige nail polish but I’d never buy a laptop or a pair of slinky harem pants in a color labeled “wet dog” and would gladly settle for “taupe”- as unimaginative as it may be.

Ahhhhh, the magic and mystery of words used to describe colors. Congratulations to Glassybaby and their 183 rich colors for candles - from wet dog (taupe) to pollen (faintest of green) to prom dress (bright purple). They even have devil dog and tom cat. I wonder what they smell like.

Source

The Evolution of Color Symbolism

Our responses to color are inherited and learned. My experiences in Pakistan reconfirmed the reality of both universal color symbolism (timeless) and all the other kinds of meanings that evolve over time (religious, geographic, political, gender-based, etc.)

A perfect example is evolution of the yellow. If we turn back the clock to the Stone Age at any place on earth, yellow was and still is the color of flowers – typically flowers that bloom in the Spring. In Pakistan, the yellow mustard blossom is and was the color of Spring. Regardless of demographic parameters, the color represents the joy experienced at the onset of Spring after a long winter. Yellow is symbolic of happiness.

Using Pakistan as an example of how a color retains its timeless symbolism today, the city of Lahore marks the beginning of Spring with the Basant (which means yellow in Hindi) Festival.
This carnival is an orgy of kite-flying, rooftop soirees, garden parties and much more. The festival peaks with an all-night flood-lit kite-flying marathon. The kites come in different sizes as well - some have to be transported on the roofs of cars, others are small enough to be carried on bicycles. Yellow is the predominant color.

Of historical note: In pre-partition India, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs all celebrated Basant. Yellow clothes were worn; men wore yellow turbans and women yellow dupattas and saris.

Of political note: The government of Pakistan banned kite-flying in 2006 after ruling that the sport has become increasingly deadly. The government lifted the ban for the Basant Festival this year.

For scholarly debate (and of psychological note for those who disagree with the fact that the symbolism of a color may contain meanings that are universal):
An overwhelming majority of the 80,000 people (from all over the world) who have taken the Global Color Survey at Color Matters reply that yellow is the color of happiness. We must bear in mind that geographic, gender-based, political, national, cultural, religious and other meanings co-exist with the timeless and universal symbolism of a color. These other sources can be powerful sources for a broad analysis of a color. However, any argument for the precedence of other symbolic content can be problematic (and self-serving) if it dismisses the existence of symbolism based on the global experience of a color as it existed long before these other meanings evolved. The timeless and universal meaning provides the critical foundation for a complete analysis of a color.

This is the last commentary about the colors of Pakistan. In conclusion, I’ve created two special pages:

The Colors of Pakistan
(The timeless and timely symbolism of blue, green, yellow, red, and brown)

Letters to America
"We are not terrorists!" (and more)

You can also find the past blogs about Pakistan (February-March) in an expanded form with new graphics at the new Color Matters in Pakistan page.