This weekend Manchester Utd played Middlesborough in the FA cup. We won’t talk about the result. However, so interesting that Utd changed the colour of their socks from black to white to make it easier for people with colour discrimination issues to enjoy the game. Above you can see a shot from the game with a simulation on the right of how it might look to a someone missing the L-class cone (red-green colour blind).
This comes just after I posted about the rugby game and the problem trying to discriminate between the red and green shorts of Wales and Ireland respectively. Given the news in that post that World Rugby is bringing in some legislation it does seem that colour blindness (as poor colour discrimination is often referred to) is finally being taken seriously.
Interesting article today in the BBC about the colour of rugby shirts and the experience of viewers who may be colour blind.
According to one fan, the Irish and Welsh national kits are particularly difficult to distinguish for some people. As you can see from the simulation below, it is particularly challenging for protanopia (where the long-wavelength cone class is missing and the viewer is a dichromat).
Apparently, World Rugby has proposed new laws to help people affected by Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD), meaning teams may have to change kit from 2027 in the event of a colour clash.
However, it would not be difficult for one team to make their kit a little darker and one a little lighter to allow more people to enjoy the game and follow the action more easily.
In the image below, on the left you can see the original colours and on the right you can see the simulated colours for a protanope.
The top rows shows the colours that will be used in the match this weekend. The bottom rows show slightly shifted reds and greens that are more inclusive on the left, and their simulated appearance on the right.
The European Chemicals Agency (ECA) have announced bans on certain coloured tattoo inks from January 2022.
Tattoo inks and permanent make-up often contain hazardous substances that cause skin allergies and may even be carcinogenic. Ink pigments can also migrate from the skin to the lymph nodes and the liver. Even the removal of tattoos can be dangerous because the laser that is used may break down the pigments into smaller substances which may themselves be dangerous.
Safer alternatives are not available for two particular pigments: Pigment Blue 15:3 and Pigment Green 7. These pigments are both copper complexes and are also known as Phthalocyanine Blue and Phthalocyanine Green. The ban will be enforced by Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) who may give ink manufacturers a year to find safe alternatives for these two coloured inks according to some reports. Some people doubt whether the restrictions are really necessary and here is a video from the perspective of a tattoo artist. And here is an open letter of concern from the European Society of Tattoo and Pigment Research.
There is a need for more research and a greater understanding of the effect of these tattoo inks on the body and especially the long-term effects.
Colours have meanings. By that I mean that when we see colour we are reminded of certain things. There is a symbolism which is related to the field of semiotics. This symbolism is, in my opinion, as important – if not more so – than the aesthetics of colour. At least, I think this is often true in design. And it is for this reason that the internet is awash with infographics and blogs that tell us what the meanings are so that we can use them appropriately. This is the sort of thing that we often see:
There is an element of truth in this sort of infographic of course but it’s far too simplistic. Does it explain, for example, why HSBC use red as their brand colour?
Or the use of red in Baxter’s soup packaging?
Of the use of red in packaging of fruit yoghurt?
I don’t think that infographic explains any of these uses of red. Nevertheless, there is design thinking behind the use of colour in each of these cases. However, it is the sort of thinking that requires a deep knowledge of various cultural ideas including traditions and trends. In fact, it is for this reason that I find the use of colour in design (particularly in packaging) fascinating. It’s Boxing Day and my teenage son is still in bed after an all nighter (don’t ask!). So I thought I would tell you what my thinking is about these three examples of the use of red. I apologise in advance that this will be quite a long blog post. So are you sitting comfortably?
Let’s take the use of red by HSBC first. I often see infographics that state that red is a bad choice for a bank.
And if we look at the logos of banks in the UK this certainly seems to hold some truth.
However, what if we look further afield? To Asia, for example.
It turns out that red is an incredibly popular colour for banks in some parts of the world. And this brings us to the first point which is that the meanings that colours have can often depend upon the cultural background of the viewer (or receiver). Whereas I would argue that in the West the colour most associated with good fortune is green, it is undeniable that it is red in many Asian countries, especially in East Asia. It is therefore not surprising that banks often use red for their branding because which bank doesn’t want consumers to be reminded of good luck and fortune when they are thinking of putting some money in the bank or considering some other financial transaction? So, to understand the HSBC colour, we have to understand that although HSBC is a common sight on UK high streets today, the origins of the bank are in Kong Kong and Shanghai. The clue is the name – the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Interestingly, the shape of the HSBC logo is derived from the cross of St Andrew which turns out to be true of many Hong Kong company flags and logos. You can read more about the history of the HSBC logo here. Understanding that colour meanings in one geographical location might not translate to another location is important to avoid making simple, yet potentially serious, mistakes.
Second, we can turn to the use of red in tins of Baxter’s soup. If we look at the Baxter’s tin of soup the thing that stands out to me first of all is the green of the soup. A number of years ago, when I was developing my thinking around colour meaning whilst working with Seahwa Won who obtained her PhD in this topic and is now an academic in Korea, we developed the term original substance colour to explain the observation that for food packaging in particular, we often see the colour of the actual product being represented in the packaging. So we see orange packaging for orange juice, brown packaging for coffee, etc. This idea is never mentioned in the infographics you can find online. Often, the packaging is transparent so that the colour that you see is the actual colour of the product itself.
In this case the transparent packaging allows the colour of the fruit juice to be seen
In this case, the packaging uses orange; the original substance colour of the product
So with Baxter’s soup we have the original substance colour of the pea soup that dominates and starts the design. So what about the red? Well, there are a few things going on here which is often the case. Often, the colours used in a design work so well together in a number of different ways that you can only admire the ingenuity of the design team. There is the fact that the Baxter’s logo is red. I don’t know how long this has been the case – if anyone knows anything about the history of the Baxter logo please let me know in the comments. But we also have a colour harmony. Opposite hues – red and green, in this case – often work well together aesthetically. But if we have a really bright vivid red and a really bright vivid green next to each other then this can be unsettling. That might not be the intended effect here. It’s very often much nicer to have one of the hues quite bold and then have the other much more muted. This only goes to demonstrate another truism which is that colour harmony is about more than just the relationships between hues.
We have a red-green relationship in both cases but the relationship on the right will be seen as more aesthetically pleasing than the one on the right because of the difference in chroma
Finally, there is the fact that Baxter’s is a Scottish company. I don’t know if the tartan shown on the Baxter’s soup label has any connection with the company but that combination of red and green looks very much like the tartan of the Baxter Clan.
So there you have it, you have original substance colour, colour harmony, and the Scottish symbolism of the tartan to remind you that this is a Scottish heritage company all working together. And the pale green background and the dark red text even gives you excellent contrast for legibility. Very beautiful work in my opinion. The point is that something like this
doesn’t even begin to tell you about why these colours are used on the outside of this tin of soup. These infographics are way too simple; not even at undergraduate level to be honest and they are pretty much useless.
Finally we can look at the yoghurt pot. Again, the red is not used because it represents passion, energy, urgency, excitement, vibrancy or danger. It is simple original substance colour again with the red representing strawberries.
Red can mean so many things: original substance colour in many food packages, good luck and fortune in Asian bank logos, emergency and danger in health and safety equipment, stop when it is a traffic light. Yes, it can also mean passion and urgency and vibrancy. But context is everything.
In my teaching at the University of Leeds I often refer to this advertisement for the mini.
What does the red symbolise in this mini commercial?
The combination of red, white and black is aesthetically pleasing. But there are lots of similar combinations that could have been used. But the red is used symbolically. It is the True Blood mini convertible. Feel the wind in your fangs!! Exclusively for vampires. This is excellent colour design because the colours work with the text and the imagery and are consistent with the messages that are intended. The red symbolises blood. And the combination of red, white and black together in this context, with the other cues, indicate vampires!
I hope you found this interesting. It passed a few hours between one Boxing Day meal and the next for me. Leave a comment if you liked it or disagree with my analysis or if you noticed something that I didn’t. If you liked this post, take a look at my earlier holiday post about Christmas colour symbolism if you didn’t see it. Enter your email in the subscription box below to get updates when I post new stuff.
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It’s that time of year again. No – not Christmas. It’s that time when we get announcements about colour of the year. Pantone – the undisputed heavy weight champion of the world – when it comes to such matters has announced that the colour of 2022 is periwinkle.
Maybe it’s just me, but I cannot get excited by the colour of the year. To be fair, it’s not just plucked from nowhere. Colour of the year, like colour forecasting, is the result of a process that links colour to the cultural trends and values of our time – the zeitgeist, if you will. However, there are two reasons why I can’t get excited.
The first is that it is so trite. Colour forecasting is a little better. But just because Pantone have announced this insipid violet colour is the colour of the year, I am not going to be changing my purchasing habits. I won’t be buying purple trousers, a purple volvo or decorating my house in periwinkle any time soon. It seems to me that colour of the year is just a publicity stunt, a marketing device.
The second is that in terms of colour forecasting generally I fall into the camp of people that believe that it does more harm than good. If we take the textile and apparel industry, as an example, our consumption behaviour is simply unsustainable. As noted in fastcompany, our obsession with colour trends is killing the planet.
To be fair, there is another side of the argument. Those on that side would argue that colour forecasting helps companies to produce products in colours that people want and that reduces waste. However, I just don’t buy it. There is scant evidence that colour forecasting ‘works’ at all and the relentless pushing of the idea that we have to keep buying new stuff to keep up with colour trends is harmful in my opinion. Instead of obsessing with colour of the year we should be buying things in colours that we like. We don’t need people to tell us what is trendy. Just buy what you like and stick with it.
At this time of year my thoughts sometimes turn to the colours that we associate with Christmas: red, green, gold, silver and white, in various combinations. One of the things that I sometimes read about is where Father Christmas always had a red suit or whether he had a green one. I note that in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Santa is wearing a dull brownish tunic.
Father Christmas in Narnia
Though apparently according to CS Lewis himself in the book: on the sledge sat a person everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man in a bright red robe (bright as hollyberries) with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest.
There are also annual stories about whether the traditional red we now associate with Father Christmas was influenced by Coca-Cola for marketing reasons. So, today I thought I would share this blog post about the truth of Father Christmas and red. It does refer to Coca-Cola who, I believe, had a role in popularising our current image of Santa but were not actually responsible for the colour change. This view is also reinforced by this blog post about Santa and red.
Anyway, the thing I read today that inspired me to write this post is actually this blog post which is about colour symbolism and Christmas.
Finally, if you want to explore the meanings that colours have in a more academic perspective here is a link to two papers that are free to read in JAIC – the Journal of the International Colour Association. One was written by me and Seahwa Won (who was my PhD student at the time) and you can see that one here. The other is written by José Luis Caivano and Mabel Amanda Lopéz, well known colour experts in Argentina, and you can see that here.
I received a copy of the book today – A Cultural History of Color in the Modern Age. It is one of a six-book volume published by Bloomsbury. In this one I have a chapter co-authored with Qianqian Pan entitled Technology and Trade. In short, we look at the key technological developments in the 20th century and their effect on culture and commerce. The developments we focus on the growth of the synthetic dye industry, colour imaging technology and colour measurement. You can probably get a copy of my chapter through my ResearchGate page.
A number of studies have concluded that wearing the colour red make us seem more attractive to other people. However, perhaps surprisingly, this is still an effect that is unclear. Although many studies have reported the effect, others have not found it.
Today I was reading a paper by Lehmann, Elliot and Calin-Jageman who conducted a meta-analysis of published work on this topic in 2018. They analysed a large number of studies to try to come to a definitive conclusion. Overall they found a small but statistically significant effect when men were rating women. The effect was much smaller for women rating men.
Interestingly, the authors could not agree on the conclusions and presented two concluding remarks in the paper. The first and third author concluded that the effect of red on attraction was small, potentially nonexistent. However, the second author concluded that there was a small but reliable effect for both men rating women and women rating men.
This reminds me a little of the work on the effect of colour on blood pressure and heart rate where, again, the literature show contrasting results. In this area I have concluded that there might be an effect but that, if there is, it is probably very small. Measuring very small effects can be difficult because of the problem of needing large sample sizes.
For quite a long time I have been working on the relationship between colour and meaning. A lot of very good research has been carried out over the last few decades in this area. Typically, in this research, people are shown a colour and asked to respond what they think about it on a bi-polar scale; for example, is it warm or is it cool. Or, is it modern or is it old-fashioned. This research is very nice but in my opinion we should turn the problem on its head. Rather than asking what we think about a colour we should ask which colours do we associate with warm, which colours do we associate with modern, which colours do we associate with happy. There are several reasons for this. One is because I would like the research to be useful to, for example, designers. Designers don’t typically start with a colour and wonder what that colour represents. Rather, they might start with a brief that includes some concepts, such as modern and financial and think start to explore which colours might represent (or communicate) those words or concepts. It’s great to do this sort of research in the lab. However, I would really like to be able to generate a colour palette for any word or concept and it is clear that we can’t run costly and laborious lab experiments for every word (and for every word in every language actually).
I worked with a major paint company to automatically generate colour palettes for words using large-scale internet scraping following by machine learning. We have a pilot website with results for a few words. It looks like this.
Another way to get lots of data about this topic is using crowd sourcing. We have also been doing this and you can read our latest paper about this in the Journal of the International Colour Association. Details of this paper are shown below:
There is currently interest in re-using traditional and cultural designs in modern commercial applications. The bojagi is one of these traditional designs that could be reinvented and hence reinvigorated. But how can a designer create bojagi patterns for use in new digital design?
Working with Meong Jin Shin I developed a software tool that can create a wide range of different bojagi. We identified 8 different classes of traditional bojagi as shown below:
We then created a software tool that would allow a user to create new bojagi which would have the same visual characteristics as one of these 8 traditional classes.
We had some designers in Korea evaluate the tool and they were quite impressed. Although in this study we worked with Bojagi, in fact we were interested in exploring the general method of using digital tools such as this one to allow users to explore traditional designs and to use them in their contemporary design work. The ideas could be easily extended to cover other traditional designs such as tartan. The software could also be added to a package such as Adobe Photoshop as a plug-in.
You can read the full paper that we published here.
Shin MJ & Westland S, 2017. Digitizing traditional cultural designs, The Design Journal, 20 (5), 639-658.
