Category Archives: news

Colour and Inclusivity

culture, news, , , ,

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.

EU ban on coloured tattoo ink

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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.

Colour of the Year :(

culture, design, fashion, news, opinions/rants, ,

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.

Invitation for papers on colour theory

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I am one of the editors of JAIC – the Journal of the International Colour Association. Next year we are planning a special issue of papers about colour theory. One of the good things about JAIC is that it is a journal in which it is free to publish and free to read. So if you want to read some really good colour content please take a look at it here.

However, next year we are having an issue that will collate papers about colour theory. For this special issue we have appointed the renowned colour expert Robert Hirschler as the guest editor. The call for papers is already open (deadline next August) so you can already submit your papers. To do so please click on the link to the special issue where you will find more information.

colour and cholesterol

news

I just came across an interesting article that suggests that discolouration of the toes could be one of the earliest signs of high cholesterol. High cholesterol – that often results from poor diet (and I should know!) – can lead to fatty deposits on the inside of arteries and this in turn can lead to blocked blood vessels. One of earliest symptoms, however, is a mottled purple colouration in the toes. For more information from the original article please click here.

Colour Intelligence

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It’s quite exciting to announce that this week I founded Colour Intelligence with my colleague Dr Kaida Xiao. We have some quite exciting things planned. It’s my second time running a start-up. I formed Colourware Ltd in about 1994 and I only stopped running that company when I became ultra busy at Leeds University in my professorial role and when I was also Head of School of Design. I can’t say any more about what we have planned just now but hopefully I will be able to do that soon.

A Cultural History of Color

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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 route to better colour knowledge

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I have been providing free information about colour on the internet since … well, almost since the internet existed! My posts here on colourchat have received over 300,000 views from more than 200,000 people. But before I ran this blog I ran something called an FAQ. FAQs were on the internet long before blogs and my colour physics FAQ was available for free for decades, providing free information about colour measurement to anyone who was interested. I have also contributed to TheConversation and my post there the effect of colour on our bodies and minds is the 7th most read article on TheConversation by anyone at the University of Leeds with about 170,000 reads. I am passionate about colour education and I am part of the colour literacy project.

Recently I had the idea to generate even better content that can educate about colour and to this end I started a patreon page. For some of this content I am charging a couple of dollars per month for access. But the idea is to generate some funds to allow the highest quality colour education material to be developed. That’s my dream anyway. If you would like to support me doing this – and also see the material that is being developed – please think about supporting me at the patreon website.

Whatever happens I will continue to keep this Colourchat resource free and will post here as often as I can.

Colour in Fashion

design, fashion, news, podcast, professional, psychology,

For our sixth episode of our colour podcast we chatted about colour in fashion covering colour forecasting and the future of fashion. We brought in a guest, Caroline Hemingray, who leads the MA in Fashion Marketing at the University of Leeds. It’s mainly for fun – and as an educational resource – but I hope you find it interesting. You can see the podcast here.