A color circle, based on red, yellow and blue, is traditional in the field of art. Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666. Since then, scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept. Differences of opinion about the validity of one format over another continue to provoke debate. In reality, any color circle or color wheel which presents a logically arranged sequence of pure hues has merit.

 Color Harmony

Some Formulas for Color Harmony

1. A color scheme based on analogous colors

Analogous colors are any three colors which are side by side on a 12 part color wheel, such as yellow-green, yellow, and yellow-orange. Usually one of the three colors predominates.

Color Context

Color & Culture Matters

 The symbolism and the history of green are great examples of how the messages and meanings of any color varies and evolves over time.

Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride by Jan Van Eyck , 1434 The bride in this Renaissance masterpiece wears green as a symbol of her fertility. She is slouching in imitation of pregnancy, thus indicating her willingness to bear children.

 

 

The Evolution of the Symbolism of Green in Western culture

In Celtic myths the Green man was the God of fertility.Later in the millennium, Early Christians banned green because it had been used in pagan ceremonies.

Nevertheless, as evidenced by Van Eyck’s 15th Century wedding portrait, the color green was the best choice for the bride’s gown because of its earliest symbolism.

Of note is the continued symbolism attached to the color in the latter part of this century. Anyone who chooses a green m & m (an American candy which contains an assortment of different colored chocolate sweets) is sending a somewhat similar message. Green has been reinterpreted by late 20th century American culture to signify a state of heightened sexuality in this specific situation.

 

Other bride colors:

White would not be an appropriate color for a wedding in China. It is the color of mourning. If a bride chooses a white wedding gown, her parents would probably not allow her to get married.

In India, even in Christian weddings, while most brides wear white, it is usually relieved by at least a touch of some other color. If a married woman wears unrelieved white in India, she is inviting widowhood and unhappiness.

 

Other cultural references for green:

• Green was a sacred color to the Egyptians representing the hope and joy of Spring.
• Green is a sacred color to Muslims.
• Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s birthday is celebrated as “Green Day” because he loved to garden.

 

Green trivia:

• It is said that green is the most restful color for the human eye.
• Some claim that green has great healing power an that it can soothe pain.
• Suicides dropped 34% when London’s Blackfriar Bridge was painted green.

 

Universal symbolism:
Nature, freshnessContemporary symbolism:
Ecologically beneficial

 

The Meanings of Green

The Green Man and Vegetation

Green is no longer just a color. It’s now the symbol of ecology and a verb.

Since the beginning of time, green has signified growth, rebirth, and fertility. In pagan times, there was the “Green Man” – a symbol of fertility.  In Muslim countries, it is a holy color and in Ireland, a lucky color. It was the color of the heavens in the Ming Dynasty.

Today’s greens can be found in a wide range of objects: pea soup, delicate celadon glazes, sleazy shag carpet, sickly bathroom walls, emeralds, wasabi, and sage. The English language reflects some strange attributes: Would you rather be green with envy, green behind the ears, or green around the gills? (Idiomatic American English for extremely envious, immature or nauseated.)

Global Meanings of Green

• Green is universally associated with nature.
• Green symbolizes ecology and the environment.
• Traffic lights are green all over the world.

Unique Meanings of Green in Different Cultures

• In China, Green may symbolize infidelity. A green hat symbolizes that a man’s wife is cheating on him.
• In Israel, green may symbolize bad news.
• In Japan, the words for blue and green (“ao”) are the same.
• In Spain, racy jokes are “green.”

Luck or Bad Luck?

•     Green is a lucky culture in most Western cultures. A green shamrock symbolizes this.
•     You won’t find many green cars at racetracks because they are considered unlucky.
•     Circus and traveling showmen in Australia may consider green to be bad luck.
•     An old English rhyme about wedding colors: “Married in green, Ashamed to be seen.”

Designing with Green

There are more shades of green than that of any other color. Greens range from yellow-greens, such as lime and avocado greens, to those with a blue tinge (such as emerald).  Aqua or turquoise are colors that are typically half green and half blue.

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How Green Affects Vision

Color Blindness

Approximately 5% – 8% of men and 0.5% of women of the world are born colorblind. People who are protans (red weak) and deutans (green weak) comprise 99% of this group.

Some European countries have outlined certain traffic light colors so that it is clear which is green and which is red, by the color that has a rectangle around it. Some states in the U.S. have placed diagonal lines through green traffic lights as an aid for the colorblind.
Signage: Green vs. Red Exit Signs

Green exit signs have an important advantage when there is smoke in the air (in other words, when a fire is burning). With red exit signs, it looks like a fire – firemen have actually rushed into burning buildings and tried to put out the signs! With a green sign, people know it isn’t the fire itself but the way to safety.

Not only should Exit signs be Green to correspond to the established International Standard for Safety Signs since the early 70’s but they should also have the International Standard Graphical symbol for exit as given in ISO 6309 and ISO/DIS 3864 Part 1 and Part 2. It is time to consider that all exit signs should be the same throughout the world.

Myths about the Effects of Green on the Body

• When one sleeps on a pea-green pillow, it prevents baldness.
• Green is the best color for pregnant women.

Tidbits – Points to Ponder

Feng Shui claims that green eases absent-mindedness, nervousness and rudeness.

 

Drunk Tank Pink

Does pink make strong men weak?
Can pink jail cells calm violent prisoners?

 

 

Can pink weaken you? Do pink jail cells create a calming effect? Is it true that football locker rooms (the ones for the visiting/opposing teams) are painted a certain shade of pink to weaken the players?

Yes and no! Here are the facts and some opinions:

Research – Baker Miller Pink

One of the most interesting examples of colour effects is Baker-Miller Pink – R:255, G:145, B:175. Also known as “Drunk tank pink,” this color has been used to calm violent prisoners in jails.

Dr. Alexander Schauss, Ph.D., director of the American Institute for Biosocial Research in Tacoma Washington, was the first to report the suppression of angry, antagonistic, and anxiety ridden behavior among prisoners: “Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive in the presence of pink, he can’t. The heart muscles can’t race fast enough. It’s a tranquilizing color that saps your energy. Even the color-blind are tranquilized by pink rooms.” (1) In spite of these powerful effects, there is substantial evidence that these reactions are short term. Once the body returns to a state of equilibrium, a prisoner may regress to an even more agitated state.
1. Morton Walker, The Power of Color, (New York, Avery Publishing Group, 1991), pp. 50-52

But there’s more …

1. Subsequent studies examining the influence of the colour Baker-Miller pink on behaviour have yeielded conflicting results.

2. There’s no proof that the reactions lasted longer than 15-30 minutes.

3. A color guru (who conducted the first research on the effects of this pink) posted the following to the Color Matters Bulletin Board:

Color selections made for the holding cells were originally done in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. You might have seen a guy on “That’s Incredible” in the 1980’s, holding up big sheets of Blue and then Pink poster board, while someone saw how much weight their outstretched arms could bear. That was more of the same stuff. There are a few catches though.

• They botched the color a bit and made it a kinda hot greyish pink. Psst: Alex…you didn’t get the color right!
• They didn’t take into account exposure effects. The color was ‘in the ballpark’ enough to give scientifically significant results (blind study). But..
• Prisoners did respond and calmed down, as hoped, initially. Major goof: If they hung around too long, they became even more violent. Why? The reasons are so very very clear.
• Other reasons: “I suspect there are, what one might call, innate responses to certain stimuli – in this instance a color or stimulus that prompts aggressiveness. But observations suggest that people can develop linkages of given stimuli to specific behaviors – and that these linkages will very quickly override many of the secondary or more subtle innate responses.”

An example? There are many. Here’s a traumatic one:
A mother watches a bright red car zoom by. A second later her child is on the ground, critically hurt, hit by the car. The child survives, but the trauma is so instant, so deep, the woman’s association of bright-red to horrible loss is forever buried in her psyche. A linkage has been formed. Ever since then, when she sees that bright red, her heart races and an intense fear moves through her. She rejects that color and keeps it away… Does bright-red = horrid loss then? To her it does. It’s a uniquely formed, special case linkage. But to you, or me that same bright-red might mean something good, a warm Valentine’s moment, a spouse’s beautiful lips, whatever. The situationally induced linkage of that bright-red to that traumatic fearful moment overrides whatever response to the color might otherwise prevail. So, when you ask: “..what colours are a trigger for aggressive behavior” an answer may be at hand, but it may come with a myriad of caveats that overwhelm an otherwise simple answer.

 

Is it true that football locker rooms (the ones for the visiting/opposing teams) are painted a certain shade of pink to weaken the players?

The status of pink football locker rooms today

University of Hawaii associate head coach George Lumkin was a member of the 1991 staff that saw visitor locker rooms at Iowa and Colorado State painted pink in the belief that the color made players passive. Now the WAC has a rule that a visiting team’s locker room can not be painted a different color than the home team’s. In other words, it can be pink, black or any color of the rainbow, as long as both locker rooms are the same color.

 

 

 

Why is pink associated with girls?

Pink is a combination of the color red and white, a hue that can be described as a tint. It can range from berry (blue-based) pinks to salmon (orange-based) pinks. Its symbolism is complex and its popularity is subject to so many influences.

We can begin an analysis of pink by looking at natural and contemporary souces of this delicate color. First, regardless of your skin color, some part of your body is pink. So are sunsets, watermelons and Pepto Bismal. Depending on your age and culture, you may remember pink Cadillacs, pink flamingos (once considered in bad taste in American culture but now retro-chic), Pink Floyd, the Pink Panther, and the pink triangles of the Third Reich (which were used to identify male homosexuals).
In almost every culture, one stereotype emerges: pink is associated with girls, blue with boys. Unfortunately, there is no consensus of opinion on its origin.
According to Jean Heifetz, for centuries, all European children were dressed in blue because the colour was associated with the Virgin Mary. The use of pink and blue emerged at the turn of the century, the rule being pink for boys, blue for girls. Since pink was a stronger color it was best suited for boys; blue was more delicate and dainty and best for girls. And in 1921, the Women’s Institute for Domestic Science in Pennsylvania endorsed pink for boys, blue for girls. (When Blue Meant Yellow. pp. 20 -21)

One could argue that contemporary color symbolism confirms these associations. Blue is considered a calm, passive color, hence feminine. Red (pink derived from red) is considered active hence masculine.

On the other hand, the idea of associating blue with male babies may stem back to ancient times when having a boy was good luck. Blue, the color of the sky where gods and fates lived, held powers to ward off evil, so baby boys where dressed in blue. In Greece a blue eye is still thought to have powers to ward off evil. The idea of pink for girls might come from the European legend that baby girls were born inside delicate pink roses.

Another theory states that the sexual origins can be found in ancient China. At a time when certain dyes were quite rare, pink dye was readily available and therefore inexpensive. Since blues were rare and expensive, it was therefore considered to be more worthwhile to dress your son in blue, because when he married the family would receive a dowry.

The origin of the English term “pink” is as valuable as any discourse on symbolism. Here are some interesting analyses:

In English, the word “pink” could be derived from the Dutch flower pinken dating back to 1681. The flower’s name could have originally been “pink eye” or “small eye.” Another possibility is the verb “to pink” – to prick or cut around the edges, as with pinking shears. The jagged petals of the flower looked as though they had been cut, thus explaining why it became known as the “pink.” (Jean Heifetz, When Blue Meant Yellow, p 110)

Finally, going back to the ancient Egypt, the flamingo was the hieroglyph for the color red.

In colloquial language, to be “tickled pink” describes a state of joy, a “pink slip” is a notice that you’ve been fired from your job, to be “in the pink” suggest good fortune and health, and a “pinko” is a person who is extremely liberal, a socialist or a communist.

Visitors to Color Matters provide some interesting information about pink:

“Amongst the Owambo people (of Namibia), traditional wealth for the women has come in the form of a particular pink snail shell which is found in the extreme north and up into Angola. These snail shells are collected then cut into circular pieces, rubbed until they are all perfectly round and the same size and then beaded together. The richer the woman, the more strands of snail shell necklaces she has. They are very precious. These days the shops sell plastic versions, of course! What I have also seen in recent times is Owambo women in dresses which they say are traditional dresses, which have quite a bit of pink in them.”

“With parakeets the male’s nose is blue and the female’s is pink.”

“In Belgium they dress boys in pink and girls in blue. ”

In conclusion, consider the following: Although sunburned skin and watermelons are pink’s natural associations, the color is loaded with historical meaning, knee-jerk reflexes and cliches. In some cases, it is quite appropriate; in others, perhaps the only cliche worth using is one, which is ripe for a vivid transformation.