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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
THE PERCEPTION, UNDERSTANDING, AND USES OF COLOR--EXPANDED AND REFRESHED Understanding Color is an essential resource for those needing to become proficient in color for business applications. The peerless treatment of this critical subject is beautifully illustrated with real-world examples. Designers have turned to this guide for nearly a generation for its authoritative and accessible instruction. The knowledge contained in this book sets you apart from other designers by enabling you to: * Contribute more effectively to discussions on color harmony, complete with a vocabulary that enables in-depth understanding of hue, value, and saturation * Apply the most-up-to-date information on digital color to your projects * Address issues involved when colors must be translated from one medium to another * Troubleshoot and overcome today's most common challenges of working with color Full-color images showcase real design examples and a companion website features a digital workbook for reinforcing color concepts. From theory and practical implementation to the business and marketing aspects, Understanding Color helps you gain a deep and discriminating awareness of color.
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UNDERSTANDING COLOR
An Introduction for Designers Fifth Edition
Linda Holtzschue
Cover image: art_of_sun/Shutterstock
Cover design: Wiley
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Names: Holtzschue, Linda, author. Title: Understanding color : an introduction for designers / Linda Holtzschue. Description: Fifth Edition. | Hoboken : Wiley, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016029123 (print) | LCCN 2016029930 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118920787 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781118920800 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118920794 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Color in design. Classification: LCC NK1548 .H66 2017 (print) | LCC NK1548 (ebook) | DDC 701'.85—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016029123
DEDICATION
To my children, Alison, Adam, and Sara, and the wonderful partners they have brought into our lives; to my grandchildren, Amanda, Katherine, and Daniel; and most of all to my husband Karl, whose patience and support has made these books possible.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1 AN INTRODUCTION TO COLOR STUDY
The Experience of Color
Color Awareness
The Uses of Color
Color-Order Systems
Color Study
Notes
2 A LITTLE LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT
Light
Additive Color: Mixing Light
Lamps
Lamp Types
Special Purpose Lamps
False Promise: Full-Spectrum Lighting
Lighting Level
Vision
The Illuminant Mode of Vision
The Object Mode of Vision
Modifying Light: Colorants
Lamps and Color Rendition
The Color Rendering Index
Metamerism and Matching
Modifying Light: Surface
Transparent, Opaque, and Translucent
Iridescence
Luminosity
Indirect Light, Indirect Color
Filters
Notes
3 THE HUMAN ELEMENT
The Sensation of Color
Threshold
Intervals
The Perception of Color
Physiology: Responding to Light
Healing and Color
Synaesthesia
Psychology: Responding to Light
Naming Colors
Color As Language: From Name to Meaning
Impressional Color
Color As Words Alone
Notes
4 THE VOCABULARY OF COLOR
Hue
The Artists' Spectrum
Primary, Secondary, and Intermediate Colors
Saturated Color
Other Spectrums, Other Primaries
Chromatic Scales
Complementary Colors
Cool and Warm Colors
Analogous Colors
Tertiary Colors: Chromatic Neutrals
Black, White, and Gray
Value
Pure Hues and Value
Tints and Shades
Monochromatic Value Scales
Comparing Value in Different Hues
Line
Value and Image
Transposing Image
Saturation
Saturation: Diluting Hues with Gray
Saturation: Diluting Hues with the Complement
Theoretical Gray
Tone
Notes
5 THE INSTABILITY OF COLORS
The Instability of Colors
Color Composition
Ground and Carried Colors
Placement and Color Change
Equilibrium
Simultaneous Contrast
Afterimage and Contrast Reversal
Complementary Contrast
Ground Subtraction
Color and Area: Small, Medium, Large
6 ILLUSION AND IMPRESSION
Color Illusions
The Illusion of Depth
Spatial Effects of Colors
Transparence Illusion
Fluting
Vibration
Vanishing Boundaries
Luminosity
Bezold Effect
Optical Mixes
Notes
7 COLOR THEORY: A BRIEF HISTORY
Setting the Stage
The Beginnings of Color Theory
Color and Controversy
The Scientific Model: Color Gets Organized
Color by the Numbers
A New Perspective
Notes
8 COLOR HARMONY
In Search of Beauty
Intervals and Harmony
Hue and Harmony
Major and Minor Themes
Value and Harmony
Saturation and Harmony
Beyond Harmony: Dissonant Colors
The X-tra Factor: Surface and Harmony
Some Harmonious Conclusions
Notes
9 TOOLS OF THE TRADE: COLOR IN PRODUCT AND PRINT
It's the Real Thing: Color in Product and Print
Design Media
Artists' Media
Subtractive Mixing: Pure Hues
Subtractive Mixing: Muted Hues
Tinting Strength
Color Printing: Process Colors
Color Printing: Spot Colors
Screen and Block Printing
Note
10 THE MEDIUM OF LIGHT
Images of Light
Lost in Translation
The Screen Display
Color Display Modes
Color Management
Color on the Web
Web Color Coding
Emerging Media: E-Ink
Notes
11 THE BUSINESS OF COLOR
The Color Industries
Colorants
Color Sampling
Color Forecasting
Color Consulting
Color and Product Identity
Palettes
Traditional Colors, Document Colors
Palettes and the Past
Color Becomes Fashion
Color Cycles: A Modern History
Today and Tomorrow
Notes
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
EULA
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
Figure 1–1.
Environmental Color.
Nature offers unrivaled displays of color.
Figure 1–2.
Environmental Color.
The gray of city streets is only a background for the brilliant colors of street life.
Figure 1–3.
Object Color
. Contemporary glass beads in many colors add brilliance and surprise to a timeless jewelry form.
Necklace design and image courtesy of Lois Dubin.
Figure 1–4.
Graphic Color.
Color adds meaning to the written word.
Figure 1–5.
Color Conveys Mood.
An offbeat combination of colors perfectly expresses the edgy modernity of Dvorak's Piano Concerto in D Minor.
Image courtesy of Carin Goldberg Design.
Figure 1–6.
Safety First!
A vest in federally mandated safety orange combines with high-impact red and yellow, alerting passers-by to avoid a construction zone.
Figure 1–7.
Color Identifies.
Retrieving records from an enormous filing system is made more manageable by tabs of different colors.
Figure 1–8.
Commercial Color-Order Systems.
The Pantone Matching System offers swatch books of standardized colors for a wide range of products, including printing inks, software, color films, plastics, and markers, among others, for use by designers and industry.
Figure 1–9.
Color Collections.
Coats Industrial offers thread in 919 colors. Shown here, a selection of Coats & Clark Dual Duty XP, available in 384 colors.
Figure 1–10.
Color Collections.
A representative sampling of Farrow and Ball paint colors, part of a limited collection of colors based on historical prototypes.
Farrow and Ball 2005. All rights reserved. No part of a color card may be reproduced without permission of Farrow and Ball.
Chapter 2
Figure 2–1.
Wavelength
. Waves of light energy are given off at different distances apart. The distance between these peaks of energy emission is called wavelength.
Figure 2–2.
Visible Light.
Human beings are able to sense light (visible energy) between wavelengths of about 380 nm to 720 nm.
Figure 2–3.
The Component Wavelengths of White Light.
The separate colors (wavelengths) that make up white light can be seen when it passes through a prism. Each wavelength bends at a slightly different angle and emerges as a separate color.
Figure 2–4.
Nature's Light Show.
Spectacular sunsets take place when angled sunlight at day's end strikes particles in the upper atmosphere and is refracted into component colors.
Figure 2–5.
Mixing Light.
The light primaries, red, green, and blue are mixed to form the secondary colors of light: cyan, magenta, and yellow.
Figure 2–6.
Lamps.
Lamps are available in hundreds of different shapes and sizes. Each type generates light in a particular way, fits into a particular socket, and gives off light in a specific quantity, color, and direction.
Image courtesy of Light Bulbs Etc, Inc.
Figure 2–7.
Additive Color
. Neon signs are a familiar example of additive color—color seen as direct light
.
Design by Kelsea McCree of Family Tradition Tattoo; fabricated in neon by Deb Slatkin of Neonworks.
Figure 2–8.
Light Reflectance.
Benjamin Moore Paint provides an LRV for each of its paint colors.
Figure 2–9.
Scattering, or Reflection.
Light reaching a surface is the incident beam. The reflected beam is light that leaves a surface and reaches the eyes.
Figure 2–10.
Transmission.
Window glass transmits light, allowing it to pass through with no perceptible change. Thin glass bends light so slightly that it retains its whiteness.
Figure 2–11.
Reflection, or Scattering.
The colorant of a red apple absorbs all wavelengths except red. Only the reflected red wavelength reaches the eye.
Figure 2–12.
Rough and Smooth.
Light reaching a smooth surface bounces off to reach the eye very directly. Rougher surfaces scatter light in many directions.
Figure 2–13.
Texture.
Alternating different weaves in the same yarn creates an impression of two colors.
Strié damask image courtesy of Brunschwig and Fils.
Figure 2–14.
Iridescence.
The colors in an iridescent silk shift as the viewer's angle changes.
Figure 2–15.
Indirect Color
. Green light reflected from a wall causes a white chicken to appear green. The effect is exaggerated here, but true nonetheless.
Figure 2–16
Filters.
A filter absorbs some wavelengths of light and transmits others. When a filter is placed between a light source and an object, only the transmitted wavelengths reach the object.
Chapter 3
Figure 3–1.
The Threshold of Vision.
Small differences between dark and light may be difficult for some people to see. Others with greater visual acuity can detect a difference between close samples.
Figure 3–2.
The Threshold of Color Vision.
Each individual's visual acuity for color determines his or her threshold of color vision.
Figure 3–3.
Even Intervals of Hue. Even Intervals of Value. Even Intervals of Saturation.
Figure 3–4.
Intervals.
A middle interval can be established between any two colors, no matter how different.
Figure 3–5.
Even Intervals in Series
.
Figure 3–6.
Even and Uneven Intervals of Hue.
In the upper set of squares, the center is the middle step between the two parents. In the lower set of squares, the center is closer to one parent than the other. Which set do you prefer?
Figure 3–7.
Even and Uneven Intervals.
Images composed of even intervals are more quickly and easily understood than images in which intervals are uneven or random.
Figure 3–8.
Gradients.
A gradient is a progression of intervals in steps of change that are closer than the human eye can distinguish. The transition can be in hue, value, saturation, or any combination of qualities.
Figure 3–9.
The Human Eye
.
Figure 3–10.
Color Symbolism
. Many national flags share the same configuration. They are identified as national symbols by color alone.
Figure 3–11.
Color Symbolism
. Concern for the environment is implicit in a product named Green Promise. The Green Promise, as applied to a line of the company's paints, “is Benjamin's Moore's assurance that its environmentally friendly coatings meet and exceed the strictest safety standards, while also delivering the premium levels of performance you expect from Benjamin Moore.”
Figure 3–12.
Safety Color
. The yellow of a school bus reminds drivers to exercise caution.
Figure 3–13.
Stroop Interaction.
There is a delay in comprehension when different parts of the brain respond to simultaneous and conflicting information.
Chapter 4
Figure 4–1.
Color Names.
Color names are not absolute. Each belongs to a family of related hues.
Figure 4–2.
The Artists' Spectrum.
Figure 4–3.
Alternative Spectrums.
Wilhelm Ostwald's spectrum has an eight-hue basis.
Figure 4–4.
Alternative Spectrums.
The psychologist's spectrum has only four hues.
Figure 4–5.
Complementary Colors.
Complements are opposite each other at any point on the artists' spectrum.
Figure 4–6.
Analogous Colors, Cool and Warm
.
Figure 4–7.
Mixing Complements
. When complementary colors are equally mixed, the result is a sample of no discernible hue.
Figure 4–8.
Value Scale
. A value scale moves from dark to light.
Figure 4–9.
Hue and Value.
Any hue can be illustrated as a range of tints and shades.
Figure 4–10.
Determining Relative Value.
Isolating samples is helpful in making value comparisons. An opaque white paper with a small hole cut in it works well.
Figure 4–11.
Hues of Equal Value.
This spectrum illustrates hues of equal value. Which hues are saturated, which are tints, and which are shades?
Figure 4–12.
Seven Steps of Equal Value in Six Hues.
With a limited number of places, some saturated hues may not appear at all.
Figure 4–13.
Value and Image.
Images are strongest when there is a sharp contrast in value between a figure and its background. Images are less distinct when the two are similar in value.
Figure 4–14.
Hue
,
Value, and Image.
Only contrast of dark and light determines image. Images remain the same whether in color or black and white.
Photographs courtesy of Phyllis Rose Photography, New York and Key West.
Figure 4–15.
Maintaining an Image.
To illustrate the same bird in different colors, the relationship of values within the images must be the same. Differences in hue alone do not change the image.
Figure 4–16.
Changing an Image.
The birds have the same configuration, but changing the placement of values within each one makes them look different.
Figure 4–17.
The Same Hue and Value at Different Levels of Saturation
.
Figure 4–18.
Hues Diluted by a Gray of Equal Value
.
Figure 4–19.
Six Spectrum Hues Diluted by Their Complements.
Each pair reaches a different midpoint.
Figure 4–20.
Nature Shows Such Mixed Colors Very Elegantly.
Chapter 5
Figure 5–1.
Color Composition
. The same design can be offered as different color compositions.
Carpet design by David Setlow for Stark Carpet Corp.
Figure 5–2.
Ground and Area
. The ground is not necessarily the largest area in a composition. The color of the ground is as important to a color composition as the filled area.
Figure 5–3.
Shaky Ground
. Is a tiger black with yellow stripes, or yellow with black stripes?
Figure 5–4.
Equilibrium
. The presence of three primary colors in any extent allows the eyes to be at rest.
Elizabeth Eakins's carpet design “Sea Ranch,” © 1993.
Figure 5–5.
Simultaneous Contrast
. The strongest effects of simultaneous contrast occur when a neutral area is surrounded by a stimulating hue. All of the gray squares are the same. What hues can be seen in them?
Figure 5–6.
Simultaneous Contrast
. Even muted colors will influence the apparent color of neutrals. The same ground shifts from cool to warm when the carried colors are changed.
Figure 5–7.
Afterimage and Contrast Reversal
. Cover the lower half of the illustration with white paper. Stare at the red circle as long as possible without blinking. Blink firmly, then look immediately at the black dot in the center of the white square. Next, cover the upper half of the illustration and repeat the exercise with the diamond design. What happens?
Figure 5–8.
Complementary Contrast
. The contrast between complementary colors is emphasized when they are used together, but neither changes the other.
Figure 5–9.
Complementary Contrast
. When colors that have even a hint of complementary relationship are used together that contrast is intensified. Two blues seen separately appear to be very much the same. Seen together, a contrast in hue becomes visible.
Figure 5–10.
Ground Subtraction of Value
. A middle gray appears darker on a light ground and lighter on a dark ground.
Figure 5–11.
Ground Subtraction of Value When Hue Is Present
. The same blue appears darker on a yellow ground and lighter on violet.
Figure 5–12.
Ground Subtraction: One Color As Two
. The same color appears to be two different colors when it is placed on grounds that share different aspects of its own qualities. The center color is the same for each pair of squares.
Figure 5–13.
Ground Subtraction of Saturation
. A red-gray placed on gray appears more red. Placed on red, it appears much grayer.
Figure 5–14.
Ground Subtraction: Two Colors as One
. Different colors can be made to seem the same by placing them on grounds of opposing qualities.
Chapter 6
Figure 6–1.
The Importance of Arrangement.
In an illusion called neon color spreading, small areas of a brilliant color are introduced into a repetitive pattern of black lines on a white ground and color seems to spread into the white space.
Figure 6–2.
Atmospheric Perspective
. A nineteenth-century primitive landscape painting illustrates the way in which air and dust blur distant contours, making them increasingly indistinct and slightly bluer.
Figure 6–3.
Pictorial Depth Cues.
These drawing conventions convey depth but do not require the presence of hue.
Figure 6–4.
Spatial Effects of Warm and Cool Hues.
Warm hues advance relative to cooler ones.
Figure 6–5.
Spatial Effects of Saturation.
Brilliant colors come forward relative to muted ones.
Figure 6–6.
Value and Figure-Ground Perception.
A dark figure comes forward on a light ground; a light one comes forward on a dark ground.
Figure 6–7.
Value, Ground, and Spatial Perception.
A form that contrasts sharply in value with its ground advances relative to one that is closer in value to its ground.
Figure 6–8.
Advancing and Receding Color without Depth Cues.
High value makes the light blue squares of an antique checkerboard advance against a dark red ground.
Figure 6–9.
Transparence Illusion
. When colors and intervals between them are arranged in an overlapping way, the effect is of transparent objects behind and in front of each other.
Courtesy of Laurent de Brunhof. From Laurent de Brunhof,
Babar's Book of Color
(New York: Abrams, 2004).
Figure 6–10.
Transparence Illusion: Hue.
If the middle color is an interval between warm and cool parents, the warmer parent color appears to be on top (transparent), and the cooler one beneath it.
Figure 6–11.
Transparence Illusion: Value.
If the middle color is an interval of value between the parent colors, the lighter parent color appears to be on top (transparent), and the darker one underneath it.
Figure 6–12.
Transparence Illusion: Saturation.
If the middle color is an interval between chromatic and achromatic (or muted) parents of similar value, the more chromatic parent appears to be on top (transparent) and the duller one beneath it.
Figure 6–13.
Transparence Illusion.
Shifting a middle interval closer to one parent or the other alters the apparent degree of transparency of the top color.
Figure 6–14.
Fluting
. Vertical stripes in steps from dark to light create an illusion of concavity.
Figure 6–15.
Fluting.
Colored stripes arranged in steps of value seem to have concavity.
Figure 6–16.
Not Fluting.
Colors arranged in random values have no three-dimensional effect.
Figure 6–17.
Vibration.
A separating line reduces or eliminates vibration.
Figure 6–18.
Vanishing boundaries.
Figure 6–19.
Glowing Effect.
A gradient halo between a light area set into a darker field suggests glowing light.
Figure 6–20.
Glowing Effect.
A gradient halo between a warm color and a cooler field suggests glowing color in another way.
Figure 6–21.
Shimmer.
A pattern of brilliant color separated from its field by intervals of value just at the threshold of vision seems to flicker on the page.
Figure 6–22.
Bezold Effect
. When forms are enclosed by dark line, all colors appear darker. When forms are enclosed by light line, all colors appear lighter.
Figure 6–23.
Optical Mixing.
Optical mixes depend for their effect on the colors that are used together.
Chapter 7
Figure 7–1.
Newton's Discovery.
Newton was first to discover the components of white light.
Figure 7–2.
The Spectrum in Nature.
A rainbow is nature's demonstration of Newton's finding. Droplets of water in the atmosphere act as tiny prisms that break sunlight into its component colors.
Courtesy of Phyllis Rose Photography, New York and Key West.
Figure 7–3.
The Earliest Known Color Circle.
Newton was the first to present colors as a continuous circle, linking red and violet.
Figure 7–4.
Primary Colors in Pigments.
In his 1704 treatise
Coloritto
, J. C. LeBlon became the first to identify the primary nature of red, yellow, and blue pigments.
Figure 7–5.
Color Organization.
Color-order systems organize color by hue, value, and saturation (chroma). “Tone” in this illustration represents grayness.
Figure 7–6.
A Contemporary Visualization of the Munsell Color Tree.
Albert Munsell hypothesized color as a three-dimensional “tree” with infinite room for expansion, but the system has a critical omission. Note the inaccuracy of the intervals of hue moving to gray, possibly a result of CMYK printing.
Courtesy of X-Rite.
Figure 7–7.
Color in Three Dimensions.
A hypothetical color solid is a frequent theme in scholarly color-order systems.
Figure 7–8.
Harmony by the Numbers.
Schopenhauer's harmonious color circle is made up of unequal arcs. Each complementary pair is meant to be equal in light-reflectance to the other two pairs.
Figure 7–9.
Harmonious T-shirts, according to Schopenhauer.
Figure 7–10.
The Harmonious Color Chords of Johannes Itten.
Each of these harmonies has its basis in the complementary relationship.
Chapter 8
Figure 8–1.
Intervals and Harmony.
Creating intervals between two apparently incompatible colors turns them into a pleasing combination. Here, additional steps of value add punch to the composition.
Figure 8–2.
The Harmony of Value in Even Intervals.
Which design is more appealing?
Figure 8–3.
Major and Minor Themes.
Small areas of warm color support and emphasize the cool palette around them; at the same time, they satisfy the eye's need for equilibrium.
Backdrop painting for
A Midsummer Nights' Dream,
courtesy of Mark Simmonds.
Figure 8–4.
Hues of Equal Value.
Different hues of similar value seem to float together above a value-contrasting ground.
Figure 8–5.
Hues of Close Value.
Different hues of close value create a rich background for the curving lines of dark patterning in a hand-thrown bowl.
Figure 8–6.
Muted Colors.
Softened colors and a traditional floral pattern suggest a restful atmosphere.
Wallpaper Compton Court II. Courtesy of First Editions Wallcoverings and Fabrics, Inc.
Figure 8–8.
Consistency of Saturation.
The startling blue arms of a garden bench stand out in contrast to the colors of surrounding nature.
Figure 8–7.
Window Shopping
. A composition of high-impact colors has an eye-catching immediacy.
Figure 8–9.
The Element of Surprise.
A patch of unexpected high color draws immediate attention to itself.
Drawing by artist Emily Garner.
Figure 8–10.
Dissonant Color.
Sharp yellow-orange pops forward against a muted palette in an early twentieth-century pattern book. This coloring was stylish in its time, but “stylish” does not necessarily mean “harmonious.”
Figure 8–11.
Surface and Harmony.
Natural yarns, dyed and undyed, give this carpet an irregularity that seems to invite touch.
Image courtesy of Orley Shabahang.
Chapter 9
Figure 9–1.
Selling Design
. Architect Daniel Brammer's meticulous pencil drawing brings a structure to life on paper.
Image courtesy of Daniel Brammer for Cook+Fox Architects.
Figure 9–2.
Art Imitates Nature
. High-performance engineered stones from Cosentino draw their inspiration from nature—but their extreme durability from space-age technology.
Figure 9–3.
Applied Color.
This hand-colored copy of an Audubon scene was painted onto a dinner plate at a late stage of manufacture.
Figure 9–4.
Artists' Media.
The multitude of colors available in Crayola crayons has been an early inspiration to generations of artists and designers.
© 2004 Binney and Smith. All rights reserved. Crayola, the chevron design, and the serpentine design are registered trademarks; the smile design is a trademark of Binney and Smith.
Figure 9–5.
Subtractive Mixing of Hue.
Two paints mixed together produce a third color when they reflect a wavelength in common.
Figure 9–6.
Subtractive Mixing of Hue: Failure.
Two paints that do not reflect a wavelength in common mix to a muddy neutral.
Figure 9–7.
Mixing Affinity.
A single product line has many tubes of apparently identical colors, but each tube color mixes differently with others.
Figure 9–8.
Process Colors.
Figure 9–9.
Process Colors Act As Filters.
Here, cyan and yellow mixed absorb red and blue. Only the green wavelength reaching the paper surface is reflected back to the eye.
Figure 9–10.
Process Color Mixing
.
Figure 9–11.
Process Color Printing.
Images in CMYK printing are made up of tiny dots. The dots are overlaid in different proportions to produce different colors.
Figure 9–12.
Color Separations.
Each process color is printed as a separate step.
Figure 9–13.
Silk Screen Printing.
Each color in this 1930s silk screen image is printed as a separate step.
Chapter 10
Figure 10–1.
Modes of Color Mixing.
Designers today must understand at least three different modes of color mixing.
Figure 10–2.
Screen Drawing
. Digital drawing is perfectly suited to rendering reflective surfaces.
Courtesy of retired professor Ron Lubman, Fashion Institute of Technology.
Figure 10–3.
The LCD Monitor
. The flat screen LCD monitor is used for all design tasks.
Image courtesy of the Stevenson Studio, wwwthestevensonstudio.com ©2005.
Figure 10–4.
Color Display Modes.
Each color in the CMYK mode represents a color of process ink.
Reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated. ©2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe and Photoshop is/are either [a] registered trademark[s] of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Figure 10–5.
Color Display Modes.
The RGB mode of screen display is used to design for the medium of light. Colors are mixed exactly as light is mixed.
Reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated. ©2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe and Photoshop is/are either [a] registered trademark[s] of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Figure 10–6.
Color Display Modes
. Colors in the HSB mode are mixed as separate steps—one each for hue, saturation, and brightness (value).
Reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated. ©2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe and Photoshop is/are either [a] registered trademark[s] of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Figure 10–7.
Color Management
. ColorMunki exemplifies the multipurpose calibration product.
Image courtesy of X-Rite.
Figure 10–8.
Traditional Rendering.
A hand-painted rendering is shown to a client for approval, then sent from the salesroom to an overseas factory for fabrication.
Gouache rendering courtesy of Donna Frost.
Figure 10–9.
Computer Rendering
. Computer-generated drawings have overtaken hand-rendering for carpet design.
Carpet design by David Setlow for Stark Carpet Corp.
Figure 10–10.
Selling Color on the Web
. Stephen Gerould reminds potential purchasers of his handmade ceramic lamps that the color of the product they receive may not be the same as the image on their screen.
Photography by Carolyn Schirmacher from the website of Stephen Gerould Handmade Ceramic Lamps.
Figure 10–11.
Screen Color Coding.
Screen colors are coded in more than one way. A screen color can be specified in binary coding, in hexadecimal coding, and by its CMYK print equivalent.]
Figure 10–12.
The Web-Safe Palette.
VisiBone offers the web-safe palette online and in print as charts, books, folders, and cards.
©2005 VisiBone. (This figure does not use VisiBone's eight-color printing process to match computer screen color.)
Figure 10–13.
Limited Palettes.
VisiBone offers a preselected palette of 1,068 colors that are outside of the web-safe palette, with their binary code designations as a reference tool for web page designers.
© 2010 VisiBone's 1,068-color reference chart. (This figure does not use VisiBone's eight-color printing process to match computer screen color.)
Chapter 11
Figure 11–1.
A Forecast Color for 2017
. A prediction by Color Marketing Group.
Image courtesy of Color Marketing Group.
Figure 11–2.
Color and Product Identity.
The distinctive color makes Fiskars Orange-Handled Scissors instantly recognizable.
Orange-Handled Scissors are a trademark of Fiskars Brands, Inc. © 2005
Figure 11–3.
Color and Product Identity.
It is easy to confuse competing products when packaging color, type style, and size are similar.
Figure 11–4.
Document Wallpaper.
Arthur Sanderson and Sons wallpaper “The Acanthus” was introduced c.1870 in these colors.
Courtesy of Morris & Co.
Figure 11–5.
Document Pattern, Contemporary Coloring
. Arthur Sanderson and Sons “The Acanthus” pattern is available today in colors more suited to contemporary tastes.
Courtesy of Morris & Co.
Figure 11–6.
Colors of the 1990s
. Kenneth Charbonneau's assemblage of colors from a multitude of manufacturing sources illustrates the colors of a decade.
Image courtesy of Kenneth Charbonneau.
Figure 11–7.
The Standard Color Reference of America
.
Image courtesy of the Color Association of the United States.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Preface
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PREFACE
More changes have taken place in the world of color in the last few decades than have occurred over the last few centuries. The most obvious one—that drawing is now done in light—is only one aspect of this seismic shift. Color is an ever-changing, ever-advancing world, and at times a very confusing one.
This book is written for everyone who deals with color—uses it, specifies it, or just plain looks at it. It is written for design students and sign painters, architects and carpet salesmen, graphic designers and magicians. It is a road map to the relationships between colors and to the relationship between the colors of light and the colors of the real world. It is a guide to using colors freely and creatively without dependence on complicated theories or systems. This is a book about learning to see.
This book includes a workbook component that is available online at www.wiley.com/go/understanding color5e.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This fifth edition of Understanding Color would not have been possible without the generosity and help of friends, family, and colleagues both old and new. I could not have done this book without the contributions of Laurent de Brunhoff, Phyllis Rose, Carin Goldberg, Ron Lubman, Kenneth Charbonneau, Mark Stevenson, Donna Frost, David Setlow, Bob Stein of VisiBone, Andrew Lathrop, Deb Slatkin of Neonworks, Sharon Griffis of Color Marketing Group, Leslie Harrington of the Color Association of the United States, Stephen Gerould, X-Rite Corporation, Dan Brammer, Adobe Systems, Farrow and Ball, Coats and Clark, Elizabeth Eakins, Zoffany/Sanderson, Ryan Ford of Colwell Industries, Eve Ashcraft, and especially Jennifer Perman, whose illustrations continue to enhance so many pages. To all of these, and to those I have inadvertently missed, my heartfelt thanks.
1AN INTRODUCTION TO COLOR STUDYThe Experience of Color / Color Awareness / The Uses of Color / Color-Order Systems / Color Study
Color is essential for life.
—Frank H. Mahnke
Color is stimulating, calming, expressive, disturbing, exuberant, symbolic. It pervades every aspect of life, embellishes the ordinary, and gives beauty and drama to everyday objects. If black-and-white images bring the news of the day, color writes the poetry.
The romance of color exists for everyone, but color plays a far more important role for design professionals. Forms, colors, and their arrangement are the foundation elements of design, and of these, color is arguably the most powerful weapon in the designer's arsenal. A skilled colorist understands how colors are seen, when and why they seem to change, the variety of their meanings and suggestive powers—and how to apply that knowledge to enhance the marketability of products. Whether that product is a graphic design, a sweater, an airplane seat, a kitchen utensil, a laptop, a wedding cake, or anything else, color will play a great part in determining its success or failure in the consumer marketplace. For designers, color means business.
The Experience of Color
Color is, first, a sensory event. Every color experience begins as a physiological response to a stimulus of light. Colors of light are experienced in two very different ways. The colors on a monitor screen are seen as direct light. The colors of the real world—of printed pages, physical objects, and the surrounding environment—are seen as reflected light.
The perception of colors seen as direct light is straightforward: wavelengths of light reach the eye directly from a light source. The experience of real-world color is a more complex event. Real-world colors are seen indirectly, as light reflected from a surface. For tangible objects and printed pages, light is the cause of color, colorants (like paints, inks, or dyes) are the means used to generate color, and the colors that are seen are the effect.
Colors that are experienced as reflected light are unstable. Move a red object from one kind of illumination to another—from daylight to fluorescent lighting, for example—and its apparent color will undergo a noticeable shift. The same red paint applied to smooth plaster will not seem the same on rough stucco. A single color can appear as two or even more different colors simply by changing its placement against other colors. Two identical oranges, one laid on a red tablecloth and the other on a yellow one, will seem different: the first more yellow-orange, the other more red-orange.
Colors seen as direct light are more stable. As long as a particular wavelength of light reaching the eye does not shift, that color will be seen dependably as the same. But despite that stability, colors of light are not easily translated into real-world color. The color of a carpet underfoot is very different from that of its image on a screen, and each of these is different from its illustration on a printed page.
Finally, there is a human element to the instability of colors. Whether a color is seen as direct or reflected light, one person's perception of “true red” will be different from someone else's “true red.” Not only are colors themselves unstable, individuals' ideas about colors differ as well. And when colors are used symbolically, their meanings change in different cultures and in different situations.
With rare exceptions, work in the design industries today is done in images of light on a screen for products that will ultimately be produced as material goods or printed pages. Are the screen image and the actual product the same color? Can they be the same color? Which is the “true” color—the one on the screen or the one that is the tangible object? Is there such a thing as a “true” color at all?
Designers use color. Their concern is with effects, not with words, ideas, or causes. Understanding what is seen, and how and why it is seen—how colors work—is background knowledge that supports the art of color. Designers work with color every day in a comfort zone: a healthy mix of fact, common sense, and intuition. A skilled colorist exploits the instabilities of color and uses them to create interest and vitality in design.
We understand color in much the same way that we understand the shape of the earth. The earth is round, but we experience it as flat, and act according to that practical perception. Color is light alone, but it is experienced so directly and powerfully that we accept it as a physical entity. No matter what color technology is available, we believe our eyes. Ultimately, color problems in the design industries are solved with the human eye. Designers work with color from the evidence of their eyes.
Color Awareness
Color is sensed by the eye, but the perception of color takes place in the mind, and nearly always at an unconscious level. Colors are understood by their placement and their context. They are experienced at different levels of awareness depending on how and where they are seen. Colors may be perceived as two- or three-dimensional forms, as light, or as surroundings. Colors permeate the environment, are an attribute of objects, and communicate without words.
Environmental color is all-encompassing. Both the natural world and man-made environments immerse us in colors, whether they are the cold whites of Antarctica, the lush greens of tropical forests, the accidental color compositions of urban streets, or the controlled-color environments of architecture, landscape design, interior design, or theater design.
Surrounding colors have a powerful impact on the human body and mind, but most of the time they are experienced with an astonishing lack of awareness. They are noticed only when they become a focus of attention, like a beautiful sunset or a freshly decorated room. Even a stated awareness of color can be self-deceiving. Someone who expresses a dislike for green may nevertheless take enormous pleasure in a garden, describing it as a blue or yellow garden, when in fact the foliage is overwhelmingly green, with blue or yellow only a small part of the whole.
The colors of objects are perceived very directly. The separateness of an object allows a viewer to focus both eyes and mind on a single entity and single color idea. We are most consciously aware of color when it is an attribute of a defined object: a blue dress, a red car, a yellow diamond.
Figure 1–1.Environmental Color. Nature offers unrivaled displays of color.
Figure 1–2.Environmental Color. The gray of city streets is only a background for the brilliant colors of street life.
Figure 1–3.Object Color. Contemporary glass beads in many colors add brilliance and surprise to a timeless jewelry form. Necklace design and image courtesy of Lois Dubin.
Graphic colors are the colors of images: painted, drawn, printed, or on-screen. Graphein, the Greek root of the English word “graphic,” means both “writing” and “drawing.” Whether a graphic design is made of written words, illustrations, or both, its purpose is to communicate. It tells a story, sends a sales pitch or political message, even conveys emotion. Color in a graphic design is integral to the message, and that message is experienced on many levels: conscious and unconscious, sensory and intellectual, at the same time.
Figure 1–4.Graphic Color. Color adds meaning to the written word.
The Uses of Color
Color is recognized universally as a natural component of beauty. The Russian-language word for red has the same root in Old Russian as the word for beautiful. But colors are far more than beautiful; they are also useful.
