Colour Theory.
Extracted from a photo taken in Goa, India. This colour swatch offers a vibrant and vivid selection of colour that will bring warmth and energy to any form of design. The colours both contrasting and complimentary of each other encapsulates the earthy tones, and energetic atmosphere of the streets in Goa.
warm inviting holiday sun india vibrant earthy heat nature growth textiles street busy active dynamic energetic lively spirited vivid vivacious zesty
Josef Albers.
Josef Albers, the man who brought European Modernism and Bauhaus to America. His output towards the use of colour is revolutionary, Albers believed that in normal seeing, we use our eyes so much, we become so accustomed to it. However, according to Debbie Millman, Albers perception was more profound, he saw that one single colour could be transformed into two depending on the relationships it had with other colours. He was not about giving rules of colour in his teaching but was was for giving tools on how to unlock the keys of colour. Albers believed that colour is “the most relative medium in art” due to the fact that “in visual perception a colour is almost never seen as it really is - as it physically is”. The book ‘Interaction of Colour’ truly shows the driven and experimental attitude Albers had towards the colour. The book is insightful and eye opening as Albers looks at the many theories and experiments, such as visual memory, transparence, the relativity of colour, space-illusion, temperature and humidity and the afterimage effect. The after image effect is the experiment of looking at the colour red and then going straight to looking at the colour white, this quick change in colour bring the phenomenon of seeing green instead of white, this experiment is also called simultaneous contrast. Albers also goes on to state that there a two factors that cause the difference in colours, that being the light and hue. In 1950, Albers began his signature series, the ‘Homage to the Square’, in this series he produces hundreds of different simple compositions colour schemes, working with 3-4 squares inside each other which were slightly gravitating downward. In 1965, he went on to write about the series and how they are all of different palettes and how they therefore speak of different climates. The choices of colours were aimed to create an interaction influencing and changing each other. This created a change in character and feeling in the paintings, aimed to form an understanding from audience through emotion.
PANTONE 1788 CP
PANTONE 374 CP
PANTONE 1485 U
Founded by Lawrence Herbert is 1963, Pantone was the first ever company to introduce a standardised colour coding system known as PMS (Pantone Matching System). The idea behind PMS allowed designers to match their use of colours to a specific shade when a design entered its production stage, t his meant that the colour used for the design would be identically replicated in the printing process. One way in which the colours are standardised is by using the CMYK (the process of printing colour which is processed by using just four inks cyan, magenta, yellow and black.) as there is a special subset of Pantone colours that can be reproduced by using CMYK.
PANTONE 10283 C
Klein Blue.
Klein Blue, also known as IKB (International Klein Blue) was created by Yves Klein in collaboration with Edouard Adam. Klein Blue heavily relies on the colour Ultramarine, however Klein Blue has a uniqueness which doesn't derive from Ultramarine but the way in which the colour was created; through the matte, synthetic resin binder where the colour is suspended. This process allows the pigmentation of IKB to maintain its intense original colour. This process juxtaposes to the making of Ultramarine which involves grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. Ultramarine was known for being the finest and most expensive hues of blue used by Renaissance painters. And was often used for the robes of the Virgin Mary, as a symbolism of holiness and humility. It remained an extremely expensive pigment until a synthetic ultramarine was invented in 1826. Yves Klein considered that his "colour had a quality close to pure space and he associated it with immaterial values beyond what can be seen or touched". Klein Blue is a rich and suggestive colour, possibly seen as an attempt to free oneself from their imposed mines, as Klein believe that the "lines in pictures were a form of "prison grating," and only color offered the path to freedom". Personally, the rich shade of ultramarine which Klein made his own, is striking and bold, almost an energy source with it's electrifying hue. The colour is almost prestigious relating to the contextual value of Ultramarine, and it's striking pigmentation underlies its rarity, one of the reasons why it's one of my favourite colours. .
ELLIE ANDREWS.
Illustrator and Graphic Designer Ellie Andrews’ word is as bold as it is distinctive, partly due to her repetitious use of the shade of Blue, that being Klein Blue. This work was displayed on 'It's nice that' and caught my attention straight away due to it's bold and powerful look. The use of blue is rather empowering and being textured into the background of the black square bring the colour to life, as it were almost fire; which links well to the overall theme of the work.
STUDIO MH.
IThe website design consists of Klein Blue as it’s main homepage. The overall look is striking and rather alienating in comparison to you traditional website. The use of the blue hue becomes somewhat immersive and hypnotic and the 3D vectors further add to the experience of this ‘other world’. The colour itself is rather replete, however one thing that makes this overall experience work is the use of an off white colour for the typeface, if the designer were to have used white the colour clashes would have been to much for the viewer and become an eyesore.
Aloa Input, a Munich based three-piece band, comprised of Florian Kreier (vocals/bass, aka Angela Aux), Cico Beck (drums/electronics; aka Joasihno & live member of The Notwist and Ms. John Soda), and Marcus Grassl (guitar/vocals). The combination of all these instruments produces a relaxing, concordant piece which offers low static sounds. The clashing of the colours of Red and Klein blue and distortion of lettering and dots offer an interesting form of movement, being a parallel to the relation of the band's music genre. The clash of the bright red and klein blue offers a form of static energy, and further emphasises the brightness and boldness of Klein Blue. Overall the outcome is exciting and energetic and to some extent although rather harsh on the eyes at first becomes a rather
ALOA INPUT.
SAGMEISTER & WALSH.
In New York, 1904, The Jewish Museum was established. The museum is one of the leading cultural institutions devoting to the exploration of art and Jewish culture. Sagmeister & Walsh have recently rebranded the institute and has taken a rather contemporary up to date approach. Overall the way in which Sagmeister & Walsh approached this rebrand is so clever, the logo and pictograms were generated from using a grid that derived from the characteristics of the ‘sacred geometry’, an ancient geometric system from which the Star of David. The use of Klein Blue, although rather powerful and bright, links to the association to the Jewish Religion and the Flag of Israel. Overall, the rebrand conveys the traditions of Jewish culture in a new refreshing contemporary style being “intellectually engaging, educational and provocative.”
KAITLIN KOBS.
I chose to look at this design because the use of Klein Blue here was rather interesting. Most of the designs that I have looked at use Klein Blue as their fundamental pivotal colour choice. However with this design, I feel the use of Klein Blue here heavily accentuates the colours green and red. Brushing upon the knowledge and findings of Josef Albers, I feel that this collaboration of Red, green and Blue along with Black and White, creates a striking and popping final outcome. The overlaying and overhanging along with the use of contrasting colours creates a form of depth, and the illusion that the circles and hot dogs are levitating in the design.
TAMA ARPADI.
Tama Arpadi, a designer that creates everyday renders of experimentations, creates sharp exciting and eye catching 3D renders. Following him on Instagram and seeing his various work, Arpadi recently posted a design which was engulfed in the colour Klein Blue. The overall look was somewhat electrifying and intoxicating. When I asked Arpadi about why he chose this colour, he went on to explain how there was no significant meaning or reasoning behind this piece and that he doesn't follow an agenda when creating his works; However, he then went on to explain how the colour did offer and interesting balance to his work. Arpadi then went on to describe Klein blue as one of the most powerful colour of the palette. "While it has it's own aggressive impulse at first look, it becomes such a calm colour after a couple of seconds."
RGB and CMYK.
RGB (which stands for red, green, and blue) refers to the system which represents the colours that are used and displayed on a computer display. An additive colour model called the RGB colour model uses the light of red, green and blue to reproduce any array of colour, amazingly enough the total number of available colours though the combination of red, green, and, blue is 16,777,216. Red, green, and blue can be combined in various quantities to create any colour that is from them visible spectrum.The Projection of primary colour lights on to a screen would show the secondary colours where two of the colours overlap; the combination of all three of red, green and blue at their fullest intensities makes white, and with zero intensities forms black. CMYK (which stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black)) which refers to the four inks used in some colour printing systems is the other form of a colour system. Compared to RBG, CMYK juxtaposes the RGB colour system as it contains subtractive colours, this means that the when the colours are removed the outcome is white, and when the colours are combined they form black. Futher in comparison in simpler terms, RGB is primarliy used for web and screen design, and CMYK is used for print design. .
453F41
A07354 AD863D
FFD55C
EBCC3F
1C1816
C8AC8C
FDE8B1
755137
EE757F
F8F4BE
F39AA3
348F9F
E34B3E
4DB376
EE7050
C9D466
F59F5D
Colour, the pure and fundamental element which we use and see in our everyday lives. It's around us everywhere we go and has become in a way it's own language. When looking at an object colour is in fact the first thing registered into our minds, instead of the line and object we are actually looking at, it's our visual way of life. Like symbols and letters, colour is it's own visual literacy, and is known universally. Colour is able to provide both physiological and visual information, however symbolically, these colours share countless different meanings due to the fact thats it's a powerful and important communication tool, and it is tied to religious, cultural, political and social influences.. For instance, a woman wears a white dress, where is she going? Already one would link this image to the Western world and identify this woman as a bride at a wedding, wearing her bridal gown, however if you were to say this to someone from Korea or India she'd be at a funeral. In China and India brides wear Red, and a further subversion would be shown in the Jan van Eyck's Renaissance painting which depicts a woman in a green gown - a symbol of fertility. Artist's and designers can have the control of the of what they allow the viewer perceive, however they must try to always be aware that they may be creating work and using colours which may convey a somewhat disrespectful message. The knowledge of knowing what is culturally correct and incorrect through design is very important, because one could risk the possibility of offending their target audience or possibly a business client. For example, it is said that purple in Thailand is a representation of mourning for those who have passed away. However, in the the Western culture, when one thinks of purple, it's easy to relate to royalty, luxury, a Cadburys chocolate bar, wealth and, occasionally even magic. Thai Airways brand colour is purple, after learning about the significance of purple in Thailand, one could see this as a huge branding error. It is possible however that Thai Airways is not targeted towards the people of Thailand but the Western tourists, therefore meaning western viewers would then associate the airlines to being luxurious. In conclusion, colour is a rather complex subject when it comes to design, especially when used internationally, with more research and understanding the representation of colour becomes more diverse and interesting.
By Ami Vadi.