Major Project Report

Colourful Language

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Eleanor Maclure

Colourful Language

LONDON COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION MA GRAPHIC DESIGN PART TIME PERSONAL TUTOR: JOHN BATESON

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Eleanor Maclure

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my personal tutor John, and all the other tutors and fellow students on MA Graphic Design at London College of Communication for their advice and encouragement, it has been much appreciated. I would also like to say a special thanks to Richard Ashworth, Karen Skorski and Lisa Roberts at the Society of Dyers and Colourists for their time, expertise and opinions and to Simon Tiutwein, David Batchelor, Patrick Baty, Rob and Nick Carter, Karen Haller, Janet Best and Alan Dye for allowing me to interview them for this project. Also to Colin Jones and everyone at Blindness In Greenwich for their contributions and openness in discussing their experiences of colour.

I would also like to acknowledge everyone who participated in the survey for this project, your contributions have helped to demonstrate the sheer variety in the way we describe colours, making the outcome of the project a viable proposition. I am also eternally grateful to Chris Duke and the print team at Blissetts for their endeavours to produce all the printed material for this project on time, to a tight budget.

Finally, thanks to Andrew and my family for their support and understanding over the last two years and everyone else who has given their time or expertise to my research, without which this project would not have been possible.

Contents

01 Introduction

06 Development of Outputs

02 Proposal Outline

07 Evaluation

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7

Field of Study Focus Research Question Project Aims Relationship to Design Practise Audience Validity

7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4

Evaluation of Methodology Evaluation of Outcome Critical Reflection Personal Reflection

08 Conclusion

03 Context

List of Illustrations

References

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5

The Physics of Colour The Biology of Colour Perception Theories of Colour Colour and Language Colour Naming

04 Key Concepts 05 Research Methodologies 5.1

Focus 1 5.1.1 Essays on Colour 5.1.2 Strooping the Colour 5.1.3 Colour my Words 5.1.4 When Green is Not Green 5.1.5 Colour by Numbers

5.2

5.3

Focus 2 5.2.1 Searching for the Rainbow 5.2.2 Transforming the Rainbow 5.2.3 Looking for Hue 5.2.4 Say What You See 5.2.5 Deconstructing the Rainbow Focus 3 5.3.1 Quantitative Research 5.3.2 Qualitative Research

Further Reading Appendices A-C

Report Aims

This report aims to deliver an informative and comprehensive account and analysis of the research, methodologies and outcomes of Colourful Language, the investigation submitted as the Major Project for my MA Graphic Design, at London College of Communication.

Colour and language, the subjects of this investigation are both vast fields of study, with overlaps into a number of other areas. Ample context has been provided in this report as a reflection of the size of the subject area and the quantity of research undertaken to support the project overall.

The framework of the investigation is established through the inclusion of key points, concepts and considerations from the original proposal for the project. This should allow the reader to gain a full understanding of the background, purpose and aims of the research.

The various research methodologies employed throughout the project are described in detail and evaluated to give both an account and analysis of the progress of the project, as is the development of the design outcomes that have subsequently resulted from the research.

It is intended that this document synthesise and rationalize the concepts that inform, support and have developed at a result of the project. The structure and content of the report aims to unite the numerous components of this investigation and present the project as a cohesive and reasoned body of work with a considered conclusion.

Introduction

“The philosopher Wittgenstein famously asked ‘How do I know that this color is red?—It would be an answer to say: I have learnt English’”.

(Batchelor, 2000 pp.91)

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Introduction

“The philosopher Wittgenstein famously asked ‘How do I know that this color is red?—It would be an answer to say: I have learnt English.’” (Batchelor, 2000 pp.91) But how do we know what is red, or blue or green?

How does our understanding of these colours relate to how we label them? And how well do our colour names reflect the colours we are trying to identify?

We all use colour names to describe things in everyday life, whether to describe someone’s appearance, give directions, or decipher colour-coded information. But how well do we use these terms? How consistent and precise are we when it comes to defining what is claret, maroon or burgundy? Would we feel confident asserting that something was beige rather than taupe? Do we know the difference between lilac and lavender? Is there a real difference?

How effectively can this aspect of our communication function, when our own understanding of colour terms is insufficient or our language itself is lacking the precise descriptions we are grasping for?

These questions and others are but some of the issues that afflict the way we use language to describe and define our experience of colour. The system is complicated further, in that there are no standards of individual colour perception. Colours vary with context, surface texture and viewing conditions, while colour terms are imprecise, have no chromatic content in themselves and there is no way of knowing that my notion of a particular hue is the same as anyone else’s. Trying to devise a system based on language, to accurately define colours is an impossible task.

Despite this we use language to reference colour all the time, we have too. Often there is no other available means of referring to the particular hue we are trying to describe. That the language system we use to talk about colour is inherently flawed, is all the more reason why it should be studied and analysed to further our understanding.

Proposal Outline

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Project Outline This section outlines key points from the original proposal submitted for this project. It details the parameters and frames of reference established for the investigation.

2.1

FIELD OF STUDY

The subject of this investigation unites two independent and largely unrelated fields of study: colour theory and linguistics. It could more accurately be described as being situated where these two areas intersect, the marriage of colour and language.

Both of these areas have long histories and incorporate many concepts and theories. Colour theory alone bridges a number of subjects from: physics and optics, to the visual arts, to biology and neuroscience.

Linguistics is also a substantial field of study, so in order to contain the scope of the research I have concentrated my attention only on the concepts that are particularly relevant to the research question. That both fields have well-established bodies of knowledge has validated my own investigation and provided a wealth of information with which to support it.

I have also elected to focus this research on English colour names only. Although colour naming across different language systems is a rich area of study, it is a whole subject in itself and too extensive to investigate in any detail as it raises problems of translation and crosscultural sensitivity.

To further define the areas of interest, within colour theory I will specifically be concerned with colour perception and semiotics, with regards to linguistics.

2.2

FOCUS

Within the fields of study previously outlined, the focus of this investigation is defined as Colour Naming. It can be described as the process by which we equate the colours we perceive through our visual sensory system with how we identify them using our language system. It is concerned with the body of colour terms that exist in English, their relationships to each other, their real world application and the problems that can occur when using language to identify and describe colours.

2.3

RESEARCH QUESTION

The research question originally stated in the proposal for this project was:

HOW WE TALK ABOUT COLOUR: Observing the way we use language to describe colours.

This question has stood throughout the project but can be expanded and clarified as focussing on the names of colours and in the following ways: 1. The names of colours: Analysis of the body of words used to describe colour, how they can be categorised, their origins, their meanings.

2. The names of colours: how do they visually relate to each other. For example how does red relate to pink, maroon or terracotta? How do these colour terms relate to each other in turn?

3. The names of colours: The consistency of their application, interpretation, definition and understanding. For example, the variation in how colour terms can be used to label colours and how varying colours can be identified using the same term.

Although broken down into three sections, the order is not indicative of the importance of each concept.

The first part is intended to carry less weight in the investigation, primarily acting as a foundation for the rest of the research, which is comprised of parts two and three, and should generate the more interesting and visually appealing aspect of the project.

2.4

PROJECT AIMS

The fundamental aim of this research project is to contribute to the understanding of how language is used to express colour, through observations, quantitative research, analysis and particularly visual representation.

The problems of using language to describe colour has been commented on by a number of writers, described in more detail in the Context section of this report.

Colour stretches the limits of our descriptive abilities and consequently our language.

While there are evidently a number of difficulties with colour and language, this project has never set out to solve them. Several thousand years of philosophy have failed to produce an adequate theory or model of colour and some aspects of the problem of the relationship between colour and language are theoretically impossible to solve, due to the nature of verbal language itself.

The discourse on colour and language, through philosophy, linguistics and even fine art exists largely as text, resulting in the discussion of a subject which is entrenched in our visual culture, but using a system of communication widely acknowledged as utterly deficient in describing it. Therefore, what this project does aim to achieve is a contribution to the understanding of the problem through visual documentation and representation, to use graphic design to show what the relationships between colours and their names look like.

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2.5

RELATIONSHIP TO DESIGN PRACTICE

Although the focus of my research is not directly related to graphic design itself, both colour and language are key features of visual communication and vital tools for a graphic designer. Colour naming is, ultimately, a communication problem, and although it is a potentially unsolvable problem graphic design processes are a valid method for exploring it.

As described earlier, a disproportionate amount of the research that exists on colour naming is written discourse not visual representation. Therefore, this project finds its relationship to design practise by using design methodologies to visually represent research in an area where two fields closely related to graphic design coincide.

2.6

AUDIENCE

The audience for this project was defined in the proposal as primarily being designers and those who work in the creative industry or visual arts. This could also be extended to include anyone who works with colour as part of their profession.

However, the research carried out for this project and the visual outcomes produced have the possibility of appealing to anyone who has an interest in colour, among the wider audience of the general population.

I also hope to find an audience in those who also are studying colour naming, or who have an interest in linguistics, semiotics, colour theory, culture, the visual arts, perception, philosophy or simply the general advancement of knowledge, learning and understanding.

2.7

VALIDITY

Colour is often seen as a purely decorative medium, and it would be easy to assume that the language we use to describe colours is a somewhat esoteric area of study.

However, as the research for this project has come to reinforce, colour is a highly prominent aspect of our environment. We all have a relationship with it, even those with a visual impairment.

The way we use language to break down colour into categories and the names that we use for colours are intrinsically linked to the way we perceive and interpret them. Thus, increasing the awareness and understanding of how we use words to describe colours is particularly valid.

The work by Nathan Moroney, described in further detail in Research Methodology, has also served to reinforce the real-world purpose of this area of study, citing a number of relevant applications for an increased understanding of how we use language to describe colour: ‘Applications of color naming include graphical user interface design, color schemes for data visualization, object segmentation in images, as a property in image database queries, and derivation of color palettes for designers.’ (Moroney, 2003)

“Applications of color naming include graphical user interface design, color schemes for data visualization, object segmentation in images, as a property in image database queries, and derivation of color palettes for designers.”

(Moroney, 2003)

Context

“Before we could speak, colour was our language .”

(Haller, 2011)

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Context The subjects of colour and language are both supported by significant bodies of theory. This section of the report details relevant background research and describes similar projects and studies that have helped the development of this investigation.

3.1

THE PHYSICS OF COLOUR

All the colours that saturate the world around us today, have existed since the beginning of time. Photons, the tiny particles that make up waves of light, were one of the elementary particles created during the birth of the universe.

Photons travelling at different wavelengths create the frequencies of electromagnetic radiation that make up the electromagnetic spectrum. The frequencies range from Gamma waves, the shortest at a fraction of the size of an atom, to longer radio waves. However, what humans see as visible light is only a tiny portion of it, our spectrum of colours lies between the wavelengths of infrared and ultra-violet radiation. As Isaac Newton demonstrated in his prism experiment over three hundred years ago, ‘white’ light can be refracted and split in to the colours of the spectrum. Red is seen in wavelengths of between 700 and 635 nanometres (nm), orange between 635-590 nm, yellow between 590 and 560 nm, green 560 and 490 nm, blue 490 and 450 nm and purple between 450 and 400 nm.

The colours around us don’t physically exists in objects themselves, they are in some respects, illusions.

Colour is largely created by electromagnetic energy, light, interacting with electrons. This can manifest

itself as a number of different processes, for example incandescence, diffraction and scattering, depending on the physical structure and properties of the surface.

Many of the colours we see in the world around us are a result of light reflecting off pigmented surfaces.

Pigments occur everywhere and can be natural, as in skin and hair, or synthetic as with dyes and paints.

When light hits a pigmented surface, photons of particular energies interact with the electrons in the part of the pigment molecule that is responsible for colour, the chromophore, causing them to react. Those wavelengths of light are absorbed by the object, others are rejected, reflected back at us and are received by the receptors in our eyes.

The electrons in the chromophore of different materials will only react to photons travelling at specific frequencies. This represents the particular amount of energy that will excite the electrons, so some molecular arrangements will create structures where certain bands of light waves will be reflected more than others.

This explains how some objects absorb low energy frequencies and reflect wavelengths that we see as blue and others will absorb higher energy frequencies and appear red to us.

3.2

THE BIOLOGY OF COLOUR PERCEPTION

It is possible that we originally developed our sensitivity to different wavelengths of light as far back in our evolutionary history as when life existed as single cell amoebas in the ocean. In order to harvest vital energy from the sun whilst protecting themselves from destructive UV rays the organisms moved to different depths of water at different times of day. They sunk deeper during full daylight, when the sky was blue and moved to shallower water at dusk when the sun appeared more yellow. It has been speculated that this yellow/blue colour system is hardwired into our biological make up.

Primates developed an additional red/green colour system forty million years ago, when it became useful to have this ability for finding food and avoiding danger.

This new level of colour distinction enabled primates to flourish and evolved into the colour vision system that human have today.

Newborn babies are not born with colour vision. Over the first three months of life the receptor cells in their eyes eventually develop, allowing them to see colour.

The human eye is a highly complex organ, light enters our eyes through the cornea, then the iris, which can expand and contract to let more or less light into the pupil, then the lens. This reflects the light on to the retina which is made up of a number of cells, including two types of photoreceptors, rods and cones. The rods enable us to see in low light, facilitating the distinction between light and dark. While, the cones are responsible allowing us to see fine detail and colour.

Humans are referred to as trichromats, because our vision is based on a system of three colour receptors.

There are three different types of cone cells ones which

absorb red, ones which absorb blue and ones which absorb green. We have around 100 million rod cells and 7 million cone cells in each eye. Detailed scans of living human retina have shown that although the proportion of red, green and blue cones can vary wildly between person to person, sometimes up to 40 times (Goudarzi, 2005), the way we see colours is remarkably similar.

However, there are a significant percentage of men who have a colour vision deficiency, compared to women.

In North American this proportion is 8% verses 0.5% (Wikipedia, 2011). This often occurs because two of our cone cell genes occur on the X chromosome. A number of colour deficiencies can arise when one of these genes mutates. As men only have one X chromosome there is nothing to override that mutation, as there is in women, who have two. The same process could also create tetrachromacy in women, who would theoretically have four different types of cone receptors, resulting in exceptional colour distinction. It is thought to affect 2-3% women worldwide, although only one case has been confirmed.

Light is processed by the rods and cones of the retina by means of a series of chemical reactions which are translated in to electrical impulses, transmitted to the brain through the optic nerve. The impulses are interpreted by comparing the signals from each of the different types of cones, in the primary visual cortex, at the back of the brain. So the yellow of a banana is neither in the fruit itself nor the light reflected off it, but in our heads. Exactly how the brain processes colour from the signals it receives is still something that science has yet to fully understand, but it is in some respects an illusion.

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3.3 There are a number of ways to demonstrate this aspect of colour. Many optical illusions play on the idiosyncrasies of our visual system, as seen in the Mach Band Effect and simultaneous contrast.

Some occur because we see colour in context. Josef Albers described colour as ‘the most relative medium in art’ (Albers, 2006 pp.1). This quality of our colour vision, that the colours that we interpret is greatly influenced by what surrounds them, was demonstrated systematically, to great effect in his visual experiments in Interaction of Colour, see Figures 122 and 123, Appendix A. While all almost all of us have senses that function to give us a similar experience of the world, there will always be a degree of variation in our sensory perception. So our physiology and the way our brains interpret colour are but two of the potential sources of subjectivity in our experience of colour.

THEORIES OF COLOUR

The nature of colour has been contemplated throughout history, and much has been discussed and theorised in both ancient and modern philosophy. This includes discussion by Pythagoras (570-c. 495 BC) on colour harmony, Plato (427 - 347 BC) on colour perception, and Aristotle (384-322 BC) on colour mixing.

Other theories of colour were later developed, through painting by Leonardo da Vinci (Treatise on Painting) and scientific methods, by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. More recent philosophical works have included writing on the complex relationship between colour and language, in particular Goethe’s Theory of Colours (1810).

Wittgenstein’s Remarks on Colour (1977) was a response to this and used language games to contemplate the apparent contradictions in our perception of colour. In contrast to this Hardin’s Colour for Philosophers (1988), aimed to provide a scientific basis for the philosophy of colour, in order to acknowledge how developments in this area that have greatly improved our understanding of colour.

“All that is necessary for any language to exist is an agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another.”

(Crow, 2003 pp.20)

3.4

COLOUR AND LANGUAGE

The Optical Society of America suggests that the human eye “can identify between 7.5 and 10 million distinct colours” (Wershler-Henry, 2001). The average adult has a vocabulary of up to 50 000 words (Gall, 2009) and although continuously growing, the estimated number of words in the English language is one to two million (Gall, 2009). If every word in the English language was used, we still would only be able to give names to around one tenth of the colours we can recognize.

Colour terms are the words we use to identify colours, in other words, their names. They are classified as adjective and can be categorised in several ways, beginning with abstract and descriptive terms. Abstract terms refer to colour names that are used only to designate a colour, for example blue. Descriptive colour terms usually come from the colour of objects the world around us, and can be used to denote both a colour and an object, for example lemon or fuchsia.

Many descriptive colour terms are taken from flowering plants or food items. Some colour terms which are now abstract originated from a descriptive term, for example the English colour Pink which was originally the name used for the wild flower mallow.

In the late 1960s Brett Berlin and Paul Kay conducted a worldwide linguistic and anthropological study into the development of colour terms within the language systems of different cultures. From the results of this study they developed a universalist theory of how colour terms evolve within the development of a language.

They used it to categorise language systems based on how many basic colour terms existed within it. English was identified as having the maximum number of basic colour terms: eleven. These are black, white, red, yellow, green, blue, brown, purple, pink, orange and grey (Berlin & Kay, 1999). Of these terms only orange is not abstract, referring to the citrus fruit. This clearly defined

set of colour names has been used as a foundation for a number of the colour and language explorations, described in the Research Methodology section of this report.

In contrast to this is the relativist Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. This states that our colour categories influence the way we understand the world and could possibly influence the way we actually perceive colours.

There is potential empirical evidence of this concept through experiments conducted on the Himba, a tribe based in northern Namibia, who have very different colour categories to English. Shown on the BBC series Horizon (Figures 123 and 124), the Himba were able to differentiate shades of green far more easily than people in Western cultures, as they had different words for those colours. However, they had great difficulty in distinguishing blue from green because they create no distinction between the two hues in their language.

The ancient Greeks were once thought of being unable to see the colour blue, as they too had no word for it in their language (Eco, 1985 pp.157). While research

by Paul Green-Armytage (2010) on the limits of colour coding indicates that if a colour can be named it is easier to identify and recall from memory.

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3.5

COLOUR NAMING

There is a scene in Sofia Coppola’s film debut, Lost in Translation, where Bill Murray’s character, Bob receives a package of red toned carpet samples from his wife, while away filming an advert, accompanied by he note ‘I like the burgundy one, what do you think?’. To which he responds despairingly, after tipping them out on the floor, ‘which one is burgundy?’. This scenario highlights a typical example of the frustrations that can occur when trying to use language to communicate colour.

There exists a sizeable body of research specifically on colour naming. A significant amount has been carried out by Paul Kay (co-author of the Berlin-Kay hypothesis) with others, since the late 1960s, including the World Colour Survey. There are also currently a number of online colour naming projects particularly experiments

by Nathan Moroney, for Hewlett-Packard, Figure 126, cumulating in The Colour Thesaurus Figures 127 and 128, An Online Colour Naming Model by LCC MSc. Digital Colour Imaging student Dimitris Mylonas, Public Perception of Colour project by Rob and Nick Carter (Figures 129 and 130) and the Interactive Colour Label Explorer by CrowdFlower (Figures 130-133). A number of other online colour naming applications are shown in the Visual Summary and Supporting Material Volume 5.

In the comments on Colour Recollection and Visual Memory in his influential text The Interaction of Colour, Josef Albers (2006, pp.3) describes a scenario particularly relevant this project: “If one says “Red” (the name of a color) and there are 50 people listening, it can be expected that there will be 50 reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different.

Even when a certain color is specified which all listener have seen innumerable times—such as the red of the Coca-Cola sign which is the same red al over the country—they will still think of many different reds.

Even if all the listeners have hundreds of reds in front of them from which to choose the Coca-Cola red, they will again select quite different colors. And no one can be sure that he has found the precise red shade.

And even if that round red Coca-Cola sign with the white name in the middle is actually shown so that everyone focuses on the same red, each will receive the same projection on his retina, but no one can be sure whether each has the same perception.

When we consider further the associations and reactions which are experienced in connection with the color and the name, probably everyone will diverge again in many different directions.

What does this show?

First, it is hard, if not impossible, to remember distinct colors. This underscores that important fact that the visual memory is very poor in comparison with our auditory memory. Often the latter is able to repeat a melody heard only once or twice.

Second, the nomenclature of color is most inadequate. Though there are innumerable colors— shades and tones—in daily vocabulary, there are only about 30 names.”

Some of these problems can be resolved through the use of colour standards. The imprecision of colour terms was addressed by Albert Munsell creator of the Munsell Colour System, who described colour names as ‘’foolish and misleading” (1905, pp.9) and the Pantone Matching System, both of which employ numeric methods to define colours. However, these systems are only applicable in certain contexts and are impractical for everyday conversation.

Key Concepts

Key Concepts Summarised here are the principal concepts, identified throughout the course of this research that either; inform, support or have developed as a result of the project. They are fundamental to the understanding of the way we perceive colour, the relationship between colour and language and support the validity of the subject as an area of study.

• Colour doesn’t physically exist in objects or in light.

It is in essence, an illusion. Our eyes absorb the different wavelengths of light that are reflected by objects and surfaces. It is our brains, which then interpret them as colour.

• We see colour in context. The colours that we see are influenced by surface, texture and material, the amount, direction and quality of light, and in particular, other surrounding colours and surfaces.

• Language is inadequate in its description of colours because we are able to optically identify many more individual colours than we have words for, even in the whole of the English language.

• The names of colour have no chromatic content in themselves. This results in a lack of consensus over the exact hue a particular name refers to. If an author writes the word ‘green’ in a text, they will never know if the reader understood the precise hue that is meant by the term.

• Our perception of colour is subjective. Even excluding those with major visual and colour vision deficiencies, we still all perceive colour slightly differently. It can be influenced by age, gender and, some argue, by how a culture divides colour into categories using language.

• We lack the ability to use language to identify the vast range of hues in the world around us precisely and often resort to pointing to a similar colour or improvising using references to the colour of familiar objects or brands.

• We are unable to convey our individual perception of colour accurately with language because a shared understanding of words is required for communicating meaning, even though the sensory experience may be slightly different.

• Despite there being limits to our language, we still have several thousand colour terms at our disposal.

Yet we predominantly resort to a small collection of basic terms to describe a vast range of colour experiences.

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• The way that a culture divides colour into categories with language is a reflection of how pertinent those distinctions are in that culture. In the future, it is possible that in industrialised cultures, where there is a widely coloured visual landscape, it may be necessary to expand our vocabulary of basic colour terms.

• With colour names that are less frequently used or more sophisticated there tends to be a breakdown in the understanding of what hue a term refers to.

• By using language to define and describe colours we attach a variety of connotations and cultural meanings to a hue, so it is incredibly difficult to talk about a colour objectively, as pure chroma, without evoking a multitude of associations.

• There is no effective way of explaining colours or a particular colour to someone who has never seen it or cannot see.

• Devising a system that would give us a truly accurate way of describing colour using language is theoretically impossible.

• Language, although flawed, is the best system we have for describing colour in a conversational context. Numerical colour systems are somewhat impractical and complex for widespread use and conversation, failing to capture the full extent of our sensory experience.

Research Methodology

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Research Methodology This section of the report details the research methodologies and used for the various explorations into the relationship between colour and language that form this investigation.

They are structured to follow the three approaches identified through the analysis of the research question.

5.1

FOCUS 1

The Names of Colours: Analysis of the body of words used to describe colour, how they can be divided, their origins, their uses.

To create a foundation for the project I felt it necessary to examine the body of words that comprise our colour naming vocabulary. This initially involved compiling a list of colour names from various publications and online sources, which had been identified during the initial research for this project.

This exercise then progressed to dividing the colour names into groups of abstract and descriptive colour terms, for example red and orange, then compound and non-compound terms, for example blue and sky blue. The division of colour names into abstract and descriptive terms proved to be more difficult than initially expected. Far more colour names are actually

descriptive and there are some like ‘pink’ for example that are now considered abstract but derive from a descriptive source. Of the eleven basic colour terms only ‘orange’ is still considered descriptive. However researching the epistemology of colour names became essential for this process and in some cases it was difficult to discern whether the colour name had originated from an object or not.

However, this exercise proved highly valuable formed the basis of a number of further investigations, described over the following pages.

5.1.1

ESSAYS ON COLOUR

One of the first investigations into the relationship between colour and language began with a series of essays published in Cabinet Magazine, an American quarterly arts and culture journal. Every issue the editors asked one of their regular contributor to write about a colour. I first discovered the columns while writing the proposal for this project and was able to collect the essays from all forty-two of Cabinet’s published issues.

Initially the essays were another piece of background research providing valuable source of interesting information about colour and colour names. However, collectively they represented a varied and engaging body of writing that demonstrated a variety of approaches to talking about colour, ranging from the highly factual to the deeply personal. Some focussed very much on the colour in question, others described stories from history or politics.

As the essays had played a significant role in informing my view on colour I collated them in a book called Essays on Colour so that the collection could be appreciated as a whole, and the different approaches to writing about a colour could be compared. Iterations of the book layout are shown in Figures 1–4. Figures 5–8 show spreads of the final design for the book.

As an extension of this research I was keen to discover how colour terms were used within the individual essays, to reflected how the subject had been broached in each case. Using a number of different methods I analysed the distribution of colour terms throughout all of the essays. There was a vast difference in the number of instances, which was also converted both into a bar graph and shown as a ratio of the total word count.

The distribution of the colour terms was shown by highlighting all of the colour terms within each essay and then layering them to create areas of varying density. The exercises were then edited and collated as a book and poster series: Essays on Colour Analysis (Figures 9–16). The full range of iterations is presented in Supporting Material Volume 2.

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FIGURES 1 – 4, ESSAYS ON COLOUR LAYOUT ITERATIONS

Hazel Jonathan Lethem

O

h, Hazel, you’re making me crazy and lazy and hazy! Hazel, I think I love you! Hazel, you were the beginning of sex to me, a boy’s love for an adult woman’s mystery. I’m a little drunk on you, when I dim the lights and let the memories flood in... Hazel, you are a gypsy dancer... but let me try to explain.

My eyes are blue. Blue-gray. My father, a Midwestern Quaker, has blue eyes. My Jewish mother had eyes that were something other. Brown, I would have said. My brother ended up with those eyes too.

Hazel, my parents both explained. This was important.

Look for the green in the brown, the shimmer—that’s Hazel. I tried, I looked. I pretended to see it, gazing into my mother’s eyes, yes, sure, it’s there—Hazel. They looked brown to me.

I associated this with a game of my mother’s, another trick of gaze: She’d put her nose to mine so that our faces were too near to see in focus and say, with bullying enthusiasm, “See the owl! Do you see the owl? It’s an owl, do you see it?” I never could see the owl. A blur, a cyclops, maybe a moth, but never an owl. I didn’t know how to look for the owl. But I didn’t know how to refuse: “Yes, I see the owl!” It was the same with Hazel. I saw and I didn’t see. I saw the idea: something green in the brown, a richness, something Jewish and enviable and special, not mere brown eyes.

The notion of Hazel balanced, in our family, against the specialness of blue eyes, it stood for everything that wasn’t obvious in the sum of advantages or virtues between two parents. Hazel was my mother’s beatnik Jewish side, her soulfulness. I granted it—I was in love with it! So Hazel was my first imaginary color, before Infrared, before Ultraviolet, and more sticky and stirring than either of those: Hazel is to Ultraviolet as Marijuana is to Cocaine, as Patchouli is to Obsession.

My mother wore patchouli—it smelled Hazel.

Indigo Frances Richard

My next Hazel was when I was fourteen or fifteen.

My father is a painter, and I was following in his footsteps. He had a drawing group, every Thursday night. I’d go and draw, sitting in the circle of artists, the one kid allowed. From the nude model. A mixed experience, a rich one. I was sneaking looks for hours at a time, in plain sight. This was the 70s. I demanded they treat me as an adult, and I was obliged. And there were two beautiful women, artists, who sat in the circle and drew from the model as well: Laurel and Hazel. Like the names of two rabbits. Laurel was blonde and Hazel dark, no kidding. I loved them both, mad crushes. Again, an intoxicating mix, the nude before me, Hazel and Laurel my peers in the circle. The model would finish with a pose and you’d go around, murmuring approval of one another’s drawings, pointing out flourishes. Steamy, for a boy. Crushes on your parents’ female friends, when you’re a hippie child, mash mothery feeling with earthy first stirrings of lust—you’re not afraid of women’s bodies when you’re a hippie child. That’s got to be invented later, retroactively. I took showers outdoors with nudists, it was all good. Hazel was waiting for me, she was in store.

Then the Dylan song, of course, from “Planet Waves.” Hazel. “Planet Waves” I’d put with “New Morning” and “Desire,” the three records of Dylan’s most saturated with hippie aesthetics, the sexy gypsy stuff, the handkerchief-on-the-head phase. “Hazel” is a ragged, tumbling song of lust, that Rick Danko organ sound: “You got something I want plenty of…”

And from the same record, another lyric: “It was hotter than a crotch…” My mother loved Dylan, so it all folded together, the hot murk of Hazel, what I’d never seen but was ready to see, the green in the brown, Hazel, Dolores Haze-l, oh, I long for you still, you were the beaded, reeking initiation I never quite had, girls

I’m just a soul who’s bluer than blue can be When I get that mood indigo Duke Ellington

with potter’s clay under their fingers, maybe, girls who when they danced spun in whirling skirts, and sex outdoors with bugs around and the sun in hazel eyes.

And at night we’d see the owl, I was sure. Instead by the time I was ready it was an infrared or ultraviolet world, we danced with knock-kneed Elvis Costello jerks, sneering at Hazel, those grubby Deadhead girls in the next dorm, and made out with short-haired punks in cocaine fluorescent light. We reinvented body-fear, pale anemic anorexic sex-ambivalence.

Hazel might be having all the fun, but she was shameful now, David Byrne had explained the problem perfectly. I pretended I’d never known her, and I hadn’t—only trusted she’d be there, and detected the patchouli scent of her promise to me, the promise I failed to keep. Hazel, I never saw you.

T

he blues are a swath of the emotional/visible spectrum, and indigo weights its heavy end. Pure indigo is a darkness with hints of reddish purple, ashen black, burnt green; a saturated, inky, night-and-ocean tone. Its affective nature is not unchangeable: Indigo buntings are jaunty little birds, and Timex watches with Indiglo™ lighted faces glow a comfy, television blue. When extended with white, indigo’s intensity softens like beloved worn-in jeans—Levi Strauss & Co. was an early bulk consumer of vegetable indigo, and contemporary denim is dyed with a synthetic version that is as “fugitive” or fadeprone as its natural counterpart. But generally, indigo imbues things equal parts melancholia and serenity.

What makes the color-as-idea so sensual is the Sturm und Drang of its lowering visual presence, encapsulated by the musical complexity of its name. Ellington knew the elaborate play he’d get by rearticulating a funky, lovelorn blues with the sophisticated, liquid o’s and i’s and d’s of “Mood Indigo,”—in which a lilting “moon” is imbricated as if behind blue-black clouds.

Indigo stands for the dyer’s hands indelibly stained to the elbow and the patch of sky adjacent to starlight; the indigenous hues of Japanese printed cottons, Indonesian batiks, mussel shells, and bruises are all in the word. Hence, in part, the appeal of the Indigo Girls, or Joni Mitchell’s almost-redundantly titled album Turbulent Indigo. In this allusive flexibility, as well as in its aural cadence, indigo implies the psyche, subtly indicating “in,” “I,” “ego.” In the midst of its clouds-and-water tonalities, it appeals to something interior, subconscious, and fundamentally earthy.

The history of indigo, in fact, intertwines with

Bice Jonathan Ames

W

hen I was a little boy, I liked to pick my nose. In fact, I’ve enjoyed picking my nose for most of my life. This is not something to be proud of, but telling you about my nosepicking brings me to the word bice. Perhaps it’s not clear how this brings me to bice, but I will try to explain.

The good and clever editors at Cabinet asked me to write about a color. I said I would do this. I am a writer and writers usually say yes when editors offer them work. So the idea was that they would choose the color for me and I was to respond. But they didn’t give me the color right away, they told me they would call me back in a few days. Fine, I said, and I looked forward to this. I saw it as a version of that classic word association game—the pschia-trist says to you, “Just tell me the first thing that comes to your mind after I give you a word.” Then he says, for example, “Cereal” and you say, “Morning,” and then he says, “Picnic,” and you say, “Apples, no—copulation,” and nobody figures anything out, but the game is fun to play. So I waited for my color, to which I was going to respond to with immediate first-thought, first-feeling sensitivity and clarity and enthusiasm. I did find myself, though, cheating and mentally preparing my essay in advance, hoping for blue, about which I could write about my grandfather’s eyes, or red, the color of my hair, my son’s hair, my great-aunt’s hair, my grandmother’s hair, numerous uncles’ and cousins’ hair, and I envisioned an essay with the winning title A Family of Red Heads, or just Red Heads.

Then the phone call came. The Cabinet editor said, “Your color is bice.” I was silent, mildly ashamed at a deficient vocabulary, as well as a deficient knowledge of colors. Blue and red were striking me as quite pedestrian now. “Do you need to look it up?” asked the editor. “Don’t worry if you do. I didn’t know it either. It was my colleague’s idea... Do you want

something easier? Like yellow?”

I felt tempted to say yes. My eyes are often yellow because of a dysfunctional liver, and I immediately thought about how I could write about my liver and about the body’s humors. But steeling myself, showing a flinty courage, I said, “No, bice is fine. I have a good dictionary. I’m on it. You can count on a thousand words on bice from me.”

We rang off.

I opened my dictionary—it’s an OED for the field, so to speak; it’s about the size of the Bible, as opposed to the colossus numerous-volume regular OED. I found bice, though, out of curiosity, I checked my American Heritage Dictionary, and there was no bice. Good thing I have my Junior OED. What I encountered in the dictionary was this: “pigments made from blue, green, hydrocarbonate of copper; similar pigment made from smalt, etc.; dull shades of blue & green given by these.”

Well, my immediate response to bice was straight out of the ethers of my long ago childhood; it was Proustian; it was tactile; it was visual; it was beautiful, sad, and lonely. It was better than blue or red or yellow.

What I saw in my mind’s eye, my soul’s heart, was the standing, tube-like copper lamp, which used to be beside the couch in the living room of the house I grew up in. And every night, I would sit on this couch in the darkness, alongside this unlighted lamp, and I would watch television all by my very young (six, seven, eight; this went on for years), lonesome, yet happy self.

I felt a solitary contentment in the darkness watching my programs before dinner, my mother cooking in the kitchen beside the living room, and all the while as I absorbed the stories from the TV and soaked up the radiation from that ancient, large contraption (TVs, like cars, were made uniformly big back then), I would pick and pick my nose and then wipe my small

treasures in the tubing and grooves of that long lamp.

And no one saw me doing this because I was in the darkness. And the effect of my salty mucous—like sea air on a statue—was that the copper lamp slowly, in streaky spots, turned greenish-blue. To everyone but me this was a mystery. “Why is this lamp eroding?” my father would sometimes ponder.

On occasion, showing largesse, I would put my snotty treasures on the underside of the wooden coffee table in front of the couch and our dog Toto, named by my older sister after Toto in the Wizard of Oz, would come and bend his red and brown Welsh Terrier neck and happily and aggressively lick up the snots. I can still see him in my mind, craning to get under the table. And my parents and relatives would notice this and everyone thought that he must like the taste of wood.

I was clandestine in my actions, but I didn’t feel too much shame about any of this—nose picking was too much something I had to do. But as I got older, the lamp was looking more and more terrible, and there was talk of throwing it out. I secretly tried to clean it, but the blue-green streaks would not go away. But I didn’t want this lamp to be forsaken by my family; things back then, objects, were nearly animate to me, dear even, and to lose a thing from the living room, my special room of TV and darkness, would be terrible. I wanted everything to stay the same forever; and, too, I felt horribly guilty that I was killing this lamp. So I pleaded with my parents on its behalf, told them I loved the lamp, and it wasn’t thrown away. With this reprieve, I tried not to wipe my snots on it anymore, to only coat the bottom of the coffee table and feed my beautiful dog, but sometimes I would weaken, and I’d find a new unstreaked spot—I could feel them with my fingers—and so I’d make my mark, my hydrocarbonated snot—there must be hydrogen and

carbon in my mucous, all the elements of the world must be in me, in everyone—would mingle with the copper and make a union, a new thing, alchemically, chemically, pigmentally. And that thing was the color bice, a good color, I think, because it has brought back to me that TV and darkened living room and childhood and lamp and coffee table and beloved dog—all things gone a long time ago. All things that didn’t last forever.

earth on a more than lyrical level, linked to the establishment of colonialism and the patterning of trade routes. The dye’s subdued allure has been seducing beauty-seekers for millennia, and in exploring techniques by which to reliably create its particular dark blueness, industries were founded and international relations influenced. The story of indigo’s cultivation, preparation, and distribution as a tangible commodity reads as a primer on the development of luxury-goods markets on a global scale. This history can be boiled down to two weedylooking plants. Whenever a neutral substrate takes on the short-wavelength spectral reflectance peculiar to indigo, the active ingredient is a lustrous copperymidnight powder known as indican [C16H10N2O2].

Indican must be extracted via a complicated fermentation, aeration, and precipitation process, and it can be derived from some thirty different kinds of vegetation. But the most important of these are Indigofera tinctoria, the common indigo—named for India, the species’ original habitat—and Isatis tinctoria, also known as dyer’s woad. Woad is basically indigo’s poor relation, a European herb of the mustard family producing a similar tint, but offering roughly thirty times less indican per comparable mass of organic material. Both types, despite the involved processes of their facture, boast ancient pedigrees in literature. Mentions of woad occur in Sumerian cuneiform, ancient Egyptian papyrus, and Carolingian manuscripts; there is far-flung evidence for its use in classical and medieval times, from the Russian Caucasus to northern France; from Manchuria to western Africa. Vitruvius describes it in De Architectura and Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, while in his treatise De Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar records that “All Britons paint themselves with woad, which grows wild and produces a blue dye. This gives

“The blind aura of safety orange has entered everyday living space. One pure distillation appears in the logo for Home Depot, which posits one’s most intimate sphere, the household, as a site that is under perpetual construction, re-organization, and improvement. The home becomes unnatural, industrial, singed with toxic energy.”

Safety Orange Tim Griffin

them a terrifying appearance in battle.” Pliny the Elder concurs: “There they have a plant…with which the women and daughters in Britain paint their bodies at certain festivities; they go naked and are similar to the Ethiopians in color.” Ovid reported that early Teutonic tribes used woad to cover graying hair.

Indigo, meanwhile, circulated in the bazaars of ancient Egypt, Greece, Byzantium, and Rome; in China, Japan, pre-Colombian Central and South America; in Java, Ceylon, Persia, and of course, India—where Marco Polo observed production methods thought to have been practiced since 2000 B.C. After the 17th century, indigo was rarely used by artists, who found that Prussian blue, ultramarine, and azurite dispersed more easily in oil binders. But prior to that era, agents in the ports of Venice, Genoa, and Marseilles traded with Persian middlemen in Asia Minor and Hormuz, providing the pigment identified in blue passages from The Last Supper and Madonna and Child by Leonardo, in Rubens’s Descent from the Cross and Vermeer’s Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, as well as in other artworks of various periods from Turkey to Tibet.

The waning of indigo’s use as a fine-art pigment coincided with an increase in its importance as a textile dye. In the early 18th century, European society was swept by a fad for Indian exotica (parallel to crazes for chinoiserie, or tulips), and in order to satisfy the accompanying lust for brilliant blue, French and English entrepreneurs founded hundreds of New World indigo plantations. Facilitated by the slave trade, dyeworks in the West Indies and the American Carolinas were manned by Africans from the regions of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon, who were sometimes seized specifically for their native skills in growing and processing indigo. (Knowledge of rice cultivation was an African intellectual property

similarly capitalized upon; for a time, indigo rivaled rice, sugar, and tobacco as the primary cash crop on colonial American and Caribbean plantations.)

Interestingly, the growing of indigo—which, unlike rice, does not require standing water, and therefore does not breed mosquitoes—nearly eradicated both malaria and yellow fever, which were decimating colonists. When the “Indigo Craze” subsided in the 1790s, both diseases resurfaced in new and more virulent strains. For the next hundred years, indigo remained a staple commodity in the international textile trade—the interplay of chromatics and political economy achieving a kind of full circle when, having lost access to American sources after the Revolutionary War, England imposed a plantation system on indigoproducing villages in India. Finally, in 1897, the German firm Badische Anilin Soda Fabrik developed a synthetic substitute. Loosed from its physical roots in the dyer’s fields and vats, indigo migrated toward the abstract as a title-writer’s dream, a one-word poem.

These are the days of disappearing winters, and of anthrax spores whose origin remains unknown, or unrevealed. Concrete phenomena float on abstract winds, seeming like mere signatures of dynamics that supercede immediate perception. The world is a living place of literature, interstitial, eclipsing objects with the sensibility of information, and experience floating on the surface of lexicons.

Everything is so characterless and abstract as the weather: Wars are engaged without front lines, and weapons operate according to postindustrial logic, intended to destabilize economies or render large areas uninhabitable by the detonation of homemade “dirty bombs” that annihilate culture but do little damage to hard, architectural space. Radical thought is also displaced, as the military, not the academy, offers the greatest collective of theorists today; all possibilities are considered by its think tanks, without skepticism or humanist pretensions, and all nations are potential targets. Ordinary health risks described in the popular press are totally relational, regularly enmeshing microwaves and genetic codes; the fate of ice caps belongs to carbon. Everything is a synthetic realism.

Everything belongs to safety orange.

It is a gaseous color: fluid, invisible, capable of moving out of those legislated topographies that have been traditionally fenced off from nature to provide significant nuances for daily living. Perhaps it is a perfume: an optical Chanel No. 5 for the turn of the millennium, imbuing our bodies with its diffuse form. (Chanel was the first abstract perfume, as it was completely chemical and not based on any flower; appropriately, it arrived on the scene at roughly the same time as Cubism.) The blind aura of safety orange has entered everyday living space. One pure distillation appears in the logo for Home Depot, which posits one’s most intimate sphere, the household, as a site that is under perpetual construction, re-organization, and improvement. The home becomes unnatural, industrial, singed with toxic energy. Microsoft also uses the color for its lettering, conjuring its associative power to suggest that a scientific future is always here around us, but may be fruitfully harnessed (Your home computer is a nuclear reactor).

Such associative leaps are not unique. In postindustrial capitalism, experience is often codified in color. During the economic surge of the past decade, corporations recognized and implemented on a grand scale what newspapers documented only after the onset of the recession: that colors function like drugs.

Tunneled through the optic nerve, they generate specific biochemical reactions and so determine moods in psychotropic fashion; they create emotional experiences that lend themselves to projections upon

the world, transforming the act of living into lifestyle.

Something so intangible as emotion, in turn, assumes a kind of property value as it becomes intimately maneuvered by, and then associated with, products.

(One business manual recently went so far as to suggest that “consumers are our products.”)

The iMac, to take one artifact of the 1990s, was introduced to the general public in a blue that was more than blue: Bondi Blue, which obtained the emotional heat accorded to the aquatic tones of a cosmopolitan beach in Australia, for which the color is named. Similarly, the iMac’s clear sheath is neither clear nor white—it is Ice. (Synesthesia reigns in capitalism; postindustrial exchange value depends on the creation of ephemeral worlds and auras within which to house products. And so, as colors perform psychotropic functions, total, if virtual, realities are located within single, monochromatic optical fields.

Control of bodies, the original role designated for safety orange, is set aside for access to minds, which adopt the logic of addiction.) In fact, the 1990s boom might be usefully read through two specific television commercials that were geared to hues: It began with the iMac’s introduction in blue, orange, green and gray models, in a spot that was accompanied by the Rolling Stones lyric “She comes in colors.” Later, against the backdrop of 2001’s dot-com wasteland, Target released an advertisement featuring shoppers moving through a hyper-saturated, blood-red, vacuum-sealed field of repeating corporate logos—colors and brands were by then entirely deterritorialized, lifted from objects and displaced onto architecture—to the sound of Devo’s post-punk, tongue-in-cheek number “It’s a Beautiful World.”

Devo often wore jumpsuits of safety orange, which was, at the time, the color of nuclear power plants and biohazards—a color created to oppose nature, something never to be confused with it. It is the color of information, bureaucracy, and toxicity.

Variations of orange have often played this role.

Ancient Chinese bookmakers, for example, printed the edges of paper with an orange mineral to save their books from silverfish.

Times change. In 1981, the Day-Glo connoisseur Peter Halley suggested that New Wave bands like Devo were “rejecting the cloddish substance of traditional humanistic values,” comparing their work to that of the Minimalists. (All colors are minimal.)

Yet the course of Devo has been the course of culture: the band’s rejection of humanistic values has become more abstract and expansive, and enmeshed in cultural tissue. Their music moved away from the specialized artistic realm of electro-synth composers like Robert Fripp and Brian Eno (who produced the band’s first

You ain’t been blue; no, no, no.

You ain’t been blue, Till you’ve had that mood indigo.

—Duke Ellington

FIGURES 5 – 8, ESSAYS ON COLOUR SPREADS OF FINAL DESIGN

W “But what if we’ve got it backwards?

What if scarlet caused us to become passionately fixated on transcending ourselves, via merging with others in the act of sex, or by killing and being killed? What if scarlet was a drug”

SCARLET JOSHUA GLENN

hen paranoid types encounter a word as enduring and pervasive as scarlet (OF, escarlate; It., scarlatto; ON, skarlat; mod.

Gr. skarlaton; Serbian, skrlet; etc.), we sit up and take notice.

A signifier used nowadays to refer to a vivid red color inclining to orange or yellow, scarlet is believed to be an alteration of the Persian saqalat (saqirlat, in modern Arabic), meaning a high-quality cloth, usually dyed red. Not just any red, though! In nonindustrial societies, flame-red scarlet symbolizes fertility and vitality. Color therapists consider scarlet a vasoconstrictor, arterial stimulant, and renal energizer: they employ it to raise blood pressure, stimulate erections, increase menstruation, and promote libido. And in our popular culture, it’s associated with fallen women (The Scarlet Letter) and those women whom we’d like to see fall (Scarlett O’Hara, Scarlett Johansson, Miss Scarlet from the boardgame “Clue”).

It is an intoxicating, maddening hue.

But if scarlet is reminiscent of sex, it’s also reminiscent of death. Since the days of Genghis Khan, poets have marveled at how poppies as scarlet as blood tend to spring up in war-torn meadows; that’s why veterans wear poppies on Memorial Day. And recent archaeological discoveries in the Middle East suggest that scarlet has symbolized death for nearly as long as humans have engaged in symbolic thinking: lumps of ocher found near the 90,000-year-old graves in the Qafzeh Cave in Israel, scholars have claimed, were carefully heated in hearths to yield a scarlet hue, then used in ritual activities related to burying the dead.

Thus in the history of symbolic thought, scarlet has meant both Eros and Thanatos, Sex and Death, the conflicting drives that—according to Freud—govern every aspect of human activity. But what if we’ve got it backwards? What if scarlet caused us to become passionately fixated on transcending ourselves, via merging with others in the act of sex, or by killing and being killed? What if scarlet was a drug—like rhoeadine, the sedative in scarlet poppies used by the god Morpheus, and the Wicked Witch of Oz—first distilled in the ancient Middle East? What if saqalat was not merely a luxury item but an intoxicant that once possessed entire peoples and changed the course of history?

C “Women and homosexuals wear the color, use the word. Code for gay until lavender took over, mauve is the gender expression shibboleth—the example most often given of things real men don’t say.”

MAUVE SHELLEY JACKSON

ontusions and confusions. Half-mourning and melancholia. Twilight and adolescence, home decorators and homosexuals. Drag queen hair, cheap swag, braggadocio. Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley (that “monstrous orchid,” said Wilde). Orchids, especially Cattleya labiata. All things orchidaceous, including the word “orchidaceous.”

Prose just shy of purple. According to Nabokov, time itself.

A young chemist tinkering with coal tar, hoping to find a way to synthesize quinine to treat the malaria felling British soldiers stationed in India, discovers, instead, a color. Mauve, the color of disappointment.

But, “strangely beautiful,” thinks the chemist, and dips some silk in it, finds the color takes. He sends a sample to a Scottish dyer, who sees possibilities. The color lasts like no natural purple. And the ladies seem to like it.

Mauve, the color of opportunity.

It is 1856. Madame Bovary, who would have looked luscious in mauve, is about to poison herself in the pages of the Revue de Paris. A year later, Empress Eugénie will fall for the new hue—matches her eyes, she says. In 1858, Queen Victoria wears it to her daughter’s wedding and gives it her royal imprimatur.

Cooked up in a laboratory by a scientist who thought, like that other earnest young scientist Dr. Frankenstein, that he was beating back death, mauve is the first artificial color. And like Frankenstein’s creation, mauve is vital but unnatural, a little monstrous. Even pestilential: “The Mauve Measles,” quipped Punch, are “spreading to so serious an extent that it is high time to consider by what means [they] may be checked.” Everyone is wearing it. And since skirts are enormous, and worn with crinolines, not to mention the unmentionables, mauve unfolds by the yard (or the meter) out of dye-works across Europe.

It is followed in quick succession by other synthetic colors, also derived from coal tar: aniline yellow, aldehyde green, bleu de Paris. An entire industry foams up out of furbelows, demonstrating the power of both science and the female consumer. As Simon Garfield points out in his book Mauve (to which this essay is heavily indebted), by launching industrial chemistry, mauve will change the fate, not just of fashion, but of science, medicine, art, and war. It will also make the chemist, William Perkin, a very rich man.

At the risk of being flippant, one might go so far as to suggest that this crackpot theory makes sense of the Old Testament.

Let’s face it: the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, authored by Moses himself, tells a far-out story. Skipping over Genesis, the prequel to the main narrative (it’s The Hobbit, if you will, to Moses’ Lord of the Rings), we read in Exodus that the author, an adopted Egyptian prince who came to sympathize with the multiracial community of slaves known as Hebrews, encountered an entity “in flames of fire from within a bush”: If God has a color, that is, it’s flame-red, or scarlet. This unnameable phenomenon (YHWH means “I am who I am”) seems to possess and inflame Moses: when Moses comes down from Mount Sinai after spending 40 days with YHWH, “he was not aware that his face was radiant”(Ex 34:29), and forever after, one reads, he wears a veil when he’s out in public (Ex 34:33–34).

What does YHWH want? To shape the Hebrews into a nation unlike other nations, one with no king but YHWH; to reveal Its laws to the Hebrews; and, oddly enough, to instruct the Hebrews in exacting detail on how to erect a tabernacle where It will dwell.

Does this take-me-to-your-leader business put anyone in mind of JHVH-1 (JEHOVAH), the evil, godlike space creature dreamed up by the parodic Church of the SubGenius? No surprise there, because in several important respects YHWH does resemble an extraterrestrial. Like the radioactive alien in the movie Repo Man, YHWH can’t be directly viewed by the Hebrews. It’s kept under lock and key in a protective containment sphere of sorts: the tabernacle. Though the Hebrews have fled into the wilderness with only a few possessions, throughout Exodus YHWH demands from them rare and specific materials for his dwelling place. First and foremost, It orders them to bring offerings of “blue, purple, and scarlet” (Ex 25:4), meaning dyes derived (in the case of blue and purple) from shellfish that swarm in the waters of the northeast Mediterranean, and (in the case of scarlet) from Dactylopius coccus, the cochineal bug, as well as from the various caterpillars and larvae that feed on cochineals.

Now, the scarlet pigment harvested from cochineals and their predators is a compound called carminic acid, which—according to chemical

ecologists—functions as a protective substance. So when YHWH tells Moses that It wants Its tabernacle and Its door to be constructed of saqalat, and that furthermore It wants the ark in which It lives to be surrounded by more saqalat (Ex 26:1,36 and 27:16), It is obviously sterilizing Its environment. YHWH goes on to design the vestments of its priests, also of richly dyed cloth, and It forbids anyone “unclean” to enter the tabernacle: any priest who has become unclean through contact with other Hebrews, YHWH insists, must wash himself in scarlet. Leviticus, a book dedicated entirely to the special duties of YHWH’s priests, seems to suggest that scarlet dye was also used by the priests to infect others with what we might call the YHWH virus. In Leviticus 14, for example, we read that YHWH instructed the Levites to use a length of scarlet-dyed cord to sprinkle liquids onto the open sores of any ailing Hebrews. As we shall see, the scarlet cord, which functioned something like a syringe, would become an important symbol for the Hebrews.

There is a great deal more of this kind of thing in Leviticus and also in Numbers, an account of the Hebrews’ nomadic existence in the Middle East following their initial organization at Sinai. But in Numbers, YHWH finally reveals his plan to the Hebrews: they are to invade Canaan. Why? Because Canaan, later called Phoenicia, was a land where the dyeing industry was of central importance to the economy (both names in fact mean “land of purple”); and YHWH must have desired to corner the market.

Having possessed the minds and bodies of the Hebrews via his priests’ scarlet cords, YHWH organizes them into a military camp and they march from Sinai as Its conquering army. The only problem is that the Hebrews keep defying YHWH: after thirty-nine years, they still haven’t invaded Canaan, and the old guard of tabernacle insiders is dying off. In Deuteronomy, the final book of the Pentateuch, Moses makes a lastditch series of speeches urging the Hebrews to remain faithful to YHWH, and then dies himself.

This might have been the end of the history of YHWH on Earth, were it not for the efforts of Joshua, a Hebrew strongman who got his start standing guard outside the first, temporary tent that Moses set up for YHWH. Joshua leads the Hebrews across the Jordan into Canaan, occupies the kingdoms of Og and Sihon, and sends spies into the fortified kingdom of Jericho.

At this transitional moment in the Book of Joshua (and the history of mankind), sex and death play a crucial role. Rahab, a prostitute, shelters Joshua’s spies and delivers to them the intel that the Canaanites are terrified of the Hebrews and YHWH. The spies then inform Rahab that when the Hebrews take Jericho, she can spare the lives of her family by hanging something out of her window. Remember what it was? That’s right: a scarlet cord.

Joshua and the Hebrews conquered Jericho and went on to seize control of all the hill country and the Negev, thus gaining control of the area’s dye industries. The next three major books of the Hebrew

Bible—Judges, Samuel, and Kings—record Israel’s rise and fall. Judges portrays a kind of anarchist utopia unlike any other nation (i.e., an exploitative monarchy), because it could have only one king: YHWH. Early in Samuel, however, the Israelites bring YHWH’s ark into battle against the Philistines, and it is captured. For twenty years, the ark remains outside its protective tabernacle, and diseases follow it everywhere (1 Sam 5:6). It seems correct to assume that YHWH, unprotected by saqalat, was destroyed at some point during this period. Perhaps this is what Philip K. Dick was getting at in Our Friends from Frolix 8, in which a character announces, “God is dead. They found his carcass in 2019. Floating out in space near Alpha.”

The Hebrews, meanwhile, minds no longer clouded by whatever ego-obliterating substance they’d received via the priests’ scarlet cords, ceased to obey YHWH’s injunction that they should have no other king. Immediately after we learn of the ark’s capture, we read that Samuel, the most distinguished of Israel’s judges, was approached by a committee of Hebrews who demanded, “Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” Samuel anointed Saul, who proceeded to do what kings everywhere have always done: he built a standing army, invaded other countries, and exploited the populace. By the end of 1st and 2nd Kings, we cannot help but agree with the Hebrew prophets. Alas, Israel became a nation like all the other nations.

So what role does scarlet play in our lives today?

We Americans have always enjoyed portraying ourselves as a new Israel, but these days it’s only too apparent that we’re the empire-building Israel about which Isaiah lamented. Not only that, we’re a nation of sex and death addicts, ricocheting from one extreme to another—anorexia/obesity, Puritanism/ pornography, sloth/war. Why? Call it an attempt to recapture the annihilating highs and lows experienced thousands of years ago by the Hebrews. Like them, we’re only happy when we’re drinking the scarlet Kool-Aid.

One does not necessarily think of a color as a commodity. Colors, the ancients reasoned, are qualities of objects, or our eyes’ subjective response to those objects, not entities in themselves. They tinge and dapple and pass on. Nonetheless, some ancients paid high prices for one color: purple. So “Tyrian purple” is the name Perkin gives his new hue, referencing the dye eked out of the glandular secretions of tiny, spiny sea snails in ancient Tyre to color the imperial robes of Rome. But real Tyrian purple was the near-black of dried blood. What’s more, Perkin’s color is cheap, but that’s mauve for you, the color of ostentation. The name doesn’t take.

Instead, mauve gets its name from a French flower, the one the English call mallow. (Though Nabokov, licking his lips, would liken the color to an orchid’s instead: Cattleya labiata.)

Say mauve. It takes longer than most English words of its length. Long enough to lose heart part-way through. We’re not quite sure how to pronounce its soft center: aw or oh. Mauve collapses in the mouth like a chocolate truffle. Like a truffle, it tastes expensive, decadent, imported. The word is to American English as the color is to American clothes. It enters one’s vocabulary late if at all, an adult word, with a tinge of the boudoir, and so it signals sophistication and a possibly unhealthy attention to aesthetics. It’s a little too knowing (shades of swimsuits to tempt Lolita: “Dream pink, frosted aqua, glans mauve”). It’s a little too French. Mauve signifies over-refinement, the exhaustion of potency in the making of ever-finer discriminations; that’s why “Code Mauve” is the stuff of stand-up. A prose writer knows she’s getting fancy—purple—when she uses mauve, as she isn’t, paradoxically, when using purple.

Mauve prose: the phrase gets a wink, unlike the prosaic purple, though it’s not always clear whether mauve avoids purple’s excesses, or fails to rise to its imperial pomp. But either way, mauve is fey, rococo, mandarin (all decidedly purplish words). It comes across as calculated, even factitious. Decorative rather than forceful, it’s a crepe veil or piece of jet pinned on a sentence, not its muscle. Women and homosexuals wear the color, use the word. Code for gay until lavender took over, mauve is the gender expression shibboleth—the example most often given of things real men don’t say. (Given by, frequently,

men themselves, though that would seem to strain the tenet.) “Man rule: We have no idea what mauve is,” woofs one blogger.

What is mauve? That pale violet that makes certain flowers seem to fluoresce at dusk, or the sullen, sullied rose of Victorian lampshades and mourning dresses?

A cooler magenta, a gooier violet? Mauve, the color of ish, is defined most clearly by hedging negatives: not quite pink, not quite purple. It’s less a hue in its own right than a diminution or intensification of some other hue; it has about it, simultaneously, an air of petulant retreat and overweening assertion. “Pink trying to be purple,” sniffs Whistler. Or the visited link, its vitality depleted. Mauve is a “feminine” color, but not a yielding one. It is adult, imperious. But its strength is ambivalent. Though pugnacious, it is not candid.

Like Victorian fashions, it stresses femininity while repressing the frankly female.

This ambivalence is characteristic. Mauve is the color of suspended choice and uncertain boundaries.

One of the few colors permitted to women in halfmourning, the period of transition between black crêpe and the full spectrum, mauve signals the transition from despair to reconciliation. A transition that recapitulates the dye’s own emergence from a beaker of black gunk. The association with death is not just metaphorical. Only a few years after Perkin’s discovery, suspicions arose that mauve, and the other new dyes it led to, could raise real rashes, that the efflux of factories could poison villages. And Pynchon traces an arc in Gravity’s Rainbow from mauve to the dye industry, from the dye industry to IG Farben, from IG Farben to Zyklon B. “Consider coal and steel. There is a place where they meet,” Pynchon writes: “the coal-tars. A thousand different molecules waited in the preterite dung. This is the sign of revealing. Of unfolding. This is one meaning of mauve, the first new color on Earth, leaping to Earth’s light from its grave miles and aeons below.” But was it a new color? Surely mauve, the hue, already existed in nature—in the orchid, the mallow, the mauve. The glans, even. Except that, as Oscar Wilde writes, it is not Nature but Art—in the persons of Monet and Pissarro—that creates the “white quivering sunlight that one sees now in France, with its strange blotches of mauve, and its restless violet shadows ... and, on the whole, Nature reproduces it

quite admirably.” Nature imitates art, and artists can’t paint nature mauve without mauve paint. In 1856, the world changed color.

As colors go, that is a very recent birthdate, which makes mauve, precisely, dated. The color of now became the color of then. But mauve came back in the nineteen-eighties, and the eighties came back, are coming back, will come back any day now (time, like mauve, is an alloy, not an element). Mauve is the past; the future is mauve.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

FIGURES 9 – 12, ESSAYS ON COLOUR ANALYSIS BOOK

FURTHER ANALYSIS

FURTHER ANALYSIS

TEXT BLOCKS ORDERED BY AREA

TEXT BLOCKS ORDERED CHRONOLOGICALLY

FURTHER ANALYSIS

FURTHER ANALYSIS

COLOUR TERM DISTRIBUTION

Orange Opal puce Silver Cyan gray pink pistachio pistachio Silver gray Magenta Verdigris White brown silver violet scarlet Hazel tawny 6 Amber Beige Hazel Verdigris ash opaldrab porphyry Sulphur Ash Chartreuse Hazel Sulphur gold orange amber cyan Prussian puce Puce opalVioletPuce Violet pistachio pink gray gold ivory ivory Violet scarlet ivory white White bice indigo Hazel bice sulphur ash ash orange Blue puce Mauve ivory gray Silver purple khaki Ivory cyan grayscarlet Gray scarlet Sulphur ivoryopal beige sulphur Ash Ruby Amber amber maroon Hazel opal amber Chartreuse pink purple purple Chartreuse blackamber black black sepia Black White tawny amber puce Scarlet pink Hazel opal porphyry puce puce purple Pink cyan Gray gray gray Verdigris red black Verdigris Black khaki black Scarlet red Scarlet Hazel beige indigo indigo beigeCyan gold Amber Purple cyankhaki Maroon Cyan black white white Olive scarlet whitemaroon white scarletcyan ashblack sulphur yellow Indigoblack rubypink safety orange. indigo amber Mauvemaroon gray opal pink purple sepia Red ivory Magenta black yellow scarlet rust indigo orange amber amber Orange amber amber opal Puce indigo maroon Hazel cyan gray Ivory White tawny mauve Yellow scarlet Hazel Ash Ash amber orange orange opal gray khaki purple Indigo pink Verdigris magenta red gold white white white white white beige White bice safety orange Hazel rust white red ultramarine orange amber porphyry mauve Khaki ivory cyan Chartreuse sepia pistachio Graykhaki magenta magenta olive white Whitescarlet yellowHazel Hazel Indigo gold mauve opal Mauve gray scarlet yellowIndigo ruby tawny scarlet Hazel Indigo amber porphyry maroon maroon maroon Gray pinkbice sepia gray Khaki Chartreuse magenta White scarlet Hazel indigo rust Magenta bice mauvegrayPink amber amber puce ivory Sepia olive Khaki chartreuse gray pink Verdigris black ivory tawny olive ash indigo Rubybeige ruby amber Maroon puce Mauve maroon mauve Magenta pistachio sepia orange cyan silver khaki pink sepia yellow olive Rust Hazel rust pucerust beige Rust bice Hazel indigo orange gold tawny ivory pistachio chartreuse verdigris drab White tawnyyellow White tawny bice sulphur Hazel Sulphur ruby gold Sepia red gold opal White khaki khaki indigo Olive yellow white ash White beige beigegray purple ruby ultramarine amber khaki ivory gray Sepiaamber Black White scarlet bice sulphur ash Hazel sulphur ash mauveblack Olive pink pink verdigris cyan Oliveblack olive tawny indigo Hazel Sulphur indigo amber gold gold mauve pink orange Black yellow brown brown rust Hazel safety ruby amber Black Whitebeige White White White White tawny WhiteHazel amberWhite Whiteblack White White tawny White beige beige ash purple Hazel rust red opal Mauve khaki mauve silver gray gray White Whitepink White gold White tawny Golddrab red khaki olive hazel amber Hazel ivory amber gold porphyry Puce yellow mauve khaki pistachio ivory pistachio ivory White safety orange beige Hazel red Mauve maroon White Mauve pistachio ivory amber pistachio verdigris White White yellow White White White white Brown scarlet yellow white White Ultramarine Indigo sulphur verdigris gold magenta amber maroon porphyry mauve Chartreuse pistachio scarlet brown Mauve olive yellow Hazel mauve indigo ultramarine red amber red tawny amber mauve maroon porphyry graybeige verdigris verdigris scarlet brown brown sulphur Ash ashultramarine ash drab Gold amberolive orange mauve ivory sepia White Brown brown orange Brown red ash amber mauve ivory opal pink orange porphyry black whitegold white whiteBlack ash drab white white whitebrown yellow beige Gold ivory Sepia mauve indigo sepia ivory white scarlet whitegray Purple ivory black scarlet white Mauve silver ivory purple white white beige white white white khaki white white brown brownpink scarlet indigo Yellow Yellow gold amberSepia orange Amber Mauve pink silver pistachio gray pink verdigris Yellowporphyry Brown Yellow scarlet yellow olive beige orange Prussian blue Pistachio Pink ivory porphyry porphyry White brown sulphur sulphur indigo beige olive sulphur khaki sulphur indigo Prussian blue sulphur amber Mauve gray khaki porphyryivory yellow bice yellow Yellow rust indigo amberverdigris red White mauvePistachio Prussian blue Brown amber puce. pink yellow gray Chartreuse scarlet beige Yellow Beige rust Indigo white orange Amber pucegold mauve gray ivory Porphyry yellow indigo Rustyellow beige orange goldPuce Prussian Blue Sepia Pink pink verdigris Porphyry Cyan WhiteRed safetymauve orange indigo beige orange maroon Pink Ivory amber sepia silver gray pink ivory magenta brown Cyan Cyan olive white white Cyan white Chartreuserust indigo beige orange Magenta orange red Prussian maroon Blue mauveyellow pistachio pistachio ivory silver olive amber mauve silver Pink pistachio Porphyry Magenta White sulphur sulphur Sulphur drab orange pistachio red Magenta mauve Cyan mauve pistachio Ivory chartreuse green green green brown scarlet rustmauve sulphur orange Prussian maroon white gray Pink pistachio pink white white white white Blue sepia indigo Sulphur mauve mauve pistachio Chartreuse Cyan white brown orange orange mauve Mauve mauve gray ivory Pistachio Ivory sepia magenta cyan brown Prussian Blue pistachio pistachio sepia pink puce chartreuse silvercyan White gray cyan Sepia pink magenta white white Prussian Blue puce ivory silver chartreuse gray cyan cyan scarlet cyan puce pink white Cyan drab Pink pink pink White green White cyan White sepia White cyan Cyan White maroon ivory pink pink Porphyry ultramarine orange red sepiaivory ivory Cyan scarlet sulphur Red pink pink White Cyan White pink ultramarine white scarlet maroon white Sulphur puce orange puce White sulphur ultramarine orange puce maroon white white white White orange sulphur

White

ultramarine white

White

orange ultramarine orange white white

cyan porphyry white

white

ultramarine orange orange cyan sulphur Sulphur

white orange

cyan orange

orange

Cyan cyan green

green white

ultramarine

white White white White white

White

White

White White

ultramarine White white White

White White

White white

White white

ultramarine

white

white

white white

white

white

white

white

White

White White

white green White

White

White White

White White

FURTHER ANALYSIS

bice beige ash ruby indigo hazel safety orange rust sulphur bice beige ash ruby indigo hazel safety orange rust sulphur bice beige ash ruby indigo hazel safety orange rust sulphur bice beige ash ruby indigo hazel safety orange rust sulphur bice beige ash ruby indigo hazel safety orange rust sulphur bice beige ash ruby indigo hazel rust sulphur bice beige ash ruby indigo hazel rust sulphur bice beige ash ruby indigo hazel rust sulphur bice beige ash indigo hazel rust sulphur beige ash indigo hazel rust sulphur beige ash indigo hazel rust sulphur beige ash indigo hazel rust sulphur beige ash indigo hazel rust sulphur beige ash indigo hazel rust sulphur beige ash indigo hazel sulphur beige ash indigo hazel sulphur beige ash indigo hazel sulphur beige ash indigo hazel sulphur beige ash indigo hazel sulphur beige ash indigo hazel sulphur beige indigo hazel sulphur beige indigo hazel sulphur beige indigo hazel sulphur indigo hazel sulphur indigo hazel sulphur indigo hazel sulphur indigo sulphur indigo sulphur indigo sulphur sulphur

FURTHER ANALYSIS

COLOUR TERM FREQUENCY

ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine

pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink pink

chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse chartreuse

khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki khaki

sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet violet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet violet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet violet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet violet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon prussian blue sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon sepia purple pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory silver cyan yellow tawny scarlet brown olive white mauve opal maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet brown olive white mauve maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet brown olive white mauve maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet brown olive white mauve maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet brown white mauve maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet brown white mauve maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet brown white mauve maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet brown white mauve maroon sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet white mauve sepia pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet white mauve pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet white mauve pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet white mauve pistachio gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet white mauve gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet white mauve gray ivory cyan yellow scarlet white mauve gray ivory cyan yellow white mauve gray ivory cyan white mauve gray cyan white mauve cyan white mauve cyan white mauve cyan white mauve cyan white mauve cyan white mauve cyan white mauve cyan white mauve white mauve white mauve white mauve white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white white

puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce puce

porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry porphyry

magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta magenta

verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris verdigris

black green red amber gold orange drab black green red amber gold orange drab black green red amber gold orange drab black green red amber gold orange drab black green red amber gold orange drab black green red amber gold orange drab black red amber gold orange drab black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black red amber gold orange black amber gold orange black amber gold orange black amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber orange amber amber amber amber amber

COLOUR TERM FREQUENCY AS A GRAPH

white

white

white

white

FURTHER ANALYSIS

RATIO OF COLOUR TERMS TO WORD COUNT

White

cyan cyan

COLOUR TERM DISTRIBUTION AS BLOCKS

FIGURES 13 – 16, ESSAYS ON COLOUR ANALYSIS POSTERS

Essays on Colour Analysis

For every issue the editors of Cabinet Magazine, an American quarterly arts and culture journal, ask one of their regular contributors to write about a specific colour. The essays are printed as Cabinet’s regular Colours column.

This poster illustrates the relative length of each of the forty-two articles in their designated colour, from the shortest to the longest.

Essays on Colour Analysis

For every issue the editors of Cabinet Magazine, an American quarterly arts and culture journal, ask one of their regular contributors to write about a specific colour. The essays are printed as Cabinet’s regular Colours column.

This poster illustrates the relative length of each of the forty-two articles in chronological order and designated colour.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Orange Amber Magenta Verdigris White brown silver violet scarlet Hazel tawny Opal puce 6 Beige Silver Cyan Hazel Verdigris pink gray ash opaldrab porphyry pistachio Sulphur Ash Chartreuse Hazel Sulphur pistachio Silver gray pistachio bice gold gold ivory orange amber scarlet white ivory Puce Whiteopal Violet Puce Violet Prussian Bluegray pink puceindigoHazel biceViolet graysulphur ivory ash ash cyan ivory Amber amber amber Ashsulphur amber opalkhaki scarlet puce scarlet Mauve Silver ivorySulphur purple beigeorange Ivory amber gray Ruby cyan Gray Hazel black pink purple black Hazel black Black tawny White puce opal maroon Scarlet Chartreuse sepia purple pink ChartreuseHazel purple Verdigris gold black red Verdigris red Amber Black black Scarlet Olive porphyry opal puceindigo puce Pink beigeScarlet cyan Gray gray gray indigo khaki Cyan beige black black Mauvescarlet whiteblack white ash amber yellow maroon khaki Maroon scarlet Cyanorange. sulphurPurple Indigo pink ruby white white cyan cyan safety indigo amber amber amber black orange maroon opalamber scarlet gray purple rust pinkmauve Magentaindigo sepia yellowRed ivory amber Orange magenta gold White Puce opal cyan tawny Yellow scarlet maroon olive Hazel indigo Ash gray Ash Ivory Hazel pink Verdigris redmagenta orange orange amber white magenta white white scarlet White opal mauve white white white khaki white beige gray bice safety orange purple Hazel Indigo rust porphyry gold red orange mauve scarlet sepia White cyan Mauve khaki yellow scarlet Khaki Hazel Indigoivory Chartreuse pistachio Gray Hazel ultramarine amber magenta Magentaruby black porphyry scarlet opal yellow mauve Indigo tawny olive Hazel pink Indigo gray Pink indigo amber amber White maroon olive rust maroon maroon olive puce Gray Hazel ash bicesepia gray Khaki bice gray Chartreuse pink ivory amber Magenta tawny mauve puce Sepia indigo beigeRuby Khaki silver pink Verdigris Mauve chartreuse ivory gray ruby pistachio orange gold Maroon yellow cyan maroonHazel puce khaki sepia sepia Rust rust rust Rust beige Hazel bice indigo orange Black gold gold verdigris tawny drab tawny White Olive White purple yellow ivory pistachio bice sulphur Hazel Sulphur ruby tawny chartreuseash black redindigo amber black yellow white opal White White gray beigeamber Sepia beige khaki khaki ash scarlet ruby ash khaki ultramarine Black amber White Olive bice olive mauve Olive pink sulphur Hazel ivory sulphur pink Sepia gray indigo rust verdigris gold cyan black mauve Black pink tawny gold Hazel Sulphur indigo purple amber amber mauve yellow brown silver Mauve brown safety pink orange Hazel ruby ash rust gold White amber Whitebeige White White tawny White White White White White olive tawny White White beige beigeWhite Hazel Hazel khaki Gold red White opal White White tawny gray mauve hazel gray drab amberkhaki red gold Mauve Mauve yellow khaki Hazel ivory porphyry amber scarlet verdigris White mauve yellow yellow olive mauve Puce pistachio safety orange beige Mauve ivory pistachio ivory Hazel pistachio amber ivory verdigris redpistachio White scarlet mauve White maroonWhitemagenta White White Brown White white white White yellow Ultramarine Indigo sulphurgold Hazel amber porphyry scarlet maroon olive brown mauve Ash ash ash pistachio indigo Chartreuse ultramarine amber Gold verdigris red Black amber porphyry red tawny verdigris black maroon brown brown gray beige pink ash sulphur ultramarine mauve goldivory black drab orange amber porphyry orange red Brown mauve Whiteash brown yellow Brown Mauve sepia Purple drab Gold orange white scarlet white white white brownwhite white Sepia ivory opal indigo beige silversepia pink scarlet purple ivory brown Yellow scarlet Mauve Yellow brown ivory olive white gray white white white white pink silver indigo pink ivory porphyry amber gold Amber Yellow Brown white scarlet whiteolivekhakiwhite Yellowwhite white yellow Pink Sepiabeige ivory porphyry orange verdigris porphyry Mauve Prussian yellow indigo beige pinkbrown indigo pistachio gray rust amber orange blue White mauve yellow Prussian blue ivory Yellow Yellow sulphur khaki sulphur beige indigosulphur porphyry sulphur Pistachio sulphur bice gray amber mauve scarlet Prussian blue Pink rustIndigoyellow ivory pink khaki Brown gray amber indigo beige Pink verdigris Porphyry gold white red Amber yellowsilver White puce.

Rustyellow mauve Pistachio Beige gray pink Chartreuse orange goldivory Porphyry puce Prussian olive Blue Sepia indigo beige silver indigoverdigris orange Red amber Cyan White mauve Puce olive silver safety orange Pink sepiamagenta brown gray beige rust Magenta orange mauve Prussian yellow Blue Cyan Cyan maroon white white Cyan white Ivory beige Chartreuse ivory orange Porphyry amber orange red Magenta maroon mauve brown mauve mauve pistachio Pink pistachio ivory pink Magenta drab green green White Prussian Blue green scarlet sulphur pistachio sulphur Sulphur rust pistachioIvory orangeindigo orange red Cyan mauve sepia mauve brown sulphur pistachio gray chartreuse white white white mauve brown mauve maroon white pink Sulphur Mauvewhite silver pistachio pistachio magenta Cyan white Prussian Blue Chartreuse gray Pistachio pink sepia ivory pistachio orange cyan pistachio orange sepia silver Ivory gray magenta White Prussian Blue pucechartreuse cyan cyan pink Sepia white white scarlet Pink pink pink gray cyan cyan puce cyan ivory pink chartreuse pink drab green white puce Cyan cyan sepia Porphyry White White cyan White White Cyan White pink pink orange maroon scarlet Cyan sulphur ivory ultramarine pink sepia red Cyan ivory ivory Red White White scarlet white ultramarine whiteSulphur maroon orange puce orange orange White puce sulphur ultramarine puce maroon white white white White sulphur orange porphyry orange orange orange White cyan ultramarine ultramarine ultramarine orange White white white white white white cyan white sulphur Sulphur orange cyan orange Cyan green cyan cyan green cyan

white

ultramarine

white White white White white

White

White

White White

ultramarine White white White

White

ultramarine

white

white

white

white

White white white white White white

white

white

white

White

green White White

white

White

White

white

White

White

White White

White White

white

white

Essays on Colour Analysis

For every issue the editors of Cabinet Magazine, an American quarterly arts and culture journal, ask one of their regular contributors to write about a specific colour. The essays are printed as Cabinet’s regular Colours column. This poster illustrates all of the occurrences of each designated colour term, following the sequence within the text, for every column.

Essays on Colour Analysis

For every issue the editors of Cabinet Magazine, an American quarterly arts and culture journal, ask one of their regular contributors to write about a specific colour. The essays are printed as Cabinet’s regular Colours column.

This poster illustrates every occurrence of each designated colour term, in the sequence it appears in the text, represented as a block of that particular colour.

5.1.2

STROOPING THE COLOUR

As a separate method of examining both the relationship between colour and language and our understanding of colour naming I also researched a phenomenon known as the Stroop Effect. The Stroop Effect is an effect virtually unique to the way our brains process the relationship between colour and language.

It was first published in England in 1935 by John Ridley Stroop and has since been replicated hundreds of times in controlled conditions. It is one of the most recognised occurrences in experimental psychology and refers to a delaying in naming the colour a word is printed in, when the word refers to a different colour. So it is easier to name the colour of a word printed in red, if the word itself also says red.

I created different groupings of words in order to examine this and the reverse Stroop Effect, where colours are easier to name if presented differently. The first group of words were essentially a control group, where the eleven basic colour terms were presented in colours that were easily identified as matching the name.

They were then shown in colours that were very different to the meaning of the word, so the term ‘white’ was shown in the colour brown. The second group of words presented colour terms that were well known but less commonly used, in colours that were less easy to name.

This was to determine if changing the complexity of the colours and colour terms influenced the Stroop Effect.

The third group of colour names were deliberately obscure colours and were presented in easy to name colours. However the colour the word was depicted in did not correlate with the meaning of the word. This was to test if the Stroop Effect would be stronger or weaker if the colour term is not known and therefore not identified with a colour.

The final group of word were not colour terms and comprised of basic nouns, unrelated to any of the colours that they were depicted in. Following the logic of the Stroop Effect this group of terms should not produce any evidence of the phenomenon.

In addition to the different types of terms the eleven basic colour terms were also presented in two alternative ways: in white with a coloured surround and reversed out of a page of full bleed colour. In both instances the colour surrounding the word did not correspond to its meaning. This was to demonstrate the potential occurrence of the Reverse Stroop Effect, when the colour is easier to name than the word. Spreads from the book can be seen in Figures 17–20.

In other circumstances it may have been possible to test the strength of the Stroop Effect in relation to the different categories of words in an experimental setting with groups of participants. However that would have required precision timing equipment and controlled, laboratory conditions in order to measure the Effect, both of which were beyond the constraints of the project and the scope of the research question.

As an extension of the words presented in the book, a number of poster iterations were produced (shown in Figures 21–24). Exchanging the colours of terms from the additive and subtractive colour models (red, green, blue and cyan, magenta yellow) demonstrated the quirk of the Stroop Effect with simplicity and a hint of humour.

As a result of feedback from the mid-way crit the posters were not presented as an output as it was felt they did not address the research question sufficiently.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

FIGURES 17 – 20, STROOPING THE COLOUR BOOK SPREADS

TYPES OF TERMS

BASIC TERMS – CORRECT COLOURS

TYPES OF TERMS

BASIC TERMS – CORRECT COLOURS

orange yellow

TYPES OF TERMS

OBSCURE COLOUR TERMS

bice

TYPES OF TERMS

OBSCURE COLOUR TERMS

adobe

TYPES OF TERMS

BASIC COLOUR TERMS

grey

TYPES OF TERMS

OBSCURE COLOUR TERMS

cerulean

TYPES OF TERMS

BASIC COLOUR TERMS

white

TYPES OF TERMS

OBSCURE COLOUR TERMS

porphyry

FIGURES 21 – 24, STROOPING THE COLOUR POSTERS

STROOPING THE COLOUR

STROOPING THE COLOUR

red Virtually unique to the relationship between colour and language, the Stroop Effect is a psychological phenomenon that is remarkably simple to demonstrate. First published in England by John Ridley Stroop in 1935, the effect has since been replicated hundreds of times under controlled conditions, reinforcing it’s validity as a recognised occurrence and making the original paper one of the most cited in the history of experimental psychology. In simple terms the Stroop Effect refers to the identification of a delay in naming the colour a word is printed in if the word itself denotes a different colour. This is in comparison to the speed of naming if the colour of the word is the same

as it’s meaning. So it is easier to name the red ink of a word printed in red if the word itself also says ‘red’. Research has since allowed the development of the effect into a test, and has expanded to explore The Reverse Stroop Effect, which can be demonstrated through colour matching rather than verbalising the word. Although a relatively easy concept to grasp, the true explanation of the Stroop Effect remains contentious.

It occurs because we are required to override interference from the colour the word denotes in our brains, in order to correctly identify the colour the word is printed in.

The standard explanation put forward for this was the words are read automatically

and can be read faster than colours can be named. However experiments demonstrating the Reverse Stroop Effect have brought these two theories into question. The aim of this projectis not only to demonstrate the Stroop Effect, but to explore how the use of more or less complex colour terms and the presentation of those terms might influence the effect. If a colour term is obscure and unfamiliar does that interfere with the processing of the colour of the word in the same way as a basic colour term? At the heart of the Stropp Effect and central to this project lies a unique phenomenon that encapsulates the complex relationship we have with colour and language.

green Virtually unique to the relationship between colour and language, the Stroop Effect is a psychological phenomenon that is remarkably simple to demonstrate. First published in England by John Ridley Stroop in 1935, the effect has since been replicated hundreds of times under controlled conditions, reinforcing it’s validity as a recognised occurrence and making the original paper one of the most cited in the history of experimental psychology. In simple terms the Stroop Effect refers to the identification of a delay in naming the colour a word is printed in if the word itself denotes a different colour. This is in comparison to the speed of naming if the colour of the word is the same

as it’s meaning. So it is easier to name the red ink of a word printed in red if the word itself also says ‘red’. Research has since allowed the development of the effect into a test, and has expanded to explore The Reverse Stroop Effect, which can be demonstrated through colour matching rather than verbalising the word. Although a relatively easy concept to grasp, the true explanation of the Stroop Effect remains contentious.

It occurs because we are required to override interference from the colour the word denotes in our brains, in order to correctly identify the colour the word is printed in.

The standard explanation put forward for this was the words are read automatically

and can be read faster than colours can be named. However experiments demonstrating the Reverse Stroop Effect have brought these two theories into question. The aim of this projectis not only to demonstrate the Stroop Effect, but to explore how the use of more or less complex colour terms and the presentation of those terms might influence the effect. If a colour term is obscure and unfamiliar does that interfere with the processing of the colour of the word in the same way as a basic colour term? At the heart of the Stropp Effect and central to this project lies a unique phenomenon that encapsulates the complex relationship we have with colour and language.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

STROOPING THE COLOUR

STROOPING THE COLOUR

red green blue

cyan magenta yellow

Virtually unique to the relationship between colour and language, the Stroop Effect is a psychological phenomenon that is remarkably simple to demonstrate. First published in England by John Ridley Stroop in 1935, the effect has since been replicated hundreds of times under controlled conditions, reinforcing it’s validity as a recognised occurrence and making the original paper one of the most cited in the history of experimental psychology. In simple terms the Stroop Effect refers to the identification of a delay in naming the colour a word is printed in if the word itself denotes a different colour. This is in comparison to the speed of naming if the colour of the word is the same

as it’s meaning. So it is easier to name the red ink of a word printed in red if the word itself also says ‘red’. Research has since allowed the development of the effect into a test, and has expanded to explore The Reverse Stroop Effect, which can be demonstrated through colour matching rather than verbalising the word. Although a relatively easy concept to grasp, the true explanation of the Stroop Effect remains contentious.

It occurs because we are required to override interference from the colour the word denotes in our brains, in order to correctly identify the colour the word is printed in.

The standard explanation put forward for this was the words are read automatically

and can be read faster than colours can be named. However experiments demonstrating the Reverse Stroop Effect have brought these two theories into question. The aim of this projectis not only to demonstrate the Stroop Effect, but to explore how the use of more or less complex colour terms and the presentation of those terms might influence the effect. If a colour term is obscure and unfamiliar does that interfere with the processing of the colour of the word in the same way as a basic colour term? At the heart of the Stropp Effect and central to this project lies a unique phenomenon that encapsulates the complex relationship we have with colour and language.

Virtually unique to the relationship between colour and language, the Stroop Effect is a psychological phenomenon that is remarkably simple to demonstrate. First published in England by John Ridley Stroop in 1935, the effect has since been replicated hundreds of times under controlled conditions, reinforcing it’s validity as a recognised occurrence and making the original paper one of the most cited in the history of experimental psychology. In simple terms the Stroop Effect refers to the identification of a delay in naming the colour a word is printed in if the word itself denotes a different colour. This is in comparison to the speed of naming if the colour of the word is the same

as it’s meaning. So it is easier to name the red ink of a word printed in red if the word itself also says ‘red’. Research has since allowed the development of the effect into a test, and has expanded to explore The Reverse Stroop Effect, which can be demonstrated through colour matching rather than verbalising the word. Although a relatively easy concept to grasp, the true explanation of the Stroop Effect remains contentious.

It occurs because we are required to override interference from the colour the word denotes in our brains, in order to correctly identify the colour the word is printed in.

The standard explanation put forward for this was the words are read automatically

and can be read faster than colours can be named. However experiments demonstrating the Reverse Stroop Effect have brought these two theories into question. The aim of this projectis not only to demonstrate the Stroop Effect, but to explore how the use of more or less complex colour terms and the presentation of those terms might influence the effect. If a colour term is obscure and unfamiliar does that interfere with the processing of the colour of the word in the same way as a basic colour term? At the heart of the Stropp Effect and central to this project lies a unique phenomenon that encapsulates the complex relationship we have with colour and language.

FIGURES 25 – 30, COLOUR MY WORDS BOOK SPREADS

Associated with sweetness, pink is a favoured colour for packaging confectionery. It is also associated with the innocence of young girls and thus a favourite colour for little girls’ bedrooms and clothing. Pink is known to have short-term calming effects and is often the colour of walls in prison holding cells, particularly in America. Shocking hot pinks offer a feeling of youth, fun, excitement, and wild abandon. Vibrant, voluptuous pinks, however, offer a more sophisticated appeal, and magenta and fuchsia are perceived as sensual and theatrical. Lighter pinks offer a sense of romanticism and healthy optimism. The colour also used in the phrases ‘seeing pink elephants’, ‘being tickled pink’ and ‘being in the pink’.

Pink

5.1.3

IN THE PINK

This phrase originally came from the English fox hunting tradition where a rider was not granted the right to don the scarlet coloured jackets, called “pinks”, until he demonstrated superior horsemanship and service to the hunt. Being “in the pink” meant the rider had reached the pinnacle of achievement in the hunt.

The use of the phrase “in the pink” evolved to be used more broadly to mean “the very pinnacle of” something, but not necessarily the hunt during the 18th century. This meaning of the phrase is seen in literature beginning in the mid-1700s and continuing throughout the 19th century. It isn’t until the early 20th century that we see the phrase being used with its current associations.

It is unclear how it translated into a phrase that is now specifically health-related, but possibly, as it came into use among those not familiar with the hunt, it was thought that “pink” referred to the rosy glow of the complexion that is indicative of good health.

COLOUR MY WORDS

It was suggested in the proposal for this project that examining the semiotics of colour names would be a valid research exercise and would contribute towards the understanding of how we use colour terms. As one method of exploring this I began to collect phrases and idioms that contained colour terms. Many of the phrases are very well known and ingrained in our language. As a result they are indelibly associated with the colour term in question, for example red carpet and black death.

From a number of different sources, including online references, A Dictionary of Colour by Ian Paterson and Seeing Red or Tickled Pink by Christine Amner, I was able to collate a large body of phrases and sayings. I grouped these based on the relevant colour category, so phrases including the word ‘gold’ and phrases including the word ‘yellow’ were arranged together.

From this I analysed the distribution of the phrases across the colour terms.

Black, white and red were the colours that were included in the greatest number of phrases. Interestingly, these

colour terms were also identified by Berlin & Kay as being primary colours in the evolution of colour terms within a language. In fact, with the exception of blue, the distribution of phrases across the other colour terms also follows the order observed by Berlin & Kay. So that orange (or the equivalent) appears in few phrases and is also one of the last basic colour terms to appear as a language evolves The phrases were presented in a book structured in a similar manner to a dictionary, with a definition or explanation accompanying each phrase. The sayings were also indexed alphabetically at the back of the book, as a reference but appear in the colour that features in the phrase. The beginning of each section opens with an explanation of the meanings and associations of each colour term and describes the origin of a particularly well know idiom. Figures 25–30 show spreads from the layout of the book.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Pink Hunting pinks

Pink Fairies

Pink pound

Receive a pink slip, to

In the pink, to be

Pink Floyd

Pink ribbon

Rose tinted glasses, to see the world through

Little pink pill

Pink for a girl, blue for a boy

Pink slip, a

Rosé wine

Moss pink

Pink gin

Pink slip, to

Rose-cheeked

Paint the town pink, to

Pink in the face, to turn

Pink Spiders

Rose-lipped

Pink tea

Rosy

Traditional jackets worn for fox hunting In perfect health

A slang name for a placebo, commonly a sugar pill used in medical trials A type of flower also known as creeping Phlox See also ‘to paint the town red’, a lively and usually drunken night out

Parlour pink

Associated with Communism or a left wing leaning

Pink

An American pop singer

Pink, a

A type of flower from the genus Dianthus

Pink, a

Someone with left wing sympathies

Pink, to

To pierce or to perforate

An English psychedelic rock band An English progressive rock band A saying indicating gender colour associations An alcoholic drink of gin mixed with grenadine To turn pink in the face from exertion or emotion

Pink lady

A type of apple

Pink lady, a

A cocktail made with gin, grenadine, egg white, lemon juice and cream

Pink lady

The purchasing power of gay men A symbol of the fight against breast cancer Obsolete, a female undergarment An American expression meaning to sack someone An American pop punk band Obsolete, an American term for a formal tea party

Pink toothbrush

A 1930’s advertising slogan for a toothpaste claimed to prevent bleeding gums

Pink-collar worker

During the 1960s it referred to a barbiturate

Job roles that are typically fulfilled by women

Pink lady

Pinked

Pink Ladies, The

Pinkeye

Volunteer hospital aides The female companions of the T-Birds in the film and musical Grease

When the edges of something are notched or perforated Common term for conjunctivitis

An American expression meaning to be sacked from your job Having an optimistic view of the world

A type of pink-coloured wine produced using a number of different methods Blushing or in good health Young and healthy Optimistic

Rosy outlook, to have a

Having a positive view on a situation

Rosy-fingered dawn, a A sunrise

Strike me pink!

Expression of astonishment or indignation

Very pink of, The The very best of

To cut fabric with pinking shears so that the edges do not fray

Embodying the very best

Pink of perfection, the

Pinkeye

A type of potato with pink buds

Very pleased

Pink champagne

Pink Panther, The

Pinkie

Turn pink, to

Pink coat

Pink Panther, The

Pinking shears

Pink out, to

Champagne produced from rose wine or Champagne mixed with red wine Traditional jackets worn for fox hunting

Pink elephants, to see

A comedy film series from the 1960s A detective cartoon character that appears in the title sequence to The Pink Panther film series

Beaten like a red-headed stepchild, to be To be badly beaten

Better a red face than a black heart

A proverb meaning it is better to be embarrassed than to be a cruel person

Better dead than Red

It is better to be dead than be a Communist

Better red than dead

Anti-nuclear slogan referring to the American-Soviet arms race, meaning it would be better to let the Soviets win than there to be nuclear war

Bleed red ink, to

When a company is losing a lot of money

Blood red

Red like the colour of blood

Bloody Red Shoes An English punk duo

Captain Scarlet

A popular children’s television series from the 1960s created by Gerry Anderson

Catch someone red-handed, to

To catch someone doing something wrong

Crimson tide

A woman’s period

Crimson Tide

A 1995 submarine film directed by Tony Scott

Crimson tide

A cocktail of vodka and pomegranate juice

To co-operate with law enforcement authorities and provide information about accomplices in order to reduce one’s sentence

Scissors that are used to cut a zigzag edge in fabric to prevent it from fraying

Pinko

Orange

Red Another redskin bit the dust

Tickled pink, to be

Communist sympathiser

Hallucinations brought on by heavy drinking

A phrase which used to be used when a cowboy shot a Native American Indian

The fifth and smallest finger on a human hand

Curse you, Red Baron

A line used by Snoopy in the cartoon strip by Charles M Schultz

Dago red

Cheap or poor quality red wine

Agent Orange

A powerful herbicide that was used by the American military in the Vietnam War against the South Vietnamese

One of the provinces of South Africa

Clockwork Orange

An English metal band

Future’s bright, the future’s orange, the

The juice of the orange fruit

House of Orange, The

A type of black tea

Dyeing scarlet

A person lacking individuality because of institutional conditioning

Ears are red

The 1971 film by Stanley Kubrick

Eric the Red

The advertising slogan for UK mobile phone service provider Orange

Get the red light, to

The Dutch Royal Family

Go red, to

Everything is great

Harvard Crimson, the

An organisation set up in Northern Ireland to defend Protestantism

Harvard Crimson, the

A UK mobile phone and broadband service provider

In the red, to be

A flower of the orange tree, often used for weddings

Infrared light

A cocktail made with orange juice, gin and ice

Lady in Red

An American college football game held in Florida

Left red-faced, to be

The shell used as a shade for an opium lamp

Obsolete, heavy drinking When someone is talking about you A Norse explorer who colonised Greenland To be prevented from doing something To blush

The daily student newspaper of Harvard University The athletics teams for Harvard University To have financial accounts that are in debt, or to be in debt Light waves in the electromagnetic spectrum that are longer than visible red light A well know song by Chris de Burgh To blush from embarrassment from a mistake

Orange Crush A song by REM

Clockwork orange, a

Down the little red lane

An American punk band from Orange County

Down someone’s throat

Orange County

A county in the state of California, USA

Agent Orange

Just peachy

Loyal Orange Institution Orange

Orange blossom Orange blossom Orange bowl Orange bowl

Orange Free State Orange Goblin Orange juice

Orange pekoe tea Orange River

A river in South Africa the runs along the boundary of Orange Free State

Orange stick

A tool used in manicures to push back the nail cuticle

Orange tree, an

The tree that produces the orange fruit

Orangeade

A juice made from orange juice, water and sugar

Orangemen

The name given to members of the Loyal Orange Institution in Northern Ireland

Orangery, an

A greenhouse used for growing oranges in colder climates

Peaches and cream complexion

Describes woman with a fair complexion, often with freckles and red hair

Pretty as a peach

A phrase use to describe an attractive young woman or child

FIGURES 31 – 34, WHEN GREEN ISN’T GREEN BOOK SPREADS

30

31

PMS 3275

37

5.1.4

PMS 361

35

PMS 3405

PMS 3278

36

PMS 354

34

PMS 347

38

39

PMS 368

PMS 389

WHEN GREEN IS NOT GREEN

The term ‘green’ is often used interchangeably with ideas of sustainability, while the colour is frequently used in design schemes to represent environmental awareness. This was discussed by Sara De Bondt in a lecture given at LCC, where she presented information on sustainable design as part of professional practise.

This also covered guidance on colour printing and included a list of Pantone Matching System colours that are particularly toxic to the environment. Featured

on the list were a number of shades of green, so it seemed appropriate to use this as a basis to illustrate the relationship between ‘green’ the colour, ‘green’ the colour name and ‘green’ the concept.

As an extension of the investigation in to the semiotics of colours and colour terms I presented the colours from the list of toxic inks as a book to serve as a reminder of the relationship between colour green and what it

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

FIGURES 35 – 36, WHEN GREEN ISN’T GREEN POSTER ITERATIONS

PMS 123

PMS 137

PMS 1375

PMS 151 PMS 1585 PMS 165

PMS 1655

PMS 172

Warm Red

PMS 1788 PMS 185

PMS 192

PMS 213

PMS 259

PMS 3735

PMS 286

PMS 293

PMS 300

PMS 3135 PMS 320

PMS 327

PMS 3005 Process Blue PMS 313

When Green isn’t Green

Printed material comprises a large proportion of the man-made colour we encounter in our modern world. Offset lithography, four colour process and Pantone’s Matching System have enabled us to paint the world in glorious technicolor ever more cheaply, over the last few decades. However, this has come at a price.

In recent years the design industry has been gradually waking up to the environmental damage caused by our rainbow of printing inks. Through increases in recycling we now know that red-based colours are more difficult to remove from paper, using more chemicals and energy before it can be made into new. Petroleum based inks release volatile organic compounds, polluting the air and water supply, while damaging the health of those who work with them. In their book,

Green Graphic Design, Brian Dougherty and Celery Design have compiled a list of all of the Pantone Matching System colours that contain high levels of barium and copper, hazardous metals, which can accumulate in the environment, contaminating water, soil, poisoning wildlife and threatening the health of communities. This poster presents the colours from that list, in all their toxic glory, as a reminder to designers of the impact of specifying certain colours in design schemes.

Among them are a number of green hues that contain Copper-phthalocyanine and are particularly harmful to the environment. Not all greens are created equal and some are little more than greenwash.

is often used to stand for. Spreads from this book are presented in Figures 31–34. Poster iterations (Figures 35–36) were also originally produced to accompany the book. However, these have not been included in the final output as they are not significant enough to the investigation as a whole.

PMS 3272

PMS 3275 PMS 3278

PMS 347

PMS 354

PMS 361

PMS 368

PMS 438

PMS 445

PMS 450

PMS 457 PMS 464 PMS 4625

PMS 471

PMS 492

PMS 499

PMS 4975 PMS 506

PMS 5115

PMS 520

PMS 5185

PMS 527 PMS 5255 PMS 534

PMS 5463 PMS 5535

PMS 562

PMS 569 PMS 5747

When Green isn’t Green

Green

PMS 340 PMS 3405 PMS 389

Printed material comprises a large proportion of the man-made colour we encounter in our modern world. Offset lithography, four colour process and Pantone’s Matching System have enabled us to paint the world in glorious technicolor ever more cheaply, over the last few decades. However, this has come at a price.

In recent years the design industry has been gradually waking up to the environmental damage caused by our rainbow of printing inks. Through increases in recycling we now know that red-based colours are more difficult to remove from paper, using more chemicals and energy before it can be made into new. Petroleum based inks release volatile organic compounds, polluting the air and water supply, while damaging the health of those who work with them. In their book,

PMS 419

PMS 513

Green Graphic Design, Brian Dougherty and Celery Design have compiled a list of all of the Pantone Matching System colours that contain high levels of barium and copper, hazardous metals, which can accumulate in the environment, contaminating water, soil, poisoning wildlife and threatening the health of communities. This poster presents the colours from that list, in all their toxic glory, as a reminder to designers of the impact of specifying certain colours in design schemes.

Among them are a number of green hues that contain Copper-phthalocyanine and are particularly harmful to the environment. Not all greens are created equal and some are little more than greenwash.

5.1.5

As a final approach for examining the body of words we used to describe colour I used Wordcount.org to analyse how frequently colour terms are used in English.

Wordcount is an online experiment that tracks the way we use language and ranks words in the order of how often they are used. The application contains 88,600 words and can be used to search for terms or rankings.

I inputted non-compound colours terms, from the list collated early in the investigation, into Wordcount to Wine Grey

1770

1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

1770

1634

1540

Gold

1634

Coffee

1540

Stone

1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Gold 1320

1247

1197

Brown

1320

Stone

1247

Brown

1197

COLOUR BY NUMBERS 1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

COLOUR BY NUMBERS

1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

1770

Wine

1770

1634

1540

Coffee

1634

1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

1320

1247

1197

Gold

1540

1320

1247

1197

1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

Brown Stone

1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

FIGURES 37 – 44, COLOUR BY NUMBERS BOOK LAYOUT ITERATIONS

COLOUR BY NUMBERS

Wine

Coffee

Grey Grey

COLOUR BY NUMBERS

Brown

Stone

Gold

Coffee Wine Grey

COLOUR BY NUMBERS

document the distribution of colour terms within the body of words. Some of the more obscure colour terms did not feature on the list at all, indicating how rarely they feature in our language. However a collection of over 200 individual colour names were ranked.

This sequence was presented as a book with a numerical scale running along the bottom of the page. The ranking of each colour term was marked in the correct position

without any adjustments made to average out the distribution of the terms. This meant that some spreads of the book featured numerous terms while others were blank. However, this served to demonstrate how the different terms were dispersed throughout Wordcount.

In order to highlight the changes in frequency indicated by the rankings to a greater degree, the position in the was also marked by a coloured circle which decreased in size, in proportion to how often the word was used.

Coffee Wine

1770

1634

1540

Wine

1770

1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Coffee

1634

Gold

1540

Gold

1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Brown Stone 1320

1247

Brown Stone

1320

1197

Grey

1247

Grey

1197

COLOUR BY NUMBERS 1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

COLOUR BY NUMBERS

1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

Wine 1770

Wine

1770

Coffee 1634

1540

Coffee

1634

Gold 1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

1320

1247

1197

Gold

1540

Brown Stone

1320

1247

1197

1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

Brown Stone

1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

COLOUR BY NUMBERS

Grey

COLOUR BY NUMBERS

Grey

This feature of the design was developed after a number of iterations, which are shown above in Figures 37–44.

Pages from the final design are shown in Figures 45–52.

8731

Coral

Garnet

33961

Cranberry

33830

Oatmeal 8585

Cardinal

8500 8510 8520 8530 8540 8550 8560 8570 8580 8590 8600 8610 8620 8630 8640 8650 8660 8670 8680 8690 8700 8710 8720 8730 8740 8750 8760 8770 8780 8790 8800 8810 8820 8830 8840 8850 8860 8870 8880 8890 8900 8910 8920 8930 8940 8950 8960 8970 8980 8990

Ink

33500 33510 33520 33530 33540 33550 33560 33570 33580 33590 33600 33610 33620 33630 33640 33650 33660 33670 33680 33690 33700 33710 33720 33730 33740 33750 33760 33770 33780 33790 33800 33810 33820 33830 33840 33850 33860 33870 33880 33890 33900 33910 33920 33930 33940 33950 33960 33970 33980 33990

8416

8143

Sulphur

33438

Buff

33250

Poppy 8022

Grey

8000 8010 8020 8030 8040 8050 8060 8070 8080 8090 8100 8110 8120 8130 8140 8150 8160 8170 8180 8190 8200 8210 8220 8230 8240 8250 8260 8270 8280 8290 8300 8310 8320 8330 8340 8350 8360 8370 8380 8390 8400 8410 8420 8430 8440 8450 8460 8470 8480 8490

Wine

33000 33010 33020 33030 33040 33050 33060 33070 33080 33090 33100 33110 33120 33130 33140 33150 33160 33170 33180 33190 33200 33210 33220 33230 33240 33250 33260 33270 33280 33290 33300 33310 33320 33330 33340 33350 33360 33370 33380 33390 33400 33410 33420 33430 33440 33450 33460 33470 33480 33490

1770

1634

1540

1320

1247

1197

Coffee

16827

Grape Burgundy 1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090 1100 1110 1120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490

Gold

16734

16233

Plum

16160

16055

Brown Stone

16500 16510 16520 16530 16540 16550 16560 16570 16580 16590 16600 16610 16620 16630 16640 16650 16660 16670 16680 16690 16700 16710 16720 16730 16740 16750 16760 16770 16780 16790 16800 16810 16820 16830 16840 16850 16860 16870 16880 16890 16900 16910 16920 16930 16940 16950 16960 16970 16980 16990

16000 16010 16020 16030 16040 16050 16060 16070 16080 16090 16100 16110 16120 16130 16140 16150 16160 16170 16180 16190 16200 16210 16220 16230 16240 16250 16260 16270 16280 16290 16300 16310 16320 16330 16340 16350 16360 16370 16380 16390 16400 16410 16420 16430 16440 16450 16460 16470 16480 16490

FIGURES 45 – 52, COLOUR BY NUMBERS BOOK SPREADS

Tomato

Magenta

73653

Loden 54500 54510 54520 54530 54540 54550 54560 54570 54580 54590 54600 54610 54620 54630 54640 54650 54660 54670 54680 54690 54700 54710 54720 54730 54740 54750 54760 54770 54780 54790 54800 54810 54820 54830 54840 54850 54860 54870 54880 54890 54900 54910 54920 54930 54940 54950 54960 54970 54980 54990

54782

54285

54072

Argent

73500 73510 73520 73530 73540 73550 73560 73570 73580 73590 73600 73610 73620 73630 73640 73650 73660 73670 73680 73690 73700 73710 73720 73730 73740 73750 73760 73770 73780 73790 73800 73810 73820 73830 73840 73850 73860 73870 73880 73890 73900 73910 73920 73930 73940 73950 73960 73970 73980 73990

Alizarin

73119

40863

40321

40241

Sable

54000 54010 54020 54030 54040 54050 54060 54070 54080 54090 54100 54110 54120 54130 54140 54150 54160 54170 54180 54190 54200 54210 54220 54230 54240 54250 54260 54270 54280 54290 54300 54310 54320 54330 54340 54350 54360 54370 54380 54390 54400 54410 54420 54430 54440 54450 54460 54470 54480 54490

40500 40510 40520 40530 40540 40550 40560 40570 40580 40590 40600 40610 40620 40630 40640 40650 40660 40670 40680 40690 40700 40710 40720 40730 40740 40750 40760 40770 40780 40790 40800 40810 40820 40830 40840 40850 40860 40870 40880 40890 40900 40910 40920 40930 40940 40950 40960 40970 40980 40990

40000 40010 40020 40030 40040 40050 40060 40070 40080 40090 40100 40110 40120 40130 40140 40150 40160 40170 40180 40190 40200 40210 40220 40230 40240 40250 40260 40270 40280 40290 40300 40310 40320 40330 40340 40350 40360 40370 40380 40390 40400 40410 40420 40430 40440 40450 40460 40470 40480 40490

Vermilion Tangerine

73000 73010 73020 73030 73040 73050 73060 73070 73080 73090 73100 73110 73120 73130 73140 73150 73160 73170 73180 73190 73200 73210 73220 73230 73240 73250 73260 73270 73280 73290 73300 73310 73320 73330 73340 73350 73360 73370 73380 73390 73400 73410 73420 73430 73440 73450 73460 73470 73480 73490

60689

60149

Viridian

60500 60510 60520 60530 60540 60550 60560 60570 60580 60590 60600 60610 60620 60630 60640 60650 60660 60670 60680 60690 60700 60710 60720 60730 60740 60750 60760 60770 60780 60790 60800 60810 60820 60830 60840 60850 60860 60870 60880 60890 60900 60910 60920 60930 60940 60950 60960 60970 60980 60990

60000 60010 60020 60030 60040 60050 60060 60070 60080 60090 60100 60110 60120 60130 60140 60150 60160 60170 60180 60190 60200 60210 60220 60230 60240 60250 60260 60270 60280 60290 60300 60310 60320 60330 60340 60350 60360 60370 60380 60390 60400 60410 60420 60430 60440 60450 60460 60470 60480 60490

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Malachite Cyan

Heliotrope

5.2

FOCUS 2

The Names of Colours: How they visually relate to each other.

To explore this aspect of the research question, I have employed a variety of strategies, including generative methods, photography and digital image manipulation.

5.2.1

SEARCHING FOR THE RAINBOW

The main activity carried out in response to this aspect of the research question was using Google Image search as a research tool. This approach was not previously planned and it was not included in the original proposal for the project, beginning as no more than an exercise in understanding. Initially I began using Google Image Search to provide a visual reference for colour names that I was unfamiliar with, which had been collected throughout the course of the research. While it proved to be a very useful process, through repeated attempts it became apparent that the search results themselves generated a fascinating body of images, providing an insight into the changing nature of the internet and the relationships between the colours in the images and the search terms.

Acknowledging this observation, I devised a structured methodology for using Google Image Search as a generative research activity. Initially I began by inputting the eleven basic colour terms in English: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, black, grey and white into Google Image Search with the addition of the word ‘colour’. This concession was an undesirable but a necessary consequence of the number of high profile celebrities with colour terms in their names, such as the rapper Chris Brown and the singer Pink, which created massive distortions in the results of the initial trials. In addition to this, before beginning the process I cleared my browser history and cookies, so that the results would not be influenced by my search history. I then took, without exception, the first thirty images from the search results, as a basis for analysis using image

manipulation processes. Thirty was a suitable number for this exercise, as it would generate a reasonably sized body of images without creating an excessive time burden. As trialled in Unit 2, (as preparation for the Major Project), I applied different digital manipulation techniques as a way of analysing the colour content of each image.

The images were indexed by Colourphon.co.uk, resulting in 9x9 grid of colours. They were blurred with a specific and constant amount of Gaussian blur in Photoshop and finally, also using Photoshop, the colour values for the pixels in the image were averaged to give a solid block of colour. Each of these processes altered the coherence of the image to a different degree.

They moved from defined forms, into indistinguishable shapes, allowing dominant areas of colour to appear more clearly and others subside, until finally, through averaging, a consolidated block of colour could emerge.

The images were grouped by process, beginning with the original results and were presented in the sequence they ranked in the search. This allowed the images to be compared by hue and process and it was possible to observe how each effect altered the colour composition of the images. Spreads from the resulting book of images are presented in Figures 53–56. A series of accompanying posters was also created, shown in Figures 57–60. However these were not included in the output for the project as the exercise was not intended as a final outcome of the research.

As a body of work, the images represent a visual interpretation of each colour term, mediated by Google, and function as a snapshot of the Internet, that due to it’s constantly shifting nature, can never be exactly repeated. They show not only the variety in responses to the colours, but also the level of consensus across the range of images. Despite the differences within the results, from the collection of images produced it is possible to discern a level collective appreciation of the eleven basic colour terms.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

FIGURES 53 – 56, SEARCHING FOR THE RAINBOW BOOK SPREADS

RED

SEARCH RESULTS

RED

SEARCH RESULTS

RED

PIXELATED

RED

PIXELATED

RED

BLURRED

RED

BLURRED

RED

COLOUR AVERAGED

RED

COLOUR AVERAGED

FIGURES 57 – 60, SEARCHING FOR THE RAINBOW POSTER SERIES

Searching For The Rainbow

The philosopher Wittgenstein famously asked ‘How do I know that this color is red? —It would be an answer to say: I have learnt English.’ But how do we know what is red? In today’s digital age perhaps a more pertinent response would be: ‘Google it’. The use of Google image search as a tool to provide a visual interpretation of colour terms began as no more than an exercise in understanding, However, repetition of the process began to reveal both the changing nature of the internet and the similarities and differences between the colours in the

images retrieved by each search. Although translated through Google’s algorithms, collectively, the images represent the level of understanding of colour and colour terms by those posting them. The methodology for this exercise involved inputting each of the eleven basic colour terms into Google Image Search with the addition of the word ‘colour’. I then took the first thirty images from the search results as a foundation to work with and analyse. This poster displays the original images from the search, without any image manipulation and functions as a

snapshot of colour on the Internet that due to it’s constantly shifting nature, can never be replicated exactly. It shows not only the variety of responses to the names of colours but also the level of consensus across the range of images. This method is but one of the many possible ways of exploring the relationship between colour and language but it one that is truly a reflection of our digital age.

Searching For The Rainbow

The philosopher Wittgenstein famously asked ‘How do I know that this color is red? —It would be an answer to say: I have learnt English.’ But how do we know what is red? In today’s digital age perhaps a more pertinent response would be: ‘Google it’. The use of Google image search as a tool to provide a visual interpretation of colour terms began as no more than an exercise in understanding, However, repetition of the process began to reveal both the changing nature of the internet and the similarities and differences between the colours in the

images retrieved by each search. Although translated through Google’s algorithms, collectively, the images represent the level of understanding of colour and colour terms by those posting them. The methodology for this exercise involved inputting each of the eleven basic colour terms into Google Image Search with the addition of the word ‘colour’. I then took the first thirty images from the search results as a foundation to work with and analyse. The images presented on this poster have been processed using the online colour analysis tool Colourphon,

breaking each one down into its dominant blocks of colour. As a body of work this is a visual representation of each colour term, mediated by Google and functions as a snapshot of colour on the Internet that due to it’s constantly shifting nature, can never be replicated exactly. It shows not only the variety of responses to the names of colours but also the level of consensus across the range of images. This method is but one of the many possible ways of exploring the relationship between colour and language but it one that is truly a reflection of our digital age.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Searching For The Rainbow

The philosopher Wittgenstein famously asked ‘How do I know that this color is red? —It would be an answer to say: I have learnt English.’ But how do we know what is red? In today’s digital age perhaps a more pertinent response would be: ‘Google it’. The use of Google image search as a tool to provide a visual interpretation of colour terms began as no more than an exercise in understanding, However, repetition of the process began to reveal both the changing nature of the internet and the similarities and differences between the colours in the

images retrieved by each search. Although translated through Google’s algorithms, collectively, the images represent the level of understanding of colour and colour terms by those posting them. The methodology for this exercise involved inputting each of the eleven basic colour terms into Google Image Search with the addition of the word ‘colour’. I then took the first thirty images from the search results as a foundation to work with and analyse. The images presented on this poster have been processed using a specific amount of the Gaussian Blur tool

in Photoshop, creating colour fields from each one. As a body of work this is a visual representation of each colour term, mediated by Google and functions as a snapshot of colour on the Internet that due to it’s constantly shifting nature, can never be replicated exactly. It shows not only the variety of responses to the names of colours but also the level of consensus across the range of images. This method is but one of the many possible ways of exploring the relationship between colour and language but it one that is truly a reflection of our digital age.

Searching For The Rainbow

The philosopher Wittgenstein famously asked ‘How do I know that this color is red? —It would be an answer to say: I have learnt English.’ But how do we know what is red? In today’s digital age perhaps a more pertinent response would be: ‘Google it’. The use of Google image search as a tool to provide a visual interpretation of colour terms began as no more than an exercise in understanding, However, repetition of the process began to reveal both the changing nature of the internet and the similarities and differences between the colours in the

images retrieved by each search. Although translated through Google’s algorithms, collectively, the images represent the level of understanding of colour and colour terms by those posting them. The methodology for this exercise involved inputting each of the eleven basic colour terms into Google Image Search with the addition of the word ‘colour’. I then took the first thirty images from the search results as a foundation to work with and analyse. The blocks of colour presented on this poster represent an average colour value of all the pixels in each

image, created using the Average tool in Photoshop. As a body of work this is a visual representation of each colour term, mediated by Google and functions as a snapshot of colour on the Internet that due to it’s constantly shifting nature, can never be replicated exactly. It shows not only the variety of responses to the names of colours but also the level of consensus across the range of images. This method is but one of the many possible ways of exploring the relationship between colour and language but it one that is truly a reflection of our digital age.

FIGURES 61 – 62, TRANSFORMING THE RAINBOW BOOK SPREADS

RED

5.2.2

ORIGINAL IMAGES – LAYERED

RED

VERTICAL SLICE – STRETCHED

TRANSFORMING THE RAINBOW

In addition to the processes described above, I extended this line of enquiry by using a combination of the search results and the processed images of the basic colour terms. Again, using digital manipulation I applied other processes to the images in an attempt to gain further insight into the relationships between the colours in the images.

All of the processed images for each term were layered with transparency to give an impression of all the colours as a whole. It allowed the areas saturated with the colour used as the search term to be seen more clearly, see Figures 61 and 63–66. A sample of the centre area of the averaged images (Figure 65) was taken and enlarged (Figure 66). This was one method for producing a culmination of the averages in the sample.

It acted as a representation of that particular colour term, mediated both by Google and Photoshop.

In addition to this, images have been created for each of the colour terms by taking a vertical, one pixel wide section through the layered original images. This was then stretched across a wider area to give a greater impression of the layering and to portray the colour composition of the image in a different way. (Figure 62) Collectively, the experiments represent the conclusion of this particular area of investigation. While they created some striking and appealing imagery, the method of applying additional digital processes to the images presented little opportunity for further insight or knowledge.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

FIGURES 63 – 66, TRANSFORMING THE RAINBOW BOOK SPREADS

RED

COLOURPHON IMAGES – LAYERED

RED

BLURRED IMAGES – LAYERED

RED

AVERAGED IMAGES – LAYERED

RED

AVERAGED IMAGES – CUMULATIVE COLOUR

FIGURES 67 – 74, LOOKING FOR HUE BOOK SPREADS

RUST

SCARLET

TERRACOTTA

SIENNA

WATERMELON

CORAL

CERISE

MAGENTA

5.2.3

LOOKING FOR HUE

To examine the process of using Google Image Search in another way, I broadened the search to commonly known, but less widely used terms. As before, the colour names were used as search terms in Google Image search. The first thirty images were presented in the order in which they were retrieved and the groups of results were then arranged by hue over a sequence of pages so it was possible to appreciate the colours resulting from different searches.

Unlike the previous exercises, the images were not subject to any additional processes. This study focussed purely on the comparison of results from Google Image searches, using colour terms beyond the basic eleven. This method allowed for subtle distinctions to be observed between colours that are often regarded as interchangeable, for example wine, claret, maroon

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

INDIGO

PERIWINKLE

COBALT

ULTRAMARINE

CYAN

AQUA

AQUAMARINE

TURQUOISE

and burgundy. It also allowed for similarities to be seen between colours that are generally thought of as more disparate. Example pages from the book are shown above in Figures 67–74.

The outcome of the Google image searches may not provide a conclusive answer to what a colour looks like, however it is a reflection of the fact that colour is

rarely, if ever, definitive. As with the basic colour terms, it was possible to see that, despite many different interpretations, there was in all but a few cases (notably puce), a degree of consistency across the image search results.

5.2.4

SAY WHAT YOU SEE

To explore the visual relationships between colour terms using a different approach, I referred back to the list of descriptive terms that had been collected in the early stages of the project.

Since the beginnings of language we have borrowed the words for things in the world around us to describe the colours we see. Even what we now know as abstract colour terms in English, like red and black, originally referred to something else like blood or night. To reflect this I analysed the list for colour terms that were also familiar objects or materials and that you might expect to see in everyday life. The exercise proved to be an enlightening process, as it is easy to forget how many of our colour terms are derived from things in the real world.

To develop this approach I began to collect examples of the colour terms I had identified, such as raspberry and fuchsia. It was clear that the colours of the objects were key to creating a visually appealing presentation and could be used as a reminder of the connection between the colours we see and the words we use. To focus on this relationship I photographed each of the objects in isolation, against a white background as a way of creating emphasis. These images were arranged by hue, one per page and collated as a book. To engage the viewer I included objects that could be identified with relative ease and titled the book ‘Say What You See’ as an invitation for people to guess the colour name/

object depicted. Although the list contained many terms, I deliberately discounted particularly obscure names like cinnabar and porphyry because it is unlikely that the majority of viewers would have identified the link between the object and the colour. While it is impossible to gage whether everyone would recognise ‘sage’ it is not unreasonable to assume that most people would be relatively familiar with the objects that have been presented, and therefore should be able to determine most of colour names depicted in the images.

To test this, different versions of some images were presented to ascertain which ones communicated the colour/object most successfully. As part of the editing process for the book, spreads was shown to a number of people unconnected with the course and the project to make sure that all of the colours/objects could be recognised. Finally, to alleviate any uncertainty, an index of all of the colour names/objects was provided at the back of the book, with a corresponding number on each page. This element of the design was the subject of a number of iterations in order to strike a balance between providing a reference without distracting from the image on the page. Some examples of these iterations can be seen in Figures 75–78. Spreads of the final layout are shown in Figures 79–86.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

FIGURES 75 – 78, SAY WHAT YOU SEE BOOK LAYOUT ITERATIONS

TOMATO

26

MELON

27

30

31

26

30

TOMATO

30

27

31

26

31

MELON

30

27

31

FIGURES 79 – 86, SAY WHAT YOU SEE BOOK SPREADS

08

09

14

15

30

31

34

35

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

42

43

44

45

48

49

62

63

5.2.5

DECONSTRUCTING THE RAINBOW

As a final approach to exploring this aspect of the research question I considered how we divide the spectrum into colour categories using language. Many of this inconsistencies and disagreements that arise when describing or labelling colours occur when the hue in question is close to the boundary between two colour names. For example bluey-green or greeny blue.

Examining the transitions that occur in colour gradients was a useful method for exploring this concept. By deconstructing the gradients into varying numbers of equidistant steps the change from one colour to another was more apparent. As we all see colour slightly differently the point at which we perceive green to become yellow will always vary. This study was not designed to provide a definitive answer. However, by presenting the transitions as defined stages the viewer is able to observe and question where the boundaries between colour categories lie.

Presented in the book (Figures 87–90) are a number of different gradient studies that demonstrate different methods of dividing gradients into steps in order to understand how the colours change throughout the process. These are accompanied by referenced quotations and statements that discuss the nature of our colour spectrum and the way we categorise it with language.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

FIGURES 87 – 90, DECONSTRUCTING THE RAINBOW BOOK SPREADS

SPECTRUM STUDIES

FOURTEEN DIVISIONS

SPECTRUM STUDIES

TWENTY-ONE DIVISIONS

GRADIENT STUDIES

GRADIENT STUDIES

WHEN DOES RED BECOME ORANGE?

GRADIENT STUDIES

WHEN DOES ORANGE BECOME YELLOW?

GRADIENT STUDIES

HOW DOES MAGENTA BECOME RED?

GRADIENT STUDIES

IS THIS GREEN OR BLUE?

HOW DOES MAGENTA BECOME RED?

5.3

FOCUS 3

The Names of Colours: The consistency of their application, interpretation, definition and understanding.

of questions rather than having different groups of participants. This would allow for a more reliable and accurate comparison of results.

For this aspect of the project I adopted both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods.

This was particularly appropriate because of the focus on how colour names are used (or misused) by real people. This has been addressed with a quantitative approach, to gain a broad-based response to a set of inquiries in to this subject. In contrast, in depth, one-to-one interviews with a select group of experts, provides a qualitative contribution to this investigation.

For the design and execution of both research activities I have referred to guidance on best practises in data collection, to ensure that not only the most appropriate methods are employed, but that methods ensure responses that have a relevant relationship to the research question. Research Methods Knowledge Base (http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/index.php) has proved a valuable resource in this process, as has reference to Orlagh O’Brien’s project Emotionally Vague (Fig. 134, Appendix A).

After reviewing my proposal and the original research activities for the project I decided to discard the investigation of how people colour their mental images.

For example when prompted by the word ‘grass’ what percentage of people have a mental image of grass that is green? I felt that this aspect of the original proposal strayed too far, focussing on associations rather than colour names.

5.3.1 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH As outlined in the Action Plan of the proposal for this project, surveys initially comprised a large part of my research activities. Originally I had planned to divide the various concepts under investigation into separate surveys. However on reflection, I concluded that this method was impractical, time-consuming and unnecessary. By editing, carefully structuring the questions and only seeking information that was genuinely relevant to the project I was able to reduce the questionnaire into a format that was condensed enough to be issued as one survey. This was a far more satisfactory arrangement as it was likely to encourage a greater level of participation and meant that the respondents would be consistent across the series

After much reflection and evaluation on how others had surveyed colour, including Nathan Moroney for The Colour Thesaurus, Dimitris Mylonas for his Online Colour Naming Model, Rob and Nick Carter for their Perception of Colour Project, CrowdFlower’s Interactive Colour Label Explorer, and Orlagh O’Brien’s colour work for Emotionally Vague my survey took on two purposes.

The first was to gather views concerning general ideas about colour naming. These included straight-forward questions designed to assess colour vocabulary and attitudes towards communicating colour. To examine colour vocabulary example questions involved asking people to name as many colours as they could. This was the first research question in the survey and also acted as a primer for later questions, to encourage participants to think broadly about the colour names they knew. Attitudes towards talking about colour were addressed by asking questions, similar to some posed for my qualitative research interviews, including ‘Do you ever struggle to describe exactly what colour something is?’, ‘Do you think it is important to be able to describe a colour accurately?’ and ‘Have you ever had a disagreement with someone about what colour something was?’. Responses to these questions allowed me to ascertain how much people thought about how they communicate colour generally and provided further validation for this research project.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

The second function of the survey was to gather data that could be converted into visual structures.

Collectively, these would form the output for the major project and could be used to make a statement on how we communicate colour using language, specifically our use (or misuse) of colour names. As several pieces of research, mentioned earlier, had already surveyed colour naming, I wanted to somehow differentiate this research and avoid replicating their methods and results too closely. All of the existing research I had looked at examined only one half of the relationship between colours and colour names. Either presenting participants with a colour and asking them to name it, or presented participants with a colour name and asked them to select a colour they thought best represented it. As a result I decided to structure my survey so that it examined both of these aspects.

To add a further dimension to the study I wanted to examine if the relationship between colours and colour names changed as the names and colours became more unusual. Rather than survey a large quantity of colour names or colours, as others have, I chose to base this aspect of the survey on three sets of eleven colours and three sets of eleven colour names, totalling sixty-six stimuli.

The foundation for this approach were the eleven basic colour terms in English. These terms served as the simplest level of colour and colour name identification.

To build on this I devised two additional sets of eleven colours that were progressively further away from the focai of the eleven basic colour categories. These sets, combined with the eleven basic colours, provided the thirty-three colour stimuli for participants to name.

All of the colours for the swatches were selected from Pantone’s Solid to Process colour book, so that corresponding CMYK and RGB values were available for my own reference.

For the following section of the survey, participants were asked the reverse: to select a colour that they thought best represented a given name. As well as the eleven basic colour terms, I selected eleven terms that are still relatively well known but less commonly used and eleven colour terms that are obscure and rarely used in English.

These two lists of colour names were taken from the body of colour names that were collated at the beginning of the project. The final lists included in the survey were the result of numerous rounds of revision.

The initial shortlist was submitted to the course blog for comment, to reduce the potential for personal bias in the selection process and to ensure that the obscure terms were genuinely obscure. The final lists were then adjusted to represent a more balanced range of colours, in order to avoid the dominance of particular hues within the set.

The charts created for participants to select colours from for this section of the survey were also produced using Pantone’s Solid to Process colour book. Initially, devising a suitable method for the inclusion of a colour palette proved to be a hurdle, delaying the launch of the survey. I lacked the technical knowledge to create an interactive colour picker, as used in Rob & Nick Carter’s Perception of Colour Project. Acquiring the necessary skills to construct such a device would take up a disproportionate amount of time, relative to the project as a whole and the effectiveness of the result. The eventual solution was to number the colours in the chart (I chose to disregard Pantone’s numbering conventions as it could have proved confusing and was likely to be meaningless to many participants), providing a reference for both participants completing the survey, and for myself to interpret the results. The chart is composed of just over half of the colours, arranged in the sequence that they appear in the Pantone book. Originally, the intention was to include the complete range. However, after an initial pilot of the survey, the feedback indicated

that there were too many colours to choose from. As a result the colour book was reduced to an abridged version. This still featured an ample range for spectral and non-spectral colours but lessened the sense of overwhelming choice.

As well as the main body of questions about communicating colour, the start of the survey included two additional sections. The first was designed to gather key demographic information, such as age, gender, level of English and involvement in creative industries, in order to enable the comparison of results across different categories and to look for evidence of patterns. The second set of questions aims to ascertain the viewing conditions for each participant. As the appearance of colour can vary, both across devices and types of screen and with levels and sources of luminescence or ambient light, I found it necessary to take these factors into account. In a survey of this nature, it would be impossible to control all these variables, without administering it under laboratory conditions. This was beyond the time and resources available, so acknowledging the potential for variability was an appropriate compromise. Notably, the two other online colour naming projects that I referred to for this project, An Online Colour Naming Experiment and the Unconstrained Web-based Color Naming Experiment

by Dimitris Mylonas and Nathan Moroney respectively, take two opposing approaches to the issue of viewing consistency. The Online Colour Naming Experiment gives both instructions for basic screen calibration, asks for details of display and viewing conditions and includes a colour vision test. In contrast, the Unconstrained Web-based Color Naming Experiment, requires no such information from participants. In the methodology for the experiment Nathan Moroney acknowledges that ‘uncontrolled hardware, software and viewing conditions’ (Moroney, 2003) are a disadvantage of the web-based method. However, he goes on to mention that ‘the advent of sRGB has provided some degree of convergence in color encoding and display

for the world wide web. Further more, colorimetric display models and color appearance models allow some estimation of likely areas of maximum variability.

It is also unclear when and if all of these issues can, or even should be, addressed such that the real world is in better agreement with laboratory conditions.’ (Moroney, 2003).

In response to these two different approaches, I opted for a solution somewhere between the two. I do not have the knowledge to use colourmetric models to take into account the influence of hardware and viewing conditions on responses, unlike Nathan Moroney. As a result I felt it necessary to include questions in the survey that address the issue instead. However, my own questions were far less detailed than those of the Online Colour Naming Experiment. As I also do not have the required skills to produce a statistical analysis on the influence of different conditions, therefore it would be superfluous to collect data to this effect.

The survey was piloted to a small sample of people, of mixed gender and age, who were unconnected to the project and the creative industries. This was to ensure that all of the questions could be easily understood and answered by those not involved or unfamiliar with the subject of this research. The final version of the survey, which was launched to the public, can be see in full in Appendix B of this report.

To launch the survey live to the wider public I used online survey generator Surveymonkey. Although there are many online survey hosts available, after reviewing a range of potential options Surveymonkey presented itself as the most comprehensive and straightforward to use. It produced a professional and simple to complete survey, with a wide range of available question and answer formats. The in-built analytical tools also allowed me to track the number of completed surveys and gave a summary break down of the distribution of answers for multiple-choice questions.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

5.3.2 The survey distribution followed a random sample approach, as no one specific demographic group was targeted and a demographically representative sample of the general population was not actively sort.

Although there are pros and cons to both random and stratified sampling, random sampling is generally considered as a valid approach.

The target sample size for the survey was set at two hundred responses. After reviewing other methodologies for similar research projects, Nathan Moroney’s research, for instance received 670 unique responses, but over a far longer period, two hundred responses was judged to be an adequate sample size for research of this nature and level. I felt it necessary to specify an aim for the number of responses, to ensure that this aspect of the research was viable. This involved careful consideration, to strike a balance between a sample size that would create a valid conclusion and one that could be processed within the time constraints of the project. Of course, it would always be preferable to have a greater level of participation, but it was necessary to constrain the sample size to a degree, in order to contain the scope of the research.

The survey was distributed through posting the automatically generated link on Facebook, the course blog, my own research blog and through email, as outlined in the proposal. To increase the pool of potential respondents the survey link was also posted on several online forums and blogs including Colourlovers and The Mostly Colour Channel.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

To compliment the quantitative element of primary data collection for this project I have supported it with a qualitative research method. This activity was not written into the proposal as it was not originally anticipated.

During the course of the project I have encountered a number of people who work with colour and are specialists or experts in their respective field, from colour perception, dying, working with pigments to colour management. To exploit the potential of this collective resource I devised a set of questions to use as the basis for in depth interviews. The questions were structured around themes and concepts that I had identified in the course of my research as being fundamental to the project. Some of these are outlined in ‘Key Concepts’ and the full list of questions can be seen in Appendix C. I was able to arrange a series of interviews with people from a number of different industries, including printing, design, fine art and research through a number of methods and contacts, all who work with and have to communicate colour in some capacity as part of what they do. The interviewees were identified in one of two ways. Three were personal recommendations by other people who were familiar with my project. The rest were experts that I had become aware of through the course of my research, who appeared to be particularly expert or specialist in their field or whose work was particularly relevant to my investigation. Collectively they represent range of diverse professions. There was the potential to extend this research activity to a larger group of people such as architects and eye specialists.

However, by confining it to a select group it ensured that the responses retained a relevance to the project. It also helped to maintain the diversity and quality of the different views, avoiding repetition and overlap.

FIGURES 91 – 94, CONVERSATIONS ON COLOUR BOOK LAYOUT ITERATIONS

4

The Dyer

Karen Skorski works as a Colour Index and Training Officer for the Society of Dyers and Colourists, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, but has had a long career in the textiles and the dye industry. Over the years she has been involved in textile testing, dying and also specialises in colour fastness.

Previously working for ICI and Zeneca and as it was taken over by BASF and finally became Dystar, Karen became involved with the SDC in the late 1980s through joining as a member of a technical committee. She has since become an employee and now manages the Society’s Colour Index and facilitates their training courses. I was able to speck to Karen about her work with colour during my visit to the SDC.

Can you describe your background and current position? Ok, background was, I’ll go though it.

Can you describe your background and current position? Ok, background was, I’ll go though it.

I originally started in physical testing of textiles, so nothing to do with colour but to do with textiles. I worked for a company called English Sewing, which became Coats Sewing Threads, so in sewing thread. And then from there I moved on to work for ICI, which was, quite a, obviously a large company at the time. And I worked in dying, in the laboratory dying then, so, some celluloses; cotton. After about five years I moved to specialise in colour fastness testing. So, and I sort of stayed in that side of my career for many, many years. The company changed from ICI to Zeneca. We became BASF, bought out by. And then we were sold. Well, BASF put its dyestuff business together to become Dystar. So I worked for four companies but never actually left. So that was my background really, in the dyestuff industry. I took a few years out and worked in a college, an FE college for a while. And now I work for the Society [of Dyers and Colourists]. I look after two areas really. The Colour Index, which is a database, if you like, of colour with some structures and things on there. And I also get involved with the training side of things. So if company X needs some training I help arrange it, find the correct trainer and run the course for them. How did you get involved with the Society? I originally got involved as, because I came on, for a committee, for a colour fastness committee. Because many years ago, the fastness committee as it is now, which is the BSI [British Standards Institute] Committee used to be a textiles committee run by the Society. And my predecessor at work was retiring and I was asked to come on. And at the time you had to be, needed to be a member. I became a member in 1988. I joined the committees and I have been there ever since really. So even though I didn’t work for the society I was involved. So are you involved with communicating colour in your current role? Not actually communicating colour, as such. I deal with colour, from the colour index side. And I will do some with the training side, so I will get involved with explaining about what kinds of things the trainers are going to talk about. But I don’t actually do it in my day-to-day job. And do you have to make judgements about or describe colour as a part of that? Not so much now but I have done over the years. Because I have to describe whether it’s a bluish red or a yellowish red. Because from a dyestuff manufacturers point of view it’s very important to be able to describe the colour. Do you think you are good at talking about colours then? Do I think I am good? It’s one of those things you just do as a natural thing, it’s a bit like, it’s a bit like having a language, I suppose. It’s just a different language that you learn to speak and communicate. And do you ever struggle to describe colours or to articulate precisely what colour something is? I wouldn’t struggle with somebody who had the same expertise as me. So I could say to somebody, it’s a bluish red, if I’m using that as an example. But somebody who has no experience of that, then you have to try and describe it in another way. And that’s when it becomes a bit more difficult. So do you think in general other people are good at describing colour or have a good vocabulary of colour names? No, I think there’s so many. I mean, we were in one of the training courses the other week and I forget how many thousand colours that she said there were. Think most people wouldn’t be able to describe those kind of colours. Most people, if you said to them ‘red’ they would think, maybe of a pillar-box red. That’s probably what they would visualise in their mind, I guess. Something bright... red. But they wouldn’t think of that red being different shades of red, different depths, going down to a pink. And do you ever have difficulty trying to imagine a colour that someone else is describing? Again, if they’re not trained yes, it can be difficult because what they think, if somebody said to you, I don’t know, like a salmon pink, it might sound like ‘oh yeah I can imagine a salmon pink’. But what they think is a salmon pink and what you think... Has working with colour changed the way you talk about it and express it? Definitely. I think it changes your whole perspective on colour because, even things like at home. If you’re matching something or doing something it will annoy me if it doesn’t, because it’s just something that you do automatically. Do you think that there are enough names for colours or words to describe colour, or do think that there are too many? I don’t know about too many, I don’t think we could ever have too many but it’s just, it’s a difficult one to answer, I think that we need to have good descriptors for colour. But I think people have to understand what those descriptors are. And I think the more you have, the more complicated it would become for somebody to understand the differences. Do you ever use other systems or

I originally started in physical testing of textiles, so nothing to do with colour but to do with textiles. I worked for a company called English Sewing, which became Coats Sewing Threads, so in sewing thread. And then from there I moved on to work for ICI, which was, quite a, obviously a large company at the time. And I worked in dying, in the laboratory dying then, so, some celluloses; cotton. After about five years I moved to specialise in colour fastness testing. So, and I sort of stayed in that side of my career for many, many years. The company changed from ICI to Zeneca. We became BASF, bought out by. And then we were sold. Well, BASF put its dyestuff business together to become Dystar. So I worked for four companies but never actually left. So that was my background really, in the dyestuff industry. I took a few years out and worked in a college, an FE college for a while. And now I work for the Society [of Dyers and Colourists]. I look after two areas really. The Colour Index, which is a database, if you like, of colour with some structures and things on there. And I also get involved with the training side of things. So if company X needs some training I 13 help arrange it, find the correct trainer and run the course for them. How did you get involved with the Society? I originally got involved as, because I came on, for a committee, for a colour fastness committee. Because many years ago, the fastness committee as it is now, which is the BSI [British Standards Institute] Committee used to be a textiles committee run by the Society. And my predecessor at work was retiring and I was asked to come on. And at the time you had to be, needed to be a member. I became a member in 1988. I joined the committees and I have been there ever since really. So even though I didn’t work for the society I was involved. So are you involved with communicating colour in your current role? Not actually communicating colour, as such. I deal with colour, from the colour index side. And I will do some with the training side, so I will get involved with explaining about what kinds of things the trainers are going to talk about. But I don’t actually do it in my day-to-day job. And do you have to make judgements about or describe colour as a part of that? Not so much now but I have done over the years. Because I have to describe whether it’s a bluish red or a yellowish red. Because from a dyestuff manufacturers point of view it’s very important to be able to describe the colour. Do you think you are good at talking about colours then? Do I think I am good? It’s one of those things you just do as a natural thing, it’s a bit like, it’s a bit like having a language, I suppose. It’s just a different language that you learn to speak and communicate. And do you ever struggle to describe colours or to articulate precisely what colour something is? I wouldn’t struggle with somebody who had the same expertise as me. So I could say to somebody, it’s a bluish red, if I’m using that as an example. But somebody who has no experience of that, then you have to try and describe it in another way. And that’s when it becomes a bit more difficult. So do you think in general other people are good at describing colour or have a good vocabulary of colour names? No, I think there’s so many. I mean, we were in one of the training courses the other week and I forget how many thousand colours that she said there were. Think most people wouldn’t be able to describe those kind of colours. Most people, if you said to them ‘red’ they would think, maybe of a pillar-box red. That’s probably what they would visualise in their mind, I guess. Something bright... red. But they wouldn’t think of that red being different shades of red, different depths, going down to a pink. And do you ever have difficulty trying to imagine a colour that someone else is describing? Again, if they’re not trained yes, it can be difficult because what they think, if somebody said to you, I don’t know, like a salmon pink, it might sound like ‘oh yeah I can imagine a salmon pink’. But what they think is a salmon pink and what you think... Has working with colour changed the way you talk about it and express it? Definitely. I think it changes your whole perspective on colour because, even things like at home. If you’re matching something or doing something it will annoy me if it doesn’t, because it’s just something that you do automatically. Do you think that there are enough names for colours or words to describe colour, or do think that there are too many? I don’t know about too many, I don’t think we could ever have too many but it’s just, it’s a difficult one to answer, I think that we need to have good descriptors for colour. But I think people have to understand what those descriptors are. And I think the more you have, the more complicated it would become for somebody to understand the differences. Do you ever use other systems or

5

12

The Dyer

Karen Skorski works as a Colour Index and Training Officer for the Society of Dyers and Colourists, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, but has had a long career in the textiles and the dye industry. Over the years she has been involved in textile testing, dying and also specialises in colour fastness. Previously working for ICI and Zeneca and as it was taken over by BASF and finally became Dystar, Karen became involved with the SDC in the late 1980s through joining as a member of a technical committee. She has since become an employee and now manages the Society’s Colour Index and facilitates their training courses. I was able to speck to Karen about her work with colour during my visit to the SDC.

Can you describe your background and current position?

The Dyer

Ok, background was, I’ll go though it. I originally started in physical testing of textiles, so nothing to do with colour but to do with textiles. I worked for a company called English Sewing, which became Coats Sewing Threads, so in sewing thread.

And then from there I moved on to work for ICI, which was, quite a, obviously a large company at the time. And I worked in dying, in the laboratory dying then, so, some celluloses; cotton. After about five years I moved to specialise in colour fastness testing. So, and I sort of stayed in that side of my career for many, many years. The company changed from ICI to Zeneca. We became BASF, bought out by.

And then we were sold. Well, BASF put its dyestuff business together to become Dystar. So I worked for four companies but never actually left. So that was my background really, in the dyestuff industry. I took a few years out and worked in a college, an FE college for a while. And now I work for the Society [of Dyers and Colourists]. I look after two areas really. The Colour Index, which is a database, if you like, of colour with some structures and things on there. And I also get involved with the training side of things. So if company X needs some training I help arrange it, find the correct trainer and run the course for them.

How did you get involved with the Society?

I originally got involved as, because I came on, for a committee, for a colour fastness committee. Because many years ago, the fastness committee as it is now, which is the BSI [British Standards Institute] Committee used to be a textiles committee run by the Society. And my predecessor at work was retiring and I was asked to come on. And at the time you had to be, needed to be a member.

I became a member in 1988. I joined the committees and I have been there ever since really. So even though I didn’t work for the society I was involved.

Karen Skorski works as a Colour Index and Training Officer for the Society of Dyers and Colourists, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, but has had a long career in the textiles and the dye industry. Over the years she has been involved in textile testing, dying and also specialises in colour fastness. Previously working for ICI and Zeneca and as it was taken over by BASF and finally became Dystar, Karen became involved with the SDC in the late 1980s through joining as a member of a technical committee. She has since become an employee and now manages the Society’s Colour Index and facilitates their training courses. I was able to speck to Karen about her work with colour during my visit to the SDC.

So are you involved with communicating colour in your current role?

Not actually communicating colour, as such. I deal with colour, from the colour index side. And I will do some with the training side, so I will get involved with explaining about what kinds of things the trainers are going to talk about. But I don’t actually do it in my day-to-day job.

And do you have to make judgements about or describe colour as a part of that?

Not so much now but I have done over the years. Because I have to describe whether it’s a bluish red or a yellowish red. Because from a dyestuff manufacturers point of view it’s very important to be able to describe the colour.

Do you think you are good at talking about colours then?

Do I think I am good? It’s one of those things you just do as a natural thing, it’s a bit like, it’s a bit like having a language, I suppose. It’s just a different language that you learn to speak and communicate.

As an extension of this activity I was also able to speak to several visually impaired people through a connection to the charity Blind in Greenwich (BIG), including their chief executive Colin Jones. Although this was not directly related to my initial research question it provided a valuable insight into the experience and perception of colour for people with a visual impairment

Can you describe your background and current position?

The Dyer

Karen Skorski works as a Colour Index and Training Officer for the Society of Dyers and Colourists, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, but has had a long career in the textiles and the dye industry. Over the years she has been involved in textile testing, dying and also specialises in colour fastness. Previously working for ICI and Zeneca and as it was taken over

by BASF and finally became Dystar, Karen became involved with the SDC in the late 1980s through joining as a member of a technical committee. She has since become an employee and now manages the Society’s Colour Index and facilitates their training courses. I was able to speck to Karen about her work with colour during my visit to the SDC.

Ok, background was, I’ll go though it. I originally started in physical testing of textiles, so nothing to do with colour but to do with textiles. I worked for a company called English Sewing, which became Coats Sewing Threads, so in sewing thread.

And then from there I moved on to work for ICI, which was, quite a, obviously a large company at the time. And I worked in dying, in the laboratory dying then, so, some celluloses; cotton. After about five years I moved to specialise in colour fastness testing. So, and I sort of stayed in that side of my career for many, many years. The company changed from ICI to Zeneca. We became BASF, bought out by.

And then we were sold. Well, BASF put its dyestuff business together to become Dystar. So I worked for four companies but never actually left. So that was my background really, in the dyestuff industry. I took a few years out and worked in a college, an FE college for a while. And now I work for the Society [of Dyers and Colourists]. I look after two areas really. The Colour Index, which is a database, if you like, of colour with some structures and things on there. And I also get involved with the training side of things. So if company X needs some training I help arrange it, find the correct trainer and run the course for them.

How did you get involved with the Society?

I originally got involved as, because I came on, for a committee, for a colour fastness committee. Because many years ago, the fastness committee as it is now, which is the BSI [British Standards Institute] Committee used to be a textiles committee run by the Society. And my predecessor at work was retiring and I was asked to come on. And at the time you had to be, needed to be a member.

I became a member in 1988. I joined the committees and I have been there ever since really. So even though I didn’t work for the society I was involved.

So are you involved with communicating colour in your current role?

Not actually communicating colour, as such. I deal with colour, from the colour index side. And I will do some with the training side, so I will get involved with explaining about what kinds of things the trainers are going to talk about. But I don’t actually do it in my day-to-day job.

And do you have to make judgements about or describe colour as a part of that?

Not so much now but I have done over the years. Because I have to describe whether it’s a bluish red or a yellowish red. Because from a dyestuff manufacturers point of view it’s very important to be able to describe the colour.

Do you think you are good at talking about colours then?

Do I think I am good? It’s one of those things you just do as a natural thing, it’s a bit like, it’s a bit like having a language, I suppose. It’s just a different language that you learn to speak and communicate.

and how that affects both their use of language to describe colour and how the language used to describe colour affects their understanding of the world.

The interviews largely followed the same basic sequence but with a degree of flexibility so that questioning could be tailored and adapted to the responses given.

In all of the cases I was able to record the interview by

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

FIGURES 95 – 98, CONVERSATIONS ON COLOUR BOOK SPREADS

Can you describe your background and what you do now, professionally?

Can you describe your background and current position?

The Dyer

Ok, background was, I’ll go though it. I originally started in physical testing of textiles, so nothing to do with colour but to do with textiles. I worked for a company called English Sewing, which became Coats Sewing Threads, so in sewing thread. And then from there I moved on to work for ICI, which was, quite a, obviously a large company at the time. And I worked in dying, in the laboratory dying then, so, some celluloses; cotton. After about five years I moved to specialise in colour fastness testing. So, and I sort of stayed in that side of my career for many, many years. The company changed from ICI to Zeneca. We became BASF, bought out by. And then we were sold. Well, BASF put its dyestuff business together to become Dystar. So I worked for four companies but never actually left. So that was my background really, in the dyestuff industry. I took a few years out and worked in a college, an FE college for a while. And now I work for the Society [of Dyers and Colourists]. I look after two areas really. The Colour Index, which is a database, if you like, of colour with some structures and things on there. And I also get involved with the training side of things. So if company X needs some training I help arrange it, find the correct trainer and run the course for them.

The Historical Analyst

How did you get involved with the Society?

Karen Skorski works as a Colour Index and Training Officer for the Society of Dyers and Colourists, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, but has had a long career in the textiles and the dye industry. Over the years she has been involved in textile testing, dying and also specialises in colour fastness. Previously working for ICI and Zeneca and as it was taken over by BASF and finally became Dystar, Karen became involved with the SDC in the late 1980s through joining as a member of a technical committee. She has since become an employee and now manages the Society’s Colour Index and facilitates their training courses. I was able to speck to Karen about her work with colour during my visit to the SDC.

I originally got involved as, because I came on, for a committee, for a colour fastness committee. Because many years ago, the fastness committee as it is now, which is the BSI [British Standards Institute] Committee used to be a textiles committee run by the Society. And my predecessor at work was retiring and I was asked to come on. And at the time you had to be, needed to be a member.

I became a member in 1988. I joined the committees and I have been there ever since really. So even though I didn’t work for the society I was involved.

So are you involved with communicating colour in your current role?

Not actually communicating colour, as such. I deal with colour, from the colour index side. And I will do some with the training side, so I will get involved with explaining about what kinds of things the trainers are going to talk about. But I don’t actually do it in my day-to-day job.

And do you have to make judgements about or describe colour as a part of that?

Not so much now but I have done over the years. Because I have to describe whether it’s a bluish red or a yellowish red.

Because from a dyestuff manufacturers point of view it’s very important to be able to describe the colour.

Patrick Baty has been the owner of Papers and Paints, a well respected specialist paint shop in Chelsea, London, for twenty-five years. Having built on the experience of his father, Robert Baty, who founded the business and completed a research degree on the paints and materials used by seventeenth and eighteenth century house builders, Patrick now specialises in colour matching paint and colour for historic buildings, and has been involved in creating heritage ranges for a number of consumer brands. The business was also awarded a Royal Warrant by the Queen in 2007. I was able to meet with Patrick at Chelsea Arts Club to discuss his experiences with colour and how this has shaped how he talks about it.

Do you think you are good at talking about colours then?

Do I think I am good? It’s one of those things you just do as a natural thing, it’s a bit like, it’s a bit like having a language, I suppose. It’s just a different language that you learn to speak and communicate.

David Batchelor has used colour as a prominent feature of his work for many years. He has exhibited his brightly coloured trademark sculptures and light installations all over the world. Recent works include Big Rock Candy Fountain, commissioned by Islington Council as a temporary site specific commission which resided above Archway tube station. His work also featured in the contemporary sculpture group show, ‘The Shape of Things to Come’ at the Saatchi Gallery.

As well as sculpture he has written and edited a handful of books, most notably Chromaphobia, an analysis and commentary about the marginalisation and suspicion of colour in the history of Western fine art and culture. I visited David at his studio in East London to speak to him about his views on colour and the pitfalls of using language to communicate it, something he discusses in his own book.

So can you describe your background and your current professional practise?

Yes, well I’m an artist and I studied, I mean I knew when I was at school I was going to do art. Not, necessarily because I was the very best of the lot but because it definitely was the cooler activity than the other ones. I didn’t go, become an artist when I left school. I went to college, I actually then taught for quite a long time and began to write about art, criticism and kind of, art historical kind of stuff. And, but, for the last ten, ten-fifteen years I’ve been working as an artist, and, pretty much to the exclusion of everything else apart from writing.

system on it. As to using colour terms, I try to avoid that, and I never, never title my works with colour names. I never call it blue this or red that. And the reason I try to avoid colour, using colour names, I mean even just talking with my assistant about it is that, as I’ve said many times, the range of colours that are at my disposal in the studio is several thousand, just from paint pots and plexiglass strips, then we have really a very limited range of colour names. And there’s the basic eleven, the eleven basic colour terms, that Berlin and Kay talked about back in the early sixties. So there’s always, for me that huge gap between what we can experience in terms of colour and what we can say about it. And I want the work to be about the experience of colour rather than about the name, the colour names. Yes. Is one of your questions what’s your favourite colour?

It is, it’s at the end.

Well, [laughs] it was, it was to my astonishment its now twenty years ago that I first made a piece of work with colour. And if you saw my talk at Byam Shaw [part of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design] you know that before that I wasn’t using it. And I started using it almost by accident, just as a way of trying to figure out a different problem, which wasn’t a colour problem. But the minute I did start using it, which was in three-dimensional work rather than painting, it kind of dawned on me very quickly that there was sort of, there was a general absence of colour in contemporary art, in London at the time. You have to be quite specific and I just thought that was strange. I said why? Why is that? I kind of thought that it might give me something to think about for a little bit, and yeah, give me a bit of space to work in, that other people weren’t working in. And what’s really surprising, is that, you know, twenty years later I’m still, still working on it.

Ok I knew it would be, it always is [laughs].

Almost everything I do has a basis in colour. And it’s not the only thing it’s about, it’s also about, the city, the street, about found materials, about modernity and stuff. It’s about the relationship between painting and sculpture, so it’s about a lot of stuff. And because I’ve done so much stuff with colour and on colour, even when I do something, which is just white, it’s still seen as colourful.

Which it is, because it’s about the colour white, which is one of the great, as great, as, complex a colour as any other. I’m sort of stuck with it now I think.

Do you have to communicate or talk about colour to other people in what you do?

Yes, quite a lot. I mean, mostly in terms of, there would be two different ways. One will be, if you like, doing talks at colleges and so forth and talking with you now. But that’s, in a way, that’s not quite talking about colour, that’s talking about ideas about colour. So it’s, and I’ve always said that the book Chromaphobia, that I published now ten, eleven years ago.

That’s not a book about colour, it’s a book about ideas about colour so...

But I do often have to, you know, practically in the studio, communicate things about colour. And what I usually do is take a swatch, is to use a sample. And you can match samples, in a way that words, fail you. Words simply can’t do that detail of, work at that level of specificity.

How good are you at talking about colour? And do you ever struggle to describe colours precisely?

I’m brilliant at talking about colour, or talking about the ideas about colour.

I’m as bad as everyone else at finding descriptive terms for particular colours, no I’m rubbish at it. And I think that most people write very badly about colour, colours. When they are trying to evoke a particular colour.

People tend to write very badly. It gets all syrupy and poetic and, so no, I’m really bad at that, so I find ways of avoiding it.

So do you have to make judgements about or describe colours in what you do now?

Well I make judgements about colours all the time. In the studio, ‘does this work?’ Is the best, there’s a stack of boxes here, [gestures to a part finishes sculpture to his left] which is a work I am making for a collector and I’ve got to, I’ve got to colour it in basically. So I’m constantly asking myself, does this Perspex work here or not? And you try it and if it holds you attention you go ‘yeah’ and if not you try something else. So it’s always done empirically, I don’t have any kind of system or theory for how colours should go next to each other. And I don’t believe that it is possible. I think, I think you loose a lot if you impose a

dictaphone and then transcribe the dialogue, for which I consulted guidelines on interview transcription, to compile the eventual document.

These lengthier interviews with colour experts and specialists were designed to contrast with the shorter, more structured questioning and wider public participation, used for the survey.

But I joined him and within a very short time, I discovered that actually, not all of it, but a major part of what he did was really very interesting. And that was in particular, matching colours, talking to people about colour, choosing colours and that, that kind of thing. And within a short time of starting working with him, this was about 1980-81, I became aware of a, sort of, trend almost, that people would come in and they would ask me for advice about the sort of colours that might have been used in an eighteenth century house. And I realised that I had no more idea than they did. But I thought, well, it’s actually quite an interesting subject, or potentially an interesting subject, so I’ll set out to find out. And I started to do some fairly basic research. I used to go along, at the weekends, Saturday at least, to the National Art library at the V&A and then in the evenings I’d go to either the old British Museum, the reading room, the round reading room, or otherwise to the RIBA library. And I started to hoover up all the early works to do with colour and paint and house painting, in particular. And that went on and on and then I thought, well, in those days, joining the army was a bit different and you didn’t normally go to university as well, I went to Sandhurst. So I thought well, I really need to, sort of, test my level of knowledge and I want to be directed.

And about the same time, about ‘82. No, I supposed this would have been much later, the end of the eighties, having slowly been learning the business from my father and learning about tubes of artist’s oil colour, hearing and reading about things like Prussian Blue and French Ultramarine, that kind of thing. I was reading the Sunday papers and I saw that the, as it was then, the Polytechnic of East London had a new course. And you could write your own degree course. If you could find somebody who could supervise you, and if they felt that it was a subject worthy of academic research then they’d support you. So I went along and there were about seven of us, all looking at completely different subjects, absolutely different. And most of us were mature students, people who had been doing other things and wanted to retrain.

And I set out to look at The House Painter: his methods and materials from the 1650s to 1850, and was allocated a very nice

And how are you involved with colour in what you do?

So you’re still doing pieces that are focussed on colour then?

Yep. My background, it’s actually quite unusual. I trained as a soldier and spent many years in the army. And then, for various reasons decided to leave. And I discovered, or I knew that I really wasn’t equipped for anything outside of the army. I worked briefly for an art dealer in Bond Street, because I know quite a bit about early twentieth century British art. And then, having just married and needing to earn some money I asked my father. I mean I knew my father ran the shop. He started a shop; I didn’t really know what he did because I had no interest in it.

So you think that the level of colour vocabulary is quite poor?

Yeah, it is. But it’s not just poor that we are bad at it. It’s poor because I think it’s a limit of language. Or everyone’s poor at it. I really. And there’s, obviously, there’s been a lot of work about the relationship between language and colour which I think is deeply fascinating because it, because it reminds us how limited our vocabularies can be sometimes.

Do you ever have difficulty trying to imagine what colour someone else is talking about?

Well yeah, at least in some effect it’s very easy, because if someone said well you know, that I had a nice red apple or, you know, you think you... I don’t know what you actually have in your mind, I mean, there’s always a sort of schematic image that will do but of course you have no way of knowing the real character of that red, none at all.

Has working with colour changed the way you talk about it then?

Yeah, I mean totally. It’s probably encouraged me to talk about it a bit less and to work with it. It’s certainly, I mean, working with it now for, as I said twenty years, it’s taught me how extraordinarily complex colour is. But at the same time, it’s a completely common, everyday, human experience.

And I like that relationship between the ordinariness of colour experience and the extraordinary complexity of it at the same time. And I love the idea that everyone, everyone has the idea, has views about colour, everyone does and they always want to tell you them as well. And yet no one really understands, not even scientists, really understand where it is in the world.

Are you more aware of colours and how you describe them since you have worked with them a lot?

Absolutely. You kind of hope, when you are doing art of any kind that that enables you to really focus in on one or other aspect of, you know, the visual world or at least that which you are involved with. And I think with any kind of practise, the more you focus and the more you attend to it the more it opens up.

So how good do you think other people are at talking about colour? They’re as bad as me [laughs]. I can’t think of anyone, I wish I could say, oh yeah I know someone who just has a way of pinpointing it. My favourite novel which uses colour descriptions is Thomas Pynchon’s, Gravity’s Rainbow, where he invents these colour terms like, I think ‘Drowned Man Green’ as one of the really great colour terms.

That’s, good, but... Roland Barthes was quite good at colour terms, at least, what he called Warhol’s colour, a very particular, kind of chemical colour, which I thought was good. But again, that’s fairly general rather than specific.

So do you think there are enough names for colours?

No! [Laughs] Well, I mean yes and no. I mean yes because I don’t think if you had any more names it would actually help very much. No, in that they’ll never be enough names to match, the amount, the quantity of colours that we can perceive.

As a body of work the interviews act as both a piece of research in their own right and as valuable supporting material for this report and the rest of the project. The transcripts were presented as a book, iterations of the layout can be seen in Figures 91–94, while examples of the final design are shown above in Figures 95–98.

Development of Outputs

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Development of Outputs This section of the report describes key stages in the development of the final outcome. It explains how research for and feedback about the project continued to inform the creation of an output and how the structure of the body of work presented relates to the research question.

From the outset, I had specified in the proposal for the project that the outcomes of the research would be print based. This was established this early on because although I felt that certain aspects of the research might lend themselves to a multimedia format quite successfully, I lacked the technical skill to execute an outcome of that nature to any desirable level of quality. I had speculated in the proposal that the outcome would likely take the form of a book or posters and could potentially be a dictionary or a series of explorations that came together to form a collection.

As the initial background research progressed it became apparent that a dictionary was not the most suitable medium for an output. As part of the investigation I had discovered a number of existing hard copy dictionaries such as Maerz & Paul A Dictionary of Colour, first published in 1930 and Ian Paterson’s more recent, A Dictionary of Colour from 2003. During my meeting with them, the artists Rob and Nick Carter also revealed they were in the process of creating their own dictionary of colour as an attempt to update the Maerz & Paul 1930 version with modern printing techniques. I had also come across a number of online colour dictionaries, many of which were technical colour reference libraries that gave samples as HEX codes or RGB values. From this research it was clear that there was little in terms

of content that would distinguish a dictionary of colour produced as an output for this project, from those that already existed.

To have created a dictionary of colour names would have also required definitive decisions on matching colour names with colour swatches. It was apparent from the background research for the project that it would have been impossible to be completely objective in this decision making process, as we all see colour slightly differently. Colour perception and therefore naming is, by its very nature, highly subjective. In addition to this, to produce a dictionary that was a viable reference tool would have required greater control and accuracy over colour reproduction than was possible within the constraints of the project. As a result of these factors it was obvious that a dictionary of colour would not have been a satisfactory outcome for the project.

However, the research conducted in preparation for the Major Project and in the initial stages had shown that there were a number of ways that the relationship between colour and language could be examined. As described in the previous section these investigations allowed me to explore a number of research methodologies and proved to be useful exercises in themselves.

FIGURES 99 – 102, DEVELOPMENT OF OUTCOMES – SURVEY RESULTS

Nationality

Language

What is your Nationality?

36

Different nationalities took part in the survey.

1.

2.

3.

4 5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

British/English American French Portuguese Australian Brazilian Scottish German Greek Japanese

65% ENGLISH/BRITISH OTHER AMERICAN

45

Is English your first language?

Top 10 Nationalities Represented

of respondents identified themselves as British or English.

respondents did not have English as a first language.

Top 10 Languages Represented YES NO

26

Different languages were represented in the survey.

1.

2.

3.

4 5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Portuguese French German Greek Spanish Welsh Arabic Chinese/Cantonese Japanese Polish

At the stage of the mid-way crit there was no clear strategy for directing the body of work already produced towards a considered output. The feedback received indicated that none of the individual investigations has sufficient potential to generate a strong outcome. After reflecting on the comments and the development of the project, it was evident that gathering input from other people to create a body of contributions would demonstrate the diversity of our individual approaches to colour naming. This could provide an interesting and engaging output and response to the research question.

The strategies used to gather data and information for this aspect of the project included the interviews and survey described in more detail in the previous section.

As the research developed, I felt it necessary to develop a means of maintaining continuity and familiarity throughout the different aspects of the project and to present a visual coherent body of work for submission.

It became clear that the different investigations would be best presented as supporting material in the form of a series of books, with the main outcome being a book and series of posters that collated and presented the results of the survey.

Viewing Conditions

Light Sources

Sources and quantity of ambient light, type of computer and screen can all affect how we perceive colours in the digital realm. Participants were all asked a series of straightforward questions about how they viewed the survey in order to allow for these factors.

Type of Light Source

NATURAL DAYLIGHT FLUORESCENT BULBS INCANDESCENT BULBS OTHER

The way we see colour is largely dependent on the quality of light that we view it in. The brightness and temperature of different light sources can vary widely, colours viewed in natural daylight will often look different under energy saving or compact fluorescent lights, for example. This phenomenon is known as metamerism. In order to allow for this discrepancy I asked participants some multiple-choice questions about the lighting conditions they viewed the survey in.

Just over half of respondents viewed the survey in artificial light, with an almost equal number split between fluorescent and incandescent sources. The remaining participants viewed the survey in natural daylight, with just under two thirds reporting the light as having medium brightness. 19% of participants said that they had taken the survey in dim light, while 17% said described their light source as bright. This variation is but one of the factors that could have affected how respondents perceived the colour samples in the final sections of the survey. Although it was impossible to control these variables in the process of conducting the survey, it is a greater reflection of how we experience colour in everyday life, where there is potentially even greater variability in the sources and quality of the light that surrounds us.

In addition to the quantity and sources of light, participants were also asked what type of computer and screen they viewed the survey on. This was to take into account the fact that different types of screens have slightly different colour gamuts, affecting the way colours are rendered. It would have been possible to extend this line of questioning to ask participants about the brightness and colour calibration of their monitors, however for the purposes of this project that level of detail seemed unnecessary.

DON’T KNOW

Quantity of Light

BRIGHT MEDIUM DIM

In order to create a consistently visual identity I chose to use a combination of two different typefaces across the project. Avenir, the sans serif and more geometric of the two was a reflection of the scientific and rational side of colour. Whereas Archer, the serif typeface, was used to identify with the personal and sometimes poetic way language is used to describe colour. A circle was also included as a graphic device to unify the different components, due to its close association with the colour wheel, organisation of the spectrum and representations of additive and subtractive colour models.

The data collected through the responses to the survey provided ample content for an outcome to the project.

The analysis and results are discussed in detail in the book created for the output. Through this document I was able to present visual, written and statistical analysis of the data. The survey produced some unexpected results, including several significant biases in the demographic composition of the sample. Due to this, the decision was made to disregard the original plans to compare the responses by gender, age and language. Despite this change there was a great deal of information to present.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Colour Disagreements The types of objects disagreed about:

Was the disagreement resolved in any way?

Colour Vocabulary

Comments “It was obviously not black. It just wasn’t. Black’s not hard to identify.

It wasn’t black.”

“There were several people in that argument, split about half for green and half for brown.

I had a similar discussion about that same colour a few years later with someone else.”

“We then discovered my friend was colour blind” “Sometimes it is difficult to know when one colour ends and another begins - at what point does red become orange? etc” CLOTHING COLOUR

YES

PAINT COLOUR

NO

CAR COLOUR

AGREED TO DISAGREE

SOFT FURNISHINGS

MEASURED IT/LOOKED IT UP

BOUNDARIES BETWEEN COLOURS OTHER

“Blue/green colours often lead to disagreement between people.”

“There was a large group of us – over 10, perhaps 20 in this argument at one point. Both names refer to the same hex code in the html specification.”

“Perception is in the eye of the beholder...”

The circle used as a graphic device throughout the project was modified into a chart and used consistently throughout the document it allows a straightforward comparison of the results. This presentation technique was most successful visually, when used to present the final section of the results, where participants were asked to choose swatches from a chart in response to a colour name. As this method was both visually appealing and easy to understand the charts were combined into a set of three posters (Figures 119–121), in accordance with the groups of terms used in the survey questions.

The book produced from the survey results was designed to be presented as a set with the visual summary and this report, but could also be viewed independently or in conjunction with the posters.

Spreads from the final outcome are shown on this and the following pages in Figures 99–118. The set of separate colour and language investigations was then presented as supporting material, to demonstrate other methods of exploring the research question.

“Anthracite, Asphalt, Bitter blue, China red, Daytona yellow, Dun, Eating room red, Elephant grey, Emeraldine, Emperor purple, Glaucous, Green eyes colour, Greige, Heliotrope, Henna, Hessian, Lamppost black, Limoncello, Macchiato, Mimosa, National Trust green, Pantone 035 C, Pantone 877 C, Phosphoric green, Railings, River gold, Rope, Rubine, Sanguine, Shrimp, Thalo blue, Thalo green, Tourmaline, Tulip, Woad, Yoke.”

In order to appreciate the size of participants’ colour vocabulary, and to encourage them to think about colour terms, respondents were asked to spend a few minutes naming as many colours as they could think of.

The amount of colour terms listed varied considerably, ranging from 7 to 100. As well as the extent of a participant’s colour vocabulary, a number of factors could have contributed to this disparity including, the total amount of time spent on the task, the amount of effort applied, whether participants had any prompts or assistance and the ability to recall colour names from memory. Overall, the average number of colours named was 26, at the lower end of the scale, representing a colour vocabulary of just over twice the number of basic colour terms in English. In comparison, a combined total of 542 unique colour terms were listed by respondents, creating an incredibly rich and diverse body of colour names. The most unusual colour terms have been highlighted above, however the full list can be found overleaf. All of the top ten most frequently listed names were basic colour terms; the only one not included was white. Nearly two-thirds of participants began their list with the term red, this may have been due to the colour being a prominent primary or that it was used as an example in the survey question.

Spelling was an issue in some cases, with the word fuchsia being misspelled more frequently than it was spelled correctly. Consequently, for the purposes of analysis and consistency all obvious mistakes have been corrected and ‘grey/gray’ variations were standardised to ‘grey’.

Participants were also asked to name colour terms that they did not understand, meaning they were unclear as to what particular shade or hue a word referred to. A total of 48 different colour terms were listed by respondents including tawny, mauve, taupe and ecru.

Unsurprisingly the most commonly misunderstood term was puce, a result that was also reflected in the colour term interpretation section of the survey.

To examine how we often improvise descriptions of colours, respondents were asked to give examples of informal colour terms they might use in conversation or everyday situations. The most descriptive are listed overleaf to represent the diversity of how we communicate colours.

How many colours can you name?

542

individual colours were named by respondents to the survey.

26

was the average number of colours named by participants, the lowest amount being 7 and the highest was 100.

Top 10 Colours Listed 1. = 3.

4 5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Orange Yellow Red Green Blue Purple Pink Black Brown Grey

61%

of participants began their list with the colour red.

Fuchsia, turquoise and burgundy were the colour names most commonly misspelled in the survey.

As colour management, consistency and reproduction can be an issue in any design scheme, regardless of the content, it was evident from the outset that this was an especially important consideration for the execution of any design outcomes for this project. However, in the proposal for this project I stated that it was something that it was not something I would concentrate on at the expense of research on colour naming. To address the issue from the outset, all images, photographs, scanned documents and files were immediately assigned the same ICC colour profile and colour management was synchronised across all Adobe CS programmes using Adobe Bridge. All of the books were printed using the same Konica Minolta CPP 650 machine at Blissetts in West London on coated matt stock, creating consistency across all of the documents. Printing tests on three different papers stocks were carried out with both the covers and several text pages prior to the main print run to obtain the best result.

FIGURES 103 – 110, DEVELOPMENT OF OUTCOMES – SURVEY RESULTS

A lighter shade of pale, Acid green, Acid yellow, Aha, Air Force blue, Alabaster, Alizarin crimson, Almond white, Almond, Alpine, Amethyst, Anthracite, Apple, Apple green, Apple red, Apple white, Apricot, Aqua, Aqua blue, Aqua-green, Aquamarine, Aquamarine blue, Arctic white, Army green, Ash, Asha, Asphalt, Aubergine, Auburn, Azure, Azure blue, Baby blue, Baby green, Baby pink, Banana, Banana yellow, Barbie pink, Barn red, Battleship grey, Beech, Beetroot, Beige, Berry red, Berry, Bitter blue, Black, Black brownish, Blonde, Blood orange, Blood red, Blossom pink, Blue, Blue azure, Blue black, Blue green, Blue grey, Blueviolet, Bluebell, Blueberry, Blur colour, Blush, Bone White, Bone, Bordeaux, Bottle green, Brass, Brick red, Brick, Bricky, Bright blue, Bright green, Bright grey, Bright orange, Bright pink, Bright purple, Bright red, Bright yellow, Brilliant-white, British racing green, Bronze, Brown, Brunette, Bubblegum pink, Buff, Burgundy, Burgundy red, Burnt Ash, Burnt orange, Burnt sienna, Burnt Umber, Butter yellow, Butterscotch, Cadmium, Cadmium red, Cadmium red light, Cadmium Yellow, Camel, Canary yellow, Candy, Candy floss pink, Cappuccino, Caramel, Carmine, Carmine red, Carnation pink, Carrot, Cayenne, Celadon, Cerise, Cerulean, Cerulean blue, Champagne, Charcoal, Charcoal grey, Chartreuse, Cherry, Cherry red, Chestnut, China red, Chocolate, Chocolate brown, Christmas green, Chrome yellow, Cinnamon, Citrine, Citron yellow, Citrus, Citrus orange, Citrus yellow, Claret, Clear, Cobalt, Cobalt blue, Coffee, Coffee brown, Cool grey, Copper, Copper brown, Coral, Corn, Cornflower blue, Cotton candy pink, Cranberry, Cream, Creamy, Crimson, Custard, Cyan, Daffodil, Damson, Dandelion, Dark blue, Dark brown, Dark Chocolate, Dark green, Dark grey, Dark orange, Dark pink, Dark purple, Dark red, Dark tulip, Dark yellow, Day-Glo pink, Daytona yellow, Deep blue, Deep purple, Denim blue, Diamond white, Dove grey, Duck egg blue, Duck egg, Dun, Dusk blue, Dusk grey, Dusky pink, Dust grey, Dusty pink, Earth brown, Eating room red, Eau de nil, Ebony, Ebony black, Ecru, Egg-shell blue, Eggshell, Electric blue, Elephant grey, Emerald, Emerald green, Emeraldine, Emperor purple, Fawn, Fern green, Fir green, Fire engine red, Fire orange, Flamered, Flesh, Flesh pink, Flesh tone, Fluorescent blue, Fluorescent green, Fluorescent orange, Fluorescent pink, Fluorescent yellow, Foliage green, Forest, Forest green, French blue, Fuchsia, Fuchsia pink, Garnet, Ginger, Glaucous, Gold, Golden, Gorgeous grape, Granite, Grape, Graphite grey, Graphite, Grass green, Green, Green blue, Green eyes colour, Green leafy, Green-grey, Greenish blue, Greenish grey, Greenish yellow, Greige, Grey, Gunmetal grey, Gunmetal, Hazel, Heather, Heliotrope, Henna, Hessian, Honey, Honey yellow, Honeysuckle, Hookers Green, Hot pink, Hunter’s green, Ice blue, Ice white, Indian red, Indian yellow, Indigo, Ink blue, International Klein Blue, Iron red, Ivory, Jade, Jasmine, Jet black, Jute, Kelly green, Khaki, Khaki green, Lamppost black, Latte, Lavender, Lead-colour, Lead, Leaf green, Lemon, Lemon yellow, Light black, Light blue, Light brown, Light green, Light grey, Light orange, Light pink, Light purple, Light red, Light yellow, Lilac, Lime, Lime Green, Limoncello, Lincoln green, Lipstick red, London grey, Macchiato, Magenta, Magnolia, Mahogany, Mahogany brown, Mandarin, Maple yellow, Marigold, Marine, Marine blue, Maroon, Mauve, Medium green, Medium grey, Medium orange, Medium pink, Medium purple, Medium red, Medium yellow, Melon, Merlot red, Midnight, Midnight blue, Military red, Military-green, Milk white, Mimosa, Mink, Mint, Mint Green, Mistletoe green, Mocha, Moss, Moss green, Mud, Muddy brown, Mulberry, Murky brown, Mushroom, Mustard, Mustard yellow, Muted blue, National Trust green, Natural, Navy, Navy blue, Neon blue, Neon green, Neon pink, Neon red, Neon yellow, Neutral grey, Night blue, Noir, Nude, Nude-pink, Oak brown, Ocean blue, Ocean green, Ochre, Ochre tan, Off white, Olive, Olive green, Onyx, Opal, Orange, Orange red, Orange yellow, Orange-fire-red, Orangey red, Orangey yellow, Oyster, Pale blue, Pale green, Pale grey, Pale lemon, Pale orange, Pale pink, Pale red, Pale Yellow, Pantone 035 C, Pantone 877 C, Pastel blue, Pastel pink, Payne’s grey, Pea green, Peach, Peacock blue, Pearl, Pearly, Pebble grey, Pepper red, Peppermint green, Peridot green, Periwinkle, Periwinkle blue, Persian blue, Petrol blue, Petrol, Pewter, Phosphoric green, Pillar box red, Pine, Pink, Pink champagne, Pink fuchsia, Pink Raspberry, Pistachio, Pistachio green, Platinum, Plum, Poppy red, Post box red, Powder blue, Primrose, Primrose yellow, Prussian blue,Puce, Pumpkin orange, Purple, Purple-brown, Putty, Racing car green, Racing green, Railings, Raspberry, Raspberry pink, Raw sienna, Raw umber, Red, Red orange, Red violet, Red wine, Red-brown, Reddish orange, Reflex blue, Regal blue, River gold, Roan, Robin’s egg blue, Rope, Rose, Rose pink, Rouge, Royal blue, Rubine, Ruby, Ruby red, Russet, Russet orange, Rust, Rust brown, Saffron, Sage, Sage green, Salmon, Salmon pink, Sand, Sand brown, Sand yellow, Sandy brown, Sanguine, Sapphire, Sapphire blue, Scarlet, Sea blue, Sea green, Sea waves green, Sepia, Shell pink, Shocking Pink, Shrimp, Sienna, Silver, Skin, Skin colour, Skin coloured, Sky, Sky blue, Slate, Slate grey, Sliver, Sludge green, Smoke, Smokey, Snot green, Snow white, Snow, Soft pink, Steel, Steel blue, Steel grey, Stone, Stone grey, Straw, Strawberry blonde, Strawberry pink, Strawberry red, Sugary, Sunflower yellow, Sunflower, Sunset yellow, Sunshine yellow, Swamp green, Tan, Tangerine, Taupe, Tawny, Teak, Teal, Terracotta, Terracotta red, Thalo blue, Thalo green, Thistle, Titanium, Toffee, Tomato, Topaz, Tourmaline, Tropical blue, Tulip, Turquoise, Ultramarine, Umber, Vanilla, Venetian red, Verdigris, Vermillion, Vermillion red, Violet, Violet red, Viridian, Walnut brown, Walnut, Warm Grey, Warm red, Warm yellow, Water green, White, White newspaper colour, Wine, Wine red, Woad, Wood, Yellow, Yellow green, Yellow ochre, Yellow orange, Yellowish green, Yellowish orange, Yellowy green, Yellowy-orange, Yoke.

“Ox blood red, Liver pink, Bubblegum Pink, Pepto Bismol, Hello Kitty pink, Germoline pink, Dead skin pink, Flesh coloured, Macaroon coloured, Pink champagne, Shrimp-pink, Sunset coloured, Bloodshot, Candy apple red, Lipstick red, Ketchup red, Red bus, Ferrari red, Fire-engine red, Pillar box red, Flaming red, Indian-red, Dawn orange, Orange as an autumn maple leaf, Toxic orange, B&Q orange, Popcorn, Beer colour, Corn coloured, School bus, Selfridge’s yellow, Sunshine yellow, Banana skin yellow, Butter yellow, Custard-yellow, Sherbet, Post it note yellow, Limoncello, Dirty blonde, Baby sick yellow, Bogey green, Beech leaf in May, Light green as a young spring leaf, Harrod’s green, Ecto plasma green, Cheese and onion green, John Deere green, Christmas green, Invisiblegreen, Fortnum and Mason coloured, Crystal blue water colour, Tropical blue, Commode water blue, Salt and vinegar blue, Ikea blue, Chelsea blue, Denim, Jeans blue, Colour of the night sky, Midnight purple, Black as coal, Black as night, Winter sea, Asphalt grey coloured, Dolphin grey, Smokey grey, Dashboard grey, London grey, Concrete coloured, Pavement coloured, Pebble grey, Diamond white, Timber wolf grey, Dishwater, Dirty dish water, Mucky sea browns, Donkey-coloured, Mousy brown, Mud-coloured, Muddy brown, Brown as mud, Macchiato, Tobacco, Poo brown, Shit coloured, Sludgy, Puke.”

Dark red, Dark red, Dark red, Darkish purple/red, Reddish brown, Sexy deep red, Dark red purple, Intense purple red, Rich red, Rich purpley red with bit of brown, Purplebrown, Rich dark magenta and deep red, Brown, Dark red-brown, Purple, Dark red, Deep red, purple tone, Red-purple, Dark red, Close to brown, Red, Purpley brown, Brown red purple, Dark red, Dark reddy brown, Dark brown/red, Brown, Red, Dark purple/brown, Red, Dark red/brown, Dark red, Brown, Purple, Deep purple-red, Purple, Dark red, Dark reddish-brown, Dark red, Rouge, Burn red, Close to green, Red, Deep red/brown, Red/ purple/black, Dark red brown, Purple-red, Red-brown, Dark red/purple, Red, Dark red, Dark purple, Chestnut, Dark brown, Dark purple red, Deep red, Red-brown, Brown, Dark red-brown, Red/dark/wine, Brown yellowishy, Deep red/burgundy, Burgundy, Light brown, sweet chestnut like, Deep red, Dark red brown, Brown, Purple/red, Dark reddy purple, Brown, Deep red, Dark purple red, Deep brownish red, Brown-red, Brown, Purple/red, Dark red, Rich beep red, Brown, Dark pink, Dark red, Purple and brown, Deep red with purple, Purple, Dark browny red (like dried blood), Dark reddish purple, Chestnut colour, Deep brownish red-violet, Dark, Burgundy red, Bright red, Dark purpley red, Brownish, Burgundy-purple, Dark red-brown, Dark browny red, Deep blue-red, Dark dirty red, Brownish red, Brownie purple, Dark brown/red, Browner than claret, Brownish red, Dark red, Dark red with blue tones, Towards purpley brown, Dark red, Browny purple, Purple/ blue mix, Dark bluish-red, Dark brown-red, Purple/yellow, Brownish red, Dark bluish red, Dark browny-purple, Deep dark red, Dark brown, Deep red colour, Blue and green, Deep red, Red blue, Dark red, Dark red, Dark red, Burgundy-purple, Reddish brown, Dark red purple, Brown, Deep red, Red, black dark, rich, Purple, Brownish purple red, Dark red, nearly purple, Red, Bluish dark red, Dark red, Reddy brown, Reddy brown, Red, Deep purpley red, Red, Deep red/brown, Dark red, Red white a hint of dark brown/purple, Dull slightly purplish red, White-cream-brown, Deep purple, Strong red, Red, Dark red, Red, Dark red, Dark red, Reddy purple, Dark red, Browny, Purplish red, Red, Intense dark red, Dark red purple, Maroon, Muddy reddy purple, Reddy brown, Dark pink purple, Deep red, Deep red, Reddy brown, Deep purpley red, Pinky purple, Dark purple, Brownish dark red, Purple base with a little red and blue thrown in, Reddy brown, Magenta, Purplish brown, Purple, Deep purple-red, Purplish, Blue, Red, Purple, Red, Reddy brown, Brown, Dark red/purple, Dark red, Very similar to burgundy, Very dark red, Yellow, Purple-black, Deep dark red, Deep purpley-red.

Bright pinkish orange, Red-pink, Pinky peach, Orange/peach, Light blue, Bright orangey peachy, Deep green blue, Fresh scarlet white yellow mix, Bright pick-peach, Pale pink with hint of orange similar to puce but softer, Light blue, Soft pale pink with a little soft orange, Orangey yellow, Light bright orange-red, Pink, Orangey red, Bright green and blue, Pale apricot/pink, Between pink and orange, Something in between red and orange, Bright, In between orange and pink, Blue green kind of, Light red/orange, Bright pinky red, Bright pink/orange, White - cream mix, Blue, Orange/yellow, Pink/orange, Bright pink/orange/ red, Whiteish, Orangey-pink, Pink/peach, Orange-pink, White, Shinny white, with shadows of really light blue, Orangey-pink, Peachy orange, Blue, Vivid red-orange, Red, Bright pink/ orange, Red/orange, Orangey pink, Orange-red, Red, Bright orange, Red, Reddish pink, Light whitey yellow, Pinkish, Deep blue, Bright orange pink, Dark green/blue, Pink-orange, Bright blue, Tangerine-orange, Orange-pink/bright/warm, Dark orange red, Light pinky/ orange, Orange red, Warm red, orange, Off white, Shade of red, Red/orange, Salmon orange/pink, White, Bright orange red, Bold peach red orange, Pale pink, Red shimmering orange, Blue, Orange/pink, Dull pinky red, Pinky blue, Red, white, and yellow, Light pink, Bright orange-pink, Pink, Reddy pink with hint of yellow, Orange, Warm/light pink, Pale pink, Bright orange with a mix of pink, Medium orange-red, Yellow/red/bright, Deep peach, Pale yellow, Bright orangey pink, Orange meets red - sunset coloured, Almost white cream, Bright red-orange, Peachy coloured pink, Warm red-yellow-orange, Warm carrot & orange mix, Light pink, Orangery pink, Red/orange, Pinky orange, Reddish-pinkish orange, Pale peachy pink, Clear pinky light orange, Pink, Deep orange/pink, Pinks, Light blue/turquoise, Dull orangey-red, Bright pink-red, Yellow/pink, Bright peachy orange, Pinky red, Light bright orange+red, Off-white, Rich bright pinky red, Light orange-red, Orange-red, Sand colour, Pink peach orange, White yellow, Orange pink, Orange, Orange red, Light pinkish red, Pinkish orange, Light orange red, Pearl, Cream, Pink, red, bright, White, Orange pink, Red, Orange, Yellow red, Bright red-orange, Red and orange, Milky cyan, Yellow/orange, Pale pinky orange, Blue, Yellow-brown, Orangey pink, Pinky orangey, Quite bright orangey pink, Orange-pink, Orangey pink, Pinky red, Blue, Peach, Light blue, Pale pink, Light blue, Orange pale, Bright red-orange, Red, Blue, Pink, Bright light blue with hint of green, Blue green, Cream, Bright pink, Orangey red, Bright orange pink, Blue green, Light orangey/ pink, Pale pinky orange, Orangey pink, Sea green, Reddish orange, Off white with a hint of beige, Pinky orange, Red, Light vivid blue, Red, Pink-orange, Pinky, Blue, Pink, Pink, White cream, Orangey red, Blue, Orange, Dark pink, A red/peach colour - quite strong, Pinky red, Purple-pink, Cyan-orange-yellow, Orangey-pink, Rich pinky orange.

COLOURS NAMED BY RESPONDENTS

INFORMAL COLOUR DESCRIPTIONS

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COLOUR TERM MAROON

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COLOUR TERM CORAL

Olive green, Army green, Khaki, Payne’s Grey, Olive green, Swamp green, Khaki, Olive, Khaki, Foliage green, Dark green, Dark leaf green, Moss green, Khaki- green, Olive, Khaki, Khaki, Forest-green, Khaki, Khaki, Khaki, Moss green, Khaki, Moss green, Black, Khaki, Faded green, Khaki, Leaf green, Swamp, Khaki, Forest green, Grass/jungle green, Olive, Dark olive green and also dirt green, Dark green, Khaki, Leaf green, Dry green, Khaki, Khaki, Khaki, Khaki, Forest green, Khaki, Army green, Olive green, Permanent green, Camo green, Khaki, Maroon, Military green, Swamp, Forest green, Dark green, Army green, Khaki, Dark green, Dark green, Khaki, Khaki, Khaki green, Khaki, Dark green, Olive green, Khaki green, Khaki, Olive green, Sap green, Brown, Dark green, Khaki, Khaki, Racing green, Dark olive green, Burnt umber, Khaki, Brown green, Olive green, Muddy green, Khaki, Black, Forest green, Olive green, Olive, Dark green, Khaki green, Dark olive green, Khaki, Really dark brown, Dark-olive-green, Olive, Brownish green, Dark olive green, Dark grey, Dark green, Dark green, Olive green, Olive drab, Dark green, Moss green, Khaki, Dark green, Olive green, Dark olive, Olive, Grass green, Basil, Olive, Khaki, Forest green, Olive, Khaki, Khaki green, Olive, Olive green, Olive, Khaki, Dark green, Olive green, Olive, Dark olive, Olive green, Military green, Deep olive, Olive, Dark green, Sap green, Dark green, Olive, Khaki, Pine green, Khaki, Moss green, Olive green, Khaki, Olive, Racing green, Moss green, Khaki, Rush green, Bottle green, Dark grey, Olive green, Olive, Green, Khaki, Dark green, Khaki, Olive, Olive, Olive, Olive green, Dark green, Olive green, Khaki, Khaki, Emerald green, Olive green, Swamp green, Sage green, Sage, Green/henna, Olive, Dark olive, Dark olive, Olive oil green, Khaki, Green, Mushy pea green, Brown, Dark green, Brown, Dark green, Khaki, Dark green, Olive green, Olive green, Black, Khaki-ish greeny brown, Olive, Green-brown, Dark green, Olive, Dark green.

Dark aquamarine, Turquoise, Turquoise/teal, Turquoise, Teal, Mint, Teal, Aqua, Turquoise, Aqua, Dark turquoise with a dab dark navy blue, Turquoise, Turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Turquoise, Turquoise, Colour of sea waves, Turquoise, Teal, Turquoise, Sea blue, Teal, Green-blue, Turquoise, Indigo, Teal, Teal, Dark turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Teal, Turquoise, Turquoise green, Turquoise, Teal, Teal, Turquoise, Sea green, Turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Teal, Sea blue, Turquoise, Teal, Teal, Dark turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Ocean blue, Teal, Turquoise, Ocean blue, Sea green, Teal, Aqua, Turquoise, Green, Blue green, Turquoise, Teal, Sea blue, Teal, Grey, Turquoise, Turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Teal, Pale greeny bluey purple, Blue and green (pacific blue), Aqua, Turquoise, Teal, Teal, Teal, Teal, Turquoise, Turquoise, Mint, Grey, Turquoise, Turquoise, Ocean green, Teal, Light-sea-green, Turquoise, Teal, Teal, Dark teal, Turquoise, Bondi blue, Teal, Turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Aquamarine, Light blue, Sea green, Turquoise, Turquoise, Turquoise, Bahama breeze, Turquoise, Turquoise blue, Turquoise, Teal, Teal, Teal, Green, Turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Green, Sea green, Teal, Teal, Teal, Marine blue, Peacock blue, Turquoise, Turquoise, Turquoise, Turquoise, Turquoise, Turquoise, Turquoise green, Turquoise, Sea green, Water green, Marine, Teal, Turquoise, Jade, Turquoise, Turquoise-blue, Jade, Sage green, Ocean green, Green, Teal, Turquoise, Green, Turquoise, Turquoise, Teal, Turquoise, Indigo, Dark turquoise, Taupe, Turquoise, Teak, Teal, Teal, Aqua, Turquoise, Aquamarine, Turquoise, Sea green, Turquoise, Dull turquoise, Jade/turquoise, Green vermillion, Turquoise, Turquoise, Sea blue, Blue/green, Turquoise, Jasper green, Dark cyan, Turquoise, Turquoise, Navy green, Teal, Teal, Turquoise, Teal, Blue-green, Industrial green, Teal, Turquoise green.

Pale blue, Sky blue, Pale blue, Cerulean blue, Sky blue, Pastel blue, Pale blue, Mid blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Pale cyan, Baby blue, Medium blue, Sky blue, Azure blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Violet blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Pastel blue, Sky blue, Cobalt, Blue pyjamas, Blue, Robin’s egg blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Sea blue, Light blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Blue mixed with white, Sky blue, Blue, Cerulean, Sky blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Light blue, China blue, Sky blue, Blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Cerulean blue, Solid blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Light indigo blue, Powder blue, Periwinkle, Pale deep blue, Sky blue, Aqua, Aqua, Blue, Sky blue, Sky-blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Blue, Light/baby blue, Baby blue, Sky blue, Turquoise, Powder blue, Wedgewood blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Blue, Cornflower, Light blue, Periwinkle, Grey blue, Tanzanite blue, Light blue, Powder blue, Light blue, Purpley blue, Steel-blue, Light blue, Medium blue, Cornflower blue, Greyish blue, Mid blue, Royal blue, Sky blue, Periwinkle, Light blue, Sky blue, Heather, Very dark blue, Cornflower blue-ish, Bight blue, Periwinkle blue, Sky blue, Clear skies, Powder blue, Baby blue, Aqua blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Light blue, Light blue, Blue, Sky blue, Blue, Lilac, Light blue, Sky blue, Cyan, Blue sky, Cobalt blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Light blue, Blue, Sky blue, Light bright blue, Sky blue, Blue, Light blue, Baby blue, Sky blue, Blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Blue, Sky blue, Blue, Blue, Blue, Turquoise, Sky blue, Periwinkle, Sky blue, Wedgewood blue, Cyan, Royal blue, Light blue, Baby blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Cobalt, Light blue, Light blue, Light blue, Sky blue, Cornflower blue, Sky blue, Cornflower blue, Pale blue, Warm sky blue, Light blue cobalt/RAF, Light blue, Air force blue, Midday blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Powder blue, Blue, Blue, Cornflower blue, Pale blue, Dusky blue, Sky blue, Light blue, Blue, Blue, Sunflower blue, Cornflower, Light blue.

Navy blue, Navy, Dark purple, Midnight blue, Navy blue, Indigo, Sea blue, Navy, Navy, Navy blue, Deep blue, Dark purpley blue, Navy, Navy, Navy blue, Navy blue, Navy, Midnight blue, Navy, Indigo, Navy blue, Royal blue, Dark blue, Navy blue, Indigo, Blue dark intense, Royal blue, Ocean blue, Navy blue, Navy, Darker grey, Navy, Navy blue, Marine blue, Blue black, Navy blue, Dark blue, Navy blue, Navy, Navy blue, Navy, Navy blue, Dark purple, Navy, Navy blue, Navy, Violet, Navy, Ultramarine blue, Dark navy, Navy, Deep purple, Navy, Navy, Navy, Marine/dark blue, Navy blue, Navy, Navy blue, Navy blue, Navy, Navy, Royal blue, Dark blue, Dark blue, Navy, Navy blue, Navy, Navy blue, Midnight blue, Black, Dark/navy blue, Midnight blue, Navy blue, Navy blue, Navy blue, Charcoal black, Night blue, Navy blue, Navy blue, Navy blue, Navy blue, Dark blue, Black (a different tint from above), Navy blue, Marine blue, Navy, Dark blue, Deep purple, Dark blue, Night blue, Dark denim blue, Really dark purple, Dark-midnight-blue, Navy, Navy, Navy, Very dark violet, Dark blue, Midnight blue, Navy blue, Navy, Navy, French navy, Violet, Violet, Navy, Royal blue, Navy, Navy blue, Cadet, Dark blue, Navy blue, Dark purpley-grey, Navy blue, Navy blue, Navy blue, Beige, Dark blue, Navy, Navy, Black, Dark blue, Navy, Navy blue, Indigo, Dark blue, Navy blue, Aquamarine blue, Dark blue, Indigo, Dark blue, Dark navy blue, Dark navy, Navy blue, Blue, Dark (navy) blue, Navy blue, Navy, Navy, Navy blue, Navy blue, Dark blue, Navy blue, Navy blue, Dark blue, Teal, Purple, Dark blue, Navy, Dark blue, Dark blue, Navy, Navy, Navy blue, Navy blue, Royal blue, Navy blue, Dark blue, Navy blue, Dark blue, Blue, Navy blue, Navy, Navy, Navy blue, Navy blue, Navy, Navy, Navy blue, Dark blue, Navy, Black, Navy blue, Navy blue, Navy blue, Purple, Navy blue, Black, Navy, Navy, Indigo, Dark blue, Navy, Navy blue, Royal blue, Black, Deep purple, Pen ink blue, French blue, Black.

WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THIS COLOUR?

WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THIS COLOUR?

WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THIS COLOUR?

WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THIS COLOUR?

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Chartreuse

Celadon

Cerulean

Periwinkle

Have you heard of the colour term chartreuse?

Have you heard of the colour term celadon?

Have you heard of the colour term cerulean?

Have you heard of the colour term periwinkle?

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

DIDN’T SAY

DIDN’T SAY

DIDN’T SAY

DIDN’T SAY

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COLOUR TERM CHARTREUSE

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COLOUR TERM CELADON

“A green, A red of some sort, A slutty red scarlet colour, Acid green, Beige, Black, Blood red, Blue, Blue-green, Bold clear yellow green, Bright blue, Bright green, Bright greeny yellow, Bright lemon yellow green, Bright light green, Bright lime green, Bright orange, Bright red, Bright yellow, Bright yellow green, Bright/light yellow-green, Brown, Burgundy, Cream, Dark pink, Dark red, Dark red purple, Deep green, Deep purple, Grass flowery green, Green, Greenish, Greenish yellow, Greenish yellowish brown, Greeny yellow, Grey, Grey black, Herbally yellow colour, Intense deep bright green, Light blue, Light red, Lime green-yellow, Maroon, Mid yellow green, Near white colour, Neon-yellow ish, Orange, Orange brown, Pale green, Pale grey, Pale purple-blue, Pink, Pink and reds, Pink purple, Pink-red, Pink/grey/yellow, Pinky red, Purple, Purpley red, Purplish, Red, Red a bit of white, Red orange, Reddish, Reddy Brown, Reddy pink colour, Rose, Ruby red, Something red, Very light brown, white, Vivid green, Warm-toned medium green, Yellow, Yellow bright, Yellow green, Yellow tinged green, Yellowy green.”

What would you call this colour?

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COLOUR TERM CERULEAN

“A bright red, A shade of blue or green, A sort of blue/yellow, Black and gold, Blue, Blue bright, Blue red, Blue/green, Blue/grey, Bold tealish colour, Bright blue, Brown, Brownish, Brownish green, Ceramic coloured, Chinese jade green, Cream, Dark blues, Dark brown, Dark green, Dark orange, Dark pink, Dark red, Dark tan, Deep purple blue, Green, Green light creamy beige, Greeny blue, Grey green, Greyish blue, High mid vibrant green, Light blue, Light bluish green, Light bright blue, Light green, Neutral colour, Orange, Orangish, Pale blue, Pale green blue, Pale greyish green, Pink, Pinky purple, Purple, Purpley white, Red, Reddish, See through, translucent colour, Shiny white, Smoky greeny grey, Some kind of blue, Sunny orange yellow, Terracotta red, Yellow, Yellowish.”

What would you call this colour?

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COLOUR TERM PERIWINKLE

“A bright sky blue, A light brown with green tones, A sort of blue, A type of blue, An aqua-esque blue, Aqua blue, Black, Blue, Blue-based colour, Blue-purple, Blue, relatively bright close to royal blue with hint of green, Blue/green, Bluey green, Bluish, Bright blue, Bright medium blue, Bright pink, Bright slightly-greenish blue, Bright warm blue, Brown, Brown and orange, Cool blue, Dark blue, Dark blue-green, Deep blue, Deep sky blue, Deep turquoise-purple blue, Electric blue, Goldish beige, Green, Green/grey, Greeny Blue, Grey green, Grey mixed with blue, Indigo-ish, Light blue, Light bright blue, Light green, Midrange blue with yellow tone, Ocean blue, Orange, Pale bluish, Pale, slightly turquoise blue, Pastel light blue, Pink, Pinkish red, Pinkish, bright, Plum-purple, Purple, Red, Red-brown, Red-purple, Reddy brown, Reddy pink colour, Saturated sky blue, Sky blue, Some other mid blue, Strong sky blue, Turquoise, Turquoise/green, Turquoisey blue, Vivid blue, Yellow.”

What would you call this colour?

“A mix of lavender and light blue, A pale blue, A type of green, Black, Blue, Blue Grey, Blue orange purple, Blue violet, Blue-greenish, Blue-mauve, Blue-purple, Blue-violet, Blue/purple, Blue/Purple blend, Bright blue, Bright blue purple, Bright light blue, Bright purple, Brown, Cornflower blue, Dark blue, Dark earthy bluey grey, Dark green a bit of blue, Dark, navy blue, Green, Green, light, Greeny brown, Grey, Grey purple, Grey-blue, Grey-cream, Grey/blue, Grey/green, Greyish, Lavender, Leafy green, Light blue, Light blue purple, Light blue/lilac, Light bluey purple, Light cobalt blue, Light orange, Light pink, Light purple, Light shade mix of blue-purple, Lilac/blue, Medium blue-purple, Minty green, Pale blue green, Pale blue-purple, Pale purple, Pale to medium blue violet, Palemedium blue, Pastel blue, Peach, Pink, Pink and white pastels, Pink or purple, Pink purple colour, Pink-purple, Powder soft blue flower, Purple, Purple-blue, Purple-red, Purpley blue, Purplish blue, Red, Red-pink, Reddy pink, Royal blue, Silver, Soft blue, Stony purple, Very dark blue, Violet blue, White pearl, Yellow.”

What would you call this colour?

PINK

RED

ORANGE

YELLOW

OTHER

OTHER

OTHER

OTHER

MAGENTA

SCARLET

BURNT ORANGE

LEMON YELLOW

FUCHSIA

BRICK RED

DARK ORANGE

SUNFLOWER YELLOW

HOT PINK

CRIMSON

TERRACOTTA

BRIGHT YELLOW

DARK PINK

DARK RED

TANGERINE

VIOLET

VERMILLION

CERISE BRIGHT PINK MAUVE

THE VARIETY OF COLOUR NAMES GIVEN IN RESPONSE

“Pink, Magenta, Fuchsia, Hot pink, Dark pink, Violet, Cerise, Bright pink, Mauve, Coral red, Dark Magenta, Fuchsia pink, Light purple, Lip smacker, Pale maroon, Pink/magenta, Pink-purple, Princess pink, Puce, Purple, Raspberry, Rose pink, Scarlet, Shocking pink.”

THE VARIETY OF COLOUR NAMES GIVEN IN RESPONSE

“Red, Scarlet, Brick red, Crimson, Dark red, Vermillion, Brick, Cherry on top, Cherry red, Chrome red, Cinnabar, Dull red, Orangey red, Pillar box red, Scarlet red, Terracotta, Tomato red.”

THE VARIETY OF COLOUR NAMES GIVEN IN RESPONSE

“Orange, Burnt orange, Dark orange, Terracotta, Tangerine, Brick, Caution, Cinnamon, Orange red, orange-red, Rust, Rust coloured, Tan, Vermillion.”

THE VARIETY OF COLOUR NAMES GIVEN IN RESPONSE

“Yellow, Lemon yellow, Sunflower yellow, Bright yellow, Chrome, yellow, Deep yellow, Pucker up, Pure yellow, Sun yellow, Sunflower, Yellow primary.”

FIGURES 111 – 118, DEVELOPMENT OF OUTCOMES – SURVEY RESULTS

RESPONSES TO THE TERM GREEN

Most frequently chosen colours

RESPONSES TO THE TERM BLUE

Most frequently chosen colours

PANTONE 369 EC

PROCESS CYAN

PANTONE 362 EC

PANTONE 2935 EC

PANTONE 355 EC

PANTONE 3005 EC

PANTONE 363 EC

PANTONE 300 EC

PANTONE 356 EC

PANTONE 2995 EC

RESPONSES TO THE TERM CORAL

Most frequently chosen colours

RESPONSES TO THE TERM MAUVE

Most frequently chosen colours

PANTONE 171 EC

PANTONE 252 EC

PANTONE WARM RED EC

PANTONE 2572 EC

PANTONE 173 EC

PANTONE 245 EC

PANTONE 178 EC

PANTONE 2375 EC

PANTONE 179 EC

PANTONE 246 EC

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

RESPONSES TO THE TERM PERIWINKLE

RESPONSES TO THE TERM CERULEAN

Most frequently chosen colours

Most frequently chosen colours

PANTONE 2727 EC

PANTONE 2995 EC

PANTONE 270 EC

PANTONE 3005 EC

PANTONE 2716 EC

PANTONE 299 EC

PANTONE 278 EC

PANTONE 300 EC

PANTONE 2718 EC

PANTONE 306 EC

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR?

Favourite Colour

What is your favourite colour?

50

Colour is an evocative medium and many of us develop a personal connection or emotional response to particular hues over the course of our lives. While it would be an exaggeration to say that everyone has a favourite colour, many respondents to this survey, and indeed people worldwide, have strong preferences towards particular colours or groups of colours.

As an additional facet to this research participants were asked what their favourite colour was. Although this question was not central to the main aim of the investigation, the results show the personal connections respondents have with certain colours and the distribution of colour preferences across the sample. Whether respondent’s favourite colour had a bearing on how they describe or perceive that colour or other colours couldn’t be established from the data collected from the survey. Nonetheless, it would not be implausible to suggest that participants might be more conscious of or better at describing, for example, shades of green, if their favourite colour was green.

A small proportion of participants did not have a favourite colour, or had a preference for several colours.

However, among the majority of those who did name a favourite colour, 50 different terms were listed. The

most common favourite colour was blue, which has been shown to be the most popular favourite colour in the world. And in accordance with the results of research into this subject by Joe Hallock, other colours favoured by participants included red, green and purple. All of the colours most frequently named as favourites were basic colour terms, apart from emerald green and turquoise. Of the eleven basic colour terms only brown was not named as a favourite, this was to be expected as other research has shown that brown is often cited as one of the colours least favoured by both men and women.

THE RANGE OF FAVOURITE COLOURS

different colours were named as favourites by participants in the survey HAVE A FAVOURITE DON’T HAVE A FAVOURITE HAVE MULTIPLE PREFERENCES

Blue was the most popular favourite colour of the survey respondents. It is also the most preferred colour worldwide

14% of respondents did not have one particular favourite colour

PINK

TURQUOISE

RED

BLUE

ORANGE

PURPLE

YELLOW

BLACK

GREEN

GREY

EMERALD GREEN

WHITE

Pinky purple, Baby pink, Pink, Fuchsia, Fuchsia pink, Magenta, Raspberry, Coral, Crimson red, Blood red, Venetian red, Deep scarlet red, Red, Garnet, Scarlet, Orange, Terracotta, Deep bright yellow, Yellow, Mustard Yellow, Lime green, Forest green, Green, Emerald green, Mint green, Sea green, Turquoise, Tropical blue, Teal, Duck egg blue, Electric blue, Azure, Navy blue, Baby blue, Light blue, Blue, Light indigo blue, Blue grey, Midnight blue, Lilac, Purple, Deep purple, Aubergine, Burgundy, Brown, Dark brown, Black, Grey, White, Beige.

FIGURES 119 – 121, DEVELOPMENT OF OUTCOMES – POSTERS

Colourful Language

Colourful Language

How does the complexity of colour terms affect our understanding and interpretation of them? How consistent are our responses to colour terms when they are basic as opposed to sophisticated or obscure? Which colour terms are inadequately understood? This set of posters presents a selection of the results from the survey conducted as part of my Major Project, Colourful Language. They seek to demonstrate how our

understanding, and therefore interpretation of colour terms breaks down as they become more complex. This is significant because of the hundreds, if not thousands of colour names at our disposal we predominantly resort to the eleven basic colour terms in English, defined by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay in 1969. This poster presents the colours chosen by participants in response to those eleven basic colour terms, as a basis for comparison.

Clockwise from the top, the terms used in the survey were: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Pink Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple Brown Black Grey White

How does the complexity of colour terms affect our understanding and interpretation of them? How consistent are our responses to colour terms when they are basic as opposed to sophisticated or obscure? Which colour terms are inadequately understood? This set of posters presents a selection of the results from the survey conducted as part of my Major Project, Colourful Language. They seek to demonstrate how our

understanding, and therefore interpretation of colour terms breaks down as they become more complex. This is significant because of the hundreds, if not thousands of colour names at our disposal we predominantly resort to the eleven basic colour terms in English, defined by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay in 1969. This poster presents the colours chosen by participants in response to a set of eleven sophisticated colour terms.

Clockwise from the top, the terms used in the survey were: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Nude Coral Maroon Puce Mauve Teal Pistachio Khaki Fawn Tawny Taupe

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Colourful Language

How does the complexity of colour terms affect our understanding and interpretation of them? How consistent are our responses to colour terms when they are basic as opposed to sophisticated or obscure? Which colour terms are inadequately understood? This set of posters presents a selection of the results from the survey conducted as part of my Major Project, Colourful Language. They seek to demonstrate how our

understanding, and therefore interpretation of colour terms breaks down as they become more complex. This is significant because of the hundreds, if not thousands of colour names at our disposal we predominantly resort to the eleven basic colour terms in English, defined by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay in 1969. This poster presents the colours chosen by participants in response to a set of specifically selected; obscure colour terms.

Clockwise from the top, the terms used in the survey were: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Alizarin Porphyry Ianthine Periwinkle Cerulean Celadon Citrine Chartreuse Gamboge Cinnabar Greige

Evaluation

“I now realise I have no clue how to describe colour, my colour knowledge relies on describing colours by using the core red, green blue etc descriptors and words such as pale, deep etc. I feel a little more stupid now, thank you!�

(Comment from anonymous survey participant, 2011)

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Evaluation The evaluation of the project has been broken down into four key areas: methodology, output, critical reflection and personal reflection. These categories represent an evaluation of that which came to be most important throughout the course of the investigation.

7.1

EVALUATION OF METHODOLOGY

The decision to structure the project into a number of separate exercises to investigate different aspects of the research question was a deliberate one, initially suggested in the project proposal. This approach has allowed me to employ a number of different research methodologies within a single project. Inspired by Wayne Daley’s Love Project (Fig. 135 & 136, Appendix A), it has created the opportunity for me to explore a wide range of techniques, sources of information and data, increasing my opportunities for learning, building specialist knowledge and helping to sustain interest in a lengthy and in depth study.

This approach also presented me with the opportunity to work with a variety of different types of content, ranging from text based interview transcripts and essays to photographs, vector graphics and numerical data from survey questions. This allowed me to create a varied body of visual responses while addressing the challenge of developing a coherent visual identity for the project.

The relationship between colour and language has a number of different facets and structuring the project into a series of explorations is not only a reflection of this but of the varied way we perceive and interpret colours.

Central to the research question was gathering and comparing contributions from other people, whether this was indirectly, through the results of Google Image Search and Wordcount, in depth through interviews or quantitatively through the Colourful Language survey.

This input has proved to be the most valuable research conducted as part of the project as it demonstrates the complexity of our descriptions of colours and the variety of our understanding of colour terms.

Relying on survey participation to provide the content for the output was a risk, however it proved to be the most appropriate method for gathering the type of contributions required. This was demonstrated by the responses and feedback received from the survey, which were generally very positive and have greatly enriched the project.

Although it is always preferable to have a larger sample, it was felt that the response count achieved in reaction to the survey was sufficient for an investigation of this nature. The results from a total 194 participants were analysed, six fewer than the original number aimed for.

While the total number of participants was higher, a number of responses were discounted because they were incomplete. Further discussion and full analysis of the survey results can be found throughout the Major Project book.

Of the negative comments made about the survey, most were complaints that it took too long. This was something that was apparent when the survey was designed. Despite this, the issue was not raised during the pilot study and if the questions had been split into two surveys as originally considered, it would not have been possible to compare the results across the groups of respondents. On reflection, completion rates may have been higher had the survey been shorter. However, as the quality and quantity of responses was more than acceptable, the design and wording of the survey still achieved the desired result.

The in depth interviews with colour specialists were also especially successful. Everyone I spoke to had a different perspective on colour and how to communicate it. Most were very passionate about the subject and thoroughly enjoyed talking about it. This has resulted in a compilation of different views and approaches to colour, not only reflected by their varying backgrounds and professions but by the subjectivity of colour itself, in that there is no one right answer. It has provided a direct contrast to the short and structured, but numerous responses to the survey, creating a body of texts that reflects the rich and complex nature of colour. It has proved to be a highly valuable research activity and has greatly influenced my own understanding of the subject.

In the proposal for the project I suggested that part of the aim of the project was to contribute to the existing body of research on colour naming and to invite comments and evaluation from the wider public and research community, primarily through my blog. This aspect of the project has been relatively successful.

Although it was difficult to keep posting work consistently throughout the project, there was regular traffic to my blog and although most visitors did not comment, those that did were also researching different aspects of colour and I was able to share resources with them and contribute my knowledge and opinions to their research.

Ultimately, ‘describing colour is more about language than it is about colour’ (Batchelor, 2000). This notion perfectly encapsulates how this investigation has progressed. Describing colours represents a communication problem, and to explore it using graphic design methods has been an enlightening process.

“It was interesting to find out how difficult it is to pick the right colour by its name.”

(Comment from anonymous survey participant, 2011)

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

7.2

EVALUATION OF OUTCOME

The outcome of the project exists as a book and set of three A2 posters presenting the results and analysis of the Colourful Language survey. It is accompanied by a smaller set of twelve books, which are supporting material, and address different aspects of the research question but are not directly connected to the survey.

The results of the survey are central to the premise of the project as they present a snapshot of the ways we identify and interpret colours using language. It is hoped that by examining other examples of how colour has been presented, both as the subject and a feature of information design, that a visually successful outcome has been achieved, enhancing but not overshadowing the value of the content.

As the survey was designed to explore a number of different aspects of our understanding of colour names it would have been possible to produce a larger series of posters. This appeared unnecessary and it seemed more appropriate to use the posters to present the results, which best captured the essence of the project.

By using a report-style document to present the results of the survey it was possible to accommodate all of the information and analysis, such as the visual, graphical, statistical and written elements and to support the presentation of the other research activities. The output book was also designed to compliment this report and the visual summary for the project, to create set of key documents that encapsulate the main written, visual and analytical aspects of the research.

There was potential to produce an interactive outcome.

However, as stated in the proposal for this project that would have required a greater emphasis on technical skills and knowledge at an earlier stage in the project and would have diverted considerably more time and effort away from the production of content. To have created a three-dimensional outcome or to have used a more unconventional information design approach, as can be seen in Data Flow and Data Flow 2 (edited

by Robert Klanten), would have shifted the emphasis away from the content of the project towards the pure aesthetics of the presentation. This was felt to be inappropriate for the subject matter and was not the intension of the project.

However, the potential of digital and interactive design has been demonstrated by projects like the Interactive Colour Label Explorer (Fig 131-133, Appendix A), and the possibility exists to extend the project in the future, by developing a website which could showcase the results of the survey in a more dynamic way, if technical issues could be addressed.

7.3

CRITICAL REFLECTION

In some respects the research for this project has not strayed far from the course outlined in the original proposal. At the time of writing the proposal I was fortunate enough to have a clear idea of my focus and research question. Having this foundation allowed me to concentrate on the investigation for the entire duration of the Major Project without the need for an extended period of continuing diagnosis and definition.

However, it was obvious at the mid-way crit that my initial research activities for the Major Project were too vague in relation to my research question. Although the development of other, more pertinent work was already underway at this point, it prompted me to clarify the research question from something that was somewhat expansive, to a structure that addressed the focus of the project in three specific ways. In doing this I was able to question how each of my research activities related to the focus of the project in a far more defined way.

This exercise assisted the development of additional research activities, not included in the original proposal and helped refocus my efforts towards a relevant output. In turn, the process of writing introductions for the books of each research activity and drafting this report also helped clarify a number of aspects of the project, including my position in response to the research I had done and what it represented as a body of work.

In the proposal for this project I had speculated that the output could be based on a number of things but would most likely take the form of a printed book. At the stage of the mid-way crit it was still unclear what element of the research would be formulated into an output.

However, after reflecting on the feedback I received it was apparent that the key ingredient to the success of the project was the participation and inclusion of other people. As a result of this development it was evident that the output for the project should be formed from the results of the survey, as a means of representing the subjectivity in our use of language to describe colour.

With a relatively small sample size, it would be difficult to claim that this project could ever present a universal or definitive view of our understanding of colour terms, if that is even possible. However, the results presented by this project can be examined within the context of the research that took place. It can still be used to contribute to the understanding of how we communicate colour and promote the notion that colour is different for all of us.

As described in the previous section, colour reproduction was a concern from the very beginning of the project. All possible measures were taken to ensure consistent colour management was maintained throughout the research and design process. All of the documents for the project were printed to the same specification, so although the colours reproduced cannot be accurately compared with, for instance Pantone or Munsell swatches, they are consistent and comparable across all of the books. While this arrangement was far from the ideal of colour printing, within the time and tight budget constraints of the project it was the most satisfactory compromise.

On reflection there are aspects of the project that could have been managed more effectively. The commencement of the Major Project would have greatly benefitted from a review of the research generated up until that point, in order to proceed in the most logical manner. Instead my development from Unit 2 into the Major Project was less structured than it should have been. This was evident at the mid-way crit and in the research activities that did not address the focus of the project directly enough. However, I feel that the work completed subsequently redresses the balance of the project and engages with the ideas outlined in the research question.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

7.4

PERSONAL REFLECTION

I have gained far more from this investigation than I ever expected when I embarked on writing my Major Project proposal. It has in some sense, been a personal journey through colour and language and has allowed me to study a complex and fascinating subject, over a sustained period, which I would have been unlikely to have had the opportunity to investigate to such an extent, in a professional context. As a result I have discovered a subject that could provide a lifetime’s worth of engagement and interest. With areas ranging from the highly technical to the captivatingly poetic, it would be possible to dedicate a whole career to the in depth study of just one aspect of colour.

The interviews I conducted as part of the project have allowed me to meet a diverse, knowledgeable and inspiring group of colour specialists. This has enabled me to build a range of contacts, which may prove invaluable in the future.

As new research is constantly contributing to our understanding of colour naming I hope to continue to research this and related subjects for some time to come. I intend to document this extension of the investigation through my research blog, with the aim of building a comprehensive resource about colour naming, with the possibility of collaborating with other already established colour research blogs, colour naming projects, or colour researchers. It is hoped that this project and the continuation of my research into colour may eventually create future research or career opportunities.

This project has become more than just a vehicle to develop and refine my research and design skills, it is ultimately something that has changed the way I see the world.

I have also been able to build my own body of specialist knowledge about perception, colour and how we describe it with language. This extended far beyond what I initially estimated studying at the beginning of the project. It is a reflection of the number of studies that exists on colour, colour perception and colour naming.

It has in some sense, been a personal journey through colour and language.

Conclusion

“...colour is a moment.”

(Hicks, 2011)

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Conclusion

As can be seen from the outcomes of the different research activities that comprise this project, when it comes to naming colours there is no one decisive answer or response. There is subjectivity at every level: the subtle differences in the way we physically experience colour, our interpretation of colour and finally, the way we articulate it. To achieve a unified and mainstream model for expressing colour would be impossible and probably undesirable. The variety seen in the responses to the survey, the images generated through Google Image Search and the range of perspectives gathered through the focussed interviews, is a reflection of the nature of colour and our attempts to describe it.

This project has sort to explore, capture and present a variety of contributions and perspectives to celebrate the diversity of how we use language to communicate colour. That we express colour in such a varied way is exactly what makes it so fascinating. Together, these responses not only demonstrate our collective understanding of colour terms, but also, just how much of colour remains a mystery to us. It is a paradox that we lack the capability to successfully articulate and communicate something that is so embedded in our culture, surroundings and even our biology.

By presenting a collection of different perspectives, this investigation doesn’t offer a direct solution to any of the problems of using language to identify colours.

However, this project was never an attempt to solve these issues in a practical sense. A more functional outcome would have been to create a system for communicating colour. This approach has already been addressed in a number of instances by Munsell,

NCS, Pantone, l*a*b*, through the use of numerical systems and standards. While they have proved highly valuable for technical purposes they have never offered a practical alternative to language for everyday descriptions of colour. They fail to capture the true extent of our experience of colour.

Although this research has only captured a fraction of our responses to colour terms, rather than look on this as a failing of the project I see it as a reflection of the nature of language, and because even with this relatively small scope, it has increased my own understanding of the communication of colour immeasurably. I hope that some of this knowledge can be shared with the different groups that were identified as the audience for this research, either through viewing the project in person or on online by visiting my research blog.

The subject of this project provides a fascinating insight into two of the qualities that lie at the very heart of what makes us human: our ability to perceive and interpret the world around us and then to articulate it using language. Our descriptions of colour may never be perfectly interpreted, but if somehow they were, there would be no opportunities to observe and acknowledge the diversity and richness of our language and appreciate the subtlety and complexity of our experience of colour. And that would make life very dull indeed.

Bibliography

Bibliography LIST OF FIGURES Figures 1 – 4: Essays on Colour Layout Iterations Figures 5 – 8: Essays on Colour Spreads of Final Design Figures 9 – 12: Essays on Colour Analysis Book

Figures 13 – 16: Essays on Colour Analysis Posters Figures 17 – 20: Strooping the Colour Book Spreads Figures 21 – 24: Strooping the Colour Posters Figures 25 – 30: Colour my Words Book Spreads Figures 31 – 34: When Green isn’t Green Book Spreads Figures 35 – 36: When Green isn’t Green Poster Iterations Figures 37 – 44: Colour By Numbers Book Layout Iterations Figures 45 – 52: Colour By Numbers Book Spreads Figures 53 – 56: Searching for the Rainbow Book Spreads Figures 57 – 60: Searching for the Rainbow Poster Series Figures 61 – 66: Transforming the Rainbow Book Spreads Figures 67 – 74: Looking for Hue Book Spreads Figures 75 – 78: Say What You See Book Layout Iterations Figures 79 – 86: Say What You See Book Spreads Figures 87 – 90: Deconstructing the Rainbow Book Spreads Figures 91 – 94: Conversations on Colour Book Layout Iterations Figures 95 – 98: Conversations on Colour Book Spreads Figures 99 – 118: Development of Outcomes – Survey Results

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

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MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

HOWARD BEAR, J., 2011c. Orange. About.com Desktop Publishing, [online] Available at: <http://desktoppub.about. com/cs/colorselection/p/orange.htm> [Accessed 20/07/11].

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MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

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MARCUS, B., 2004. Colours/Khaki. Cabinet Magazine, Issue 13, pp.7-8.

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MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

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MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

ROBINSON, S. 2011. Horizon: Do you see the same colours as me? BBC TV Blog, [blog] 8 August, Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2011/08/horizon.shtml> [Accessed 09/08/11].

ROSSI, M., 2011. Colours/Orange. Cabinet Magazine, Issue 41, pp.14-17.

ROYSDON, E., 2008. Colours/Opal. Cabinet Magazine, Issue 29, pp.18-19.

RUCIEN, 2007. 32+ Common Color Names for Easy Reference. Colourlovers, [blog] 24 July, Available at: <http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/07/24/32-common-color-names-for-easy-reference/> [Accessed 14/04/11].

SANTE, L., 2004. Colours/Sepia. Cabinet Magazine, Issue 14, pp.7-10.

SANDERS, B., 2008. Colours/Puce. Cabinet Magazine, Issue 32, pp.16-18.

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SMITH, K., 2011b. A Glimpse into the Meaning, Symbolism & Psychology of Color. [online] Available at: <http:// www.sensationalcolor.com/color-messages-meanings/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/psychology-of-color-aglimpse-into-the-meaning-symbolism-psychology-of-color.html> [Accessed 23/06/11].

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MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

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MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

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Appendices

Appendix A

Figures 122 & 123: Optical Colour Effects. ALBERS, J., 2006. Interaction of colour. New Haven : Yale University Press.

Figures 124 & 125: Colour Perception in the Himba Tribe. Horizon Episode 1. Do You See What I See?, 2011 [Television Programme], BBC, BBC 2, 8 August 21.00.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Figure 126: Colour Naming Experiment. Nathan Moroney, 2009. [online] Available at: <http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Nathan_Moroney/> [Accessed 28/11/10].

SUPPORTING ILLUSTRATIONS

Figures 127 & 128: The Colour Thesaurus. MORONEY, N., 2008. The colour thesaurus. June ed. Hewlett-Packard Laboratories: Magcloud.com.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Figures: 129 & 130: Public Perception of Colour Project, online. CARTER, R. & N, 2009. Public perception of colour, make your choices. [online] Available at: <http://www.robandnick.com/ppc.php?stage=chooseorange&x=4&y=3&ch oices=226,185,,,,,> [Accessed 20/07/11].

SUPPORTING ILLUSTRATIONS

Figures 131 – 133: Interactive Colour Label Explorer. O’CONNER, B., 2008. Where does “Blue” end and “Red” begin?, The CrowdFlower Blog, [blog] 17 March, Available at: <http://blog.crowdflower.com/2008/03/where-doesblue-end-and-red-begin/> [Accessed 19/12/10].

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Figure 134: Emotionally Vague project by Orlagh Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien. Emotionally Vague, 2011. [online] Available at: <http:// www.emotionallyvague.com/results_04.php> [Accessed 11/03/11].

SUPPORTING ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 135 & 136: The Love Project by Wayne Daley. Noble, I. & BESTLEY, R., 2005. Visual Research. Lausanne : AVA Publishing. pp.82 & 85.

Appendix B SURVEY QUESTIONS This survey has been designed to help me gather data for my MA Graphic Design Major Project about how people talk about colour. Your participation is voluntary and you may withdraw from the survey at any time. All of your answers will be kept completely anonymous and confidential. You data will only be used for my research and will not be passed on to anyone else.

The survey should only take a few minutes of your time, your participation is highly valued and much appreciated. I hope you find this survey interesting.

SECTION 1 – BASIC DETAILS Gender M/F Age Under 20 20-39 40-59 60 +

SECTION 2 – VIEWING CONDITIONS Are you viewing this screen in: Natural Daylight Fluorescent/Strip lights/Energy Saving Light Bulbs Conventional Light Bulbs/Incandescent/Halogen Bulbs Is the light: Bright Medium Dim Is your computer a: PC Macintosh Don’t Know Is you screen: Flat Screen/TFT LCD CTR Plasma Laptop Don’t Know

Nationality: Is English your first language?

Y/N If no what is you first language?

Do you have any colour deficiency in your vision?

Y/N

SECTION 3 – COLOUR VOCABULARY Please name as many colours as you can think of.

For example red. You can also include names with two words such as sky blue. If you are unsure if a word is a colour, please write it in the second box below.

There is no time limit for this exercise but around 5 minutes is suggested.

If Yes, please indicate which colours are affected: Do work in the creative industries or have you studied in the arts or design beyond the age of 18?

Y/N

Please write as many informal words or phrases that could describe a colour as you can think of.

For example ice-cream coloured.

MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

SECTION 4 – MISUNDERSTOOD COLOURS Please try to describe what you think the following colours look like in basic terms such as: red/blue/ green/brown/light/dark/pale/bright For example terracotta could be described as light brown-orange. If you have no idea what colour it might be, please try to make an educated guess.

Mauve Puce Taupe Fawn Nude Khaki Hazel Tawny Teal Pistachio

Are there any other colour names that you know of but are unsure of what the colour looks like?

SECTION 5 – OBSCURE COLOURS The following list of words are colour names that are uncommon in English. Please indicate if you have heard of this colour before and try to describe it using basic terms as with the previous section.

If you have no idea what colour it might be, please try to make an educated guess.

Porphyry Gamboge Alizarin Celadon

Cerulean Cinnabar Eau-de-nil Incarnadine Bice Madder

SECTION 6 – TALKING ABOUT COLOUR Do you ever struggle to describe exactly what colour something is?

Yes No Rarely Sometimes Often Don’t know Have you ever had difficulty understanding what colour someone else was describing?

Yes No Rarely Sometimes Often Don’t know Do you think there are enough names for colours?

Yes No Don’t know Do you think it is important to be able to describe a colour accurately?

Yes No Don’t know It depends on the situation

SECTION 7 – COLOUR DISAGREEMENTS Have you ever had a disagreement with someone about what colour something was?

Y/N If you can remember the details of the disagreement please answer the questions below: What was the object that you disagreed about?

What colour did you think it was?

What colour did the other person think it was?

Did you resolve the disagreement?

Pink Brown Black Grey White Mauve Puce Taupe Fawn Nude Khaki Maroon Tawny Teal Pistachio Coral

Are there any other details you would like to add?

SECTION 8 – NAME THAT COLOUR Please name the following colours:

SECTION 9 – BEST REPRESENTATION For each of the following colour names, please pick from the series of boxes which colour you think is the best representation of that name. Please try not to think about it too much, a gut reaction is best in this case.

Porphyry Gamboge Alizarin Celadon Cerulean Cinnabar Citrine Greige Ianthine Periwinkle Chartreuse

SECTION 10 – END What is you favourite colour?

Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple

Are there any other comments you would like to add to this survey?

Thank you for you participation, it is greatly appreciated.

Appendix C INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Can you describe your background and your current professional practise?

2. How are you particularly involved with colour in what you do?

3. Do you have to make judgements about or describe colours as part of that?

4. Do you have to communicate or talk about colour to other people in your work?

15. How would you describe the colour red to someone who had never seen it or who couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see?

16. Have you ever had a disagreement with anyone about what colour something was?

17. Do you think it was a matter of different perception or a difference in the way of expressing that colour?

18. What is your favourite colour?

5. How good are you at talking about colours?

19. Is there anything else you would like to add?

6. Do you ever struggle to describe colours or articulate precisely the colours you mean?

7. Do you think that people are good at talking about colour in general? Is there a good level of colour vocabulary among the general population?

8. Do you ever have difficulty trying to imagine a colour that someone else is describing?

9. Has working with colour changed the way you talk about it?

10. Are you more aware of colours and how you describe them?

11. Do you think there are enough names or words to describe colours? Should there be more or fewer?

12. Do you ever use other systems or colour standards or systems for communicating colour to other people?

13. Are number systems better than language or just different?

14. How important do you think it is to be able to describe colour accurately?