In order to make the most appropriate colour choices I have looked into various ways colours are viewed.
COLOUR SYMBOLISM AND ASSOCIATION
Throughout my research I have discovered that colour symbolism is probably the wrong concept to focus on. The symbolic meaning of colours depend on personal experience and cultural heritage.
For example – WHITE
In Western culture White symbolises purity, innocence, peace and power. However, in India white is the colour worn for funerals. In China it is the colour that represents death and mourning.
This example evidently separates Western and other Cultures. In order to show how even within Western Cultures the meaning and association of colours can vary here is another example – GREEN
Though most western cultures also associate the colour green with nature, in the USA the colour green is associated with money and wealth. In Britain it is the colour of jealousy. In Ireland it is the colour of good luck. (Fun fact, in South America it is the colour of death)
These are just a few to name and truthfully I stopped looking further into colour symbolisation and association after realising the various meanings one colour is associated with based on nationality, culture, heritage and personal experience. It just wasn’t the right way, but useful to learn about. After this brief research I focused all my attention on Colour psychology.
I have written notes in my notebook for this project of colour association and symbolism within western culture. Though I decided to go with colour psychology, as it is more inclusive and applies to multiple cultures and the human mind in general, I have written down colours and this symbolic meaning within western culture just in case.
- White – purity, innocence, goodness, peace and power
- Black – mourning and loss
- Red – passion, lust, love, danger and anger
- Green – money, nature, environment, jealousy and good luck
- Blue – sadness, feeling low and calm
- Yellow – treachery, bravery, sunshine and happiness
- Pink – ‘little girls’
- Purple – royalty
- Brown – earth, wholesomeness, fertility and nature
- Grey – old age, boredom, dullness
Because each colour can have so many very different meanings I realised this is not the right direction, not necessarily.
COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY
I purchased ‘The Little Book of Colour’ written by Karen Haller. A marvellous little book in addition to my design bookshelf. ‘How to use the Psychology of Colour to Transform Your Life’. The title sounded perfect. In this case, how to transform and bring life back to HMV.
For about two weeks this book became my bible.
It so very well described the history of colour psychology and how colours affect our mind. I learnt so much from this book and it was a great source for my concept and research.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRIMATES
The primary colours within the colour wheel are red, yellow and blue. These colours cannot be created by mixing other colours, hence why they are primary colours. All other colours are created by mixing these primary colours. Based on this knowledge I always assumed the psychological primates will be the same. I was a little surprised to find that within psychological terms in addition to these primary colours green is added.
‘The Little Book of Colour’ goes in detail about how these psychological primates affect us mentally and physically. This is what I gathered from it.
I have also learnt that the more saturated and intense the colour the more it will be stimulating the mind, and the less saturated and more diluted a colour the less stimulating and more soothing effect it’ll have on the human mind.
Every colour has an effect on the conscious and subconscious mind and will trigger different responses. The emotional effects depend on content, saturation and how much of the colour is used.
REALISATION – SATURATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND MUSIC RELATIONSHIP
I have realised that the same way within each genre, each style and type of music there are more upbeat and more mellow artists, sounds, beats and albums. Even if we just consider one artist, for example one of my favourite bands, The 1975. The mood and style of their sound and music changes from album to album. If each genre is paired with a colour, wether it is based on already existing genres or creating new genres based on ‘mood, emotion and psychology’ (I am still due to decide on how to pair colour and music but my research started to narrow down my options) the new categorisation should have different saturations, hues and shades. A more mellow and calming album, artist or sound should be paired with a pastel, diluted shade. The more triggering, happy and upbeat sounds should be bright and intense and serious dark sounds should be darker shades of the colour in question.
This was my research and logic behind creating the ‘HMV HUES’
And at the start I considered ‘THE HUES’ to be a key feature in terms of the aesthetics. Gradient and colour transition from dark to bright to light.
OTHER BOOKS I USED FOR RESEARCH
I love the Library. At the start of every project I always turn to the great archive Chelsea and other UAL sites have. I was specifically looking for books on colour psychology. I browsed the shelves and briefly brushed through a selection of books I thought would be appropriate. Eventually I decided to borrow these two books.