Colour to Transform your Life
House P, designed by MDDM Studio
Let’s seriously hope these difficult times don’t last long. But while so many of us are not leaving the home it’s a good time to read, so book recommendations are a-brewing…
When we think about colour, it can get meta and philosophical quickly - however have we taken the time to unpack why that is? Past the professionally crucial basics, such as the components of the colour wheel and how differently we each see/feel about colours, I realise that I had not encroached into colour psychology.
The Little Book of Colour delves into the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’, in an accessible way. Peppered with fun facts like a green hat in China symbolises your wife has been unfaithful, and the first purple was made from mucus of sea snails.
There are many cultural examples about colour interpretation which is fascinating. One I had previously noticed being flagged (no doubt due to binary gender objections), is the story of ‘pink for girls’ and blue for boys’. When colour was first worn by infants, blue was considered the gentler colour and therefore appropriate for girls, and pink (a washed out red) apt for the baby boys. This switched around by the end of the second world war, so much so - it had been considered emasculating for men.
Talking of pink, a famous football coach painted certain lockers at Lowa University’s Kinnick Stadium pink in order to undermine the opposition. The tradition continued after being renovated, with the urinals made pink to match. No surprise that some controversy was caused, they are still pink though. Luckily everyone is soon to love pink so it’s OK!
As someone working in design or being interested in design it will be more conscious than subconscious, but ether way, colour combination, balance and tonal importance always has a psychological impact and in turn will effect the way we think, feel and behave.
In this book there is a quiz and other ways to work out your colour personality - this got me thinking about the recurring problem of trend and the influence that it can have. Did I choose green as my favourite primary colour because it is currently being used excessively and very well, whilst holding a currently relevant association with nature. And is answer b) really how I resolve a problem at work or is that how I would like to resolve a problem at work. The effect of colour in spaces categorically affects one’s mood so taking the time to think about your true pallet has to be a no brainer, especially at times like this. Do you know which colours make you thrive and does your home contain enough of them? I totally recommend this book for some light but informative reading to help answer this.
