Using Color WellDocument DesignBy Dr. Jennifer Bowie

Rules

# 1: Use color to communicate not decorate!

• Keep it simple• Be consistent

When to use?

• To make documents look better• To improve the effectives of

documents• To communicate

Terms to know• Grayscale: The different shades of gray a printer can make. • Hue: The color/wavelength, such as green. • Saturation: The purity of the color. The less pure the more

gray it looks.• Brightness: How bright/dark something seems, ranges from

white to grays to black.• Shade: Add black to the hue.• Tint: Add white to the hue.• RGB: System for mixing colors to create other colors. Used by

televisions and computer monitors. Uses red, green, and blue as primary colors. Additive color—the colors combine to create these colors.

• CYMK: System for mixing colors to create other colors. Commonly used by printing services. Uses cyan, yellow, magenta, and black as primary colors. Subtractive color: Some wavelengths are filtered out, color made from remaining wavelengths .

Spot Color

• Using a second color (with the 1st often black)

• Easy effect and cheap way of improving design

• Rules of thumb:– Can mix spot color with white and black for

shades (lighter and darker)– Do not over use (think of it like bold)– Can replace black with another color and

have a normal color and a spot color for more colorful designs.

Tips:

• Use colored paper to add color• Colors vary from screen to printer and

from printer to printer• Since 1% of women and 8% of men have

issues with distinguishing some color (color blindness), use more then color to separate items (even light vs. dark would work)

• Consider cultural conations and color meanings

History of color• Color has always been part of the human

existence, playing an important role in the life of humans.

• Early humans learned to eat food based on its color--ripe, not ripe, poisonous, healing.

• “Ancient cultures thought of color as symbolically divine." (Sidelinger, 1) – yellow, in ancient times, represented the mind to

primitive man, the sun and the sun god Ra to Egyptians, the goddess Athena and air to Grecians, and honor to Indians. (Sidelinger, 78-79)

• Connotations of colors change over time. – in ancient times Greece and Zunis green represented

water. Today blue represents water. (Sidelinger, 80)

Color & Sex Differences• According to Natalia Khouw there are sex

differences in color preferences & taste:– “Blue stands out for men much more than for

women. – Men prefer blue to red, women red to blue. – Men prefer orange to yellow, women yellow to

orange”– Women have more diverse color tastes than men– Women in India and England could consistency list

more colors than men

Info & quotes on this page from “color my world” by Molly E. Holzschlag http://www.molly.com/articles/webdesign/2000-09-colormyworld.php

International connotations of color• Red:

– West: courage and love – China: happiness and good fortune (preferred for

wedding gowns)– US flag: blood– French Flag: military color & coat of arms– US: “Stop” signs & lights

• Yellow: – China: imperial color, revered– US: people’s least favorite color but a happy

color– France: jealousy

International connotations of color• Green:

– Positive (US): growth, clean, fresh, environmental

– Negative (US): mold, nausea, and jealousy– Historic Europe: fertility (wedding gown color in

15th century) – US: “Go” green lights

• Blue:– Positive (US): serenity, the sky, infinity– Negative (US): sadness (feeling blue)– US Flag: valor of US, particularly soldiers– French Flag: military color & coat of arms– “Safe” in almost every culture (Morton)

International connotations of color• Purple:

– Historical West: royalty, mourning– France: religion, sacredness – US: magic, lavishness, homosexuality – Catholic Europe: death and crucifixion – Middle East: prostitution – Cultural “unsafe” color

• Pink: – East India: feminine color – US: baby girls get pink, innocence, sweetness,

soft, gentleness – Japan: pastels are neither masculine nor feminine– France: homosexuality

International connotations of color• Black:

– West: mourning, death– France: unknown, death, night, work

• White: – East: mourning, death– West: purity (color of bridal gowns)– US Flag: bandages to staunch the flow

of blood– France: monarchy, royalty

Use color wisely & well

Remember: communicate not decorate

Sources:•Your readings & •http://ezinearticles.com/?Colors:-Their-Connotations-and-Perceived-Meanings&id=4510•http://www.molly.com/articles/webdesign/2000-09-colormyworld.php•http://wps.ablongman.com/long_porter_pwo_2/0,8017,848524-,00.html

Cool Links to find out more!

• http://ezinearticles.com/?Colors:-Their-Connotations-and-Perceived-Meanings&id=4510

• http://www.molly.com/articles/webdesign/2000-09-colormyworld.php