Color Theory, Management and Perception - Essay Example

Color Theory Our conception of color is actually somewhat short of the truth. We see a red apple on the counter and assume it is red. However, if we watch the apple over the course of several hours, we might notice that as the light coming into the house shifts while the sun passes overhead from morning to night that the red of the apple changes in hue. Sometimes it is an almost violet apple and other times it is almost yellow-orange, the only difference being in the quality of the light that is falling on it. As dusk falls, the apple becomes gray, eventually appearing black if no one remembers to switch on the electric light. This color change is due to the way in which the human eye perceives color, which is actually a quality of the light as it enters our eye after being reflected from the surface of the apple. The process of seeing and perceiving a color is, therefore, both internal and external. The light from the sun must first pass through the filter of our environment (the window, the curtains or blinds, the pollution in our environment, etc.), all of which begin to absorb differing wavelengths, which represent color bands to us. As the remaining light falls on the apple, the apple absorbs most of them, but rejects some. These rejected wavelengths become reflected light (Morton, 2006). In the case of our apple, most of the wavelengths are absorbed with the exception of those that lie on the red end of the spectrum. These reflected wavelengths then bounce off of the apple and into the human eye that is watching it. The eye identifies these wavelengths and sends a message to the brain that indicates the apple is a particular shade of red at this moment (Morton, 2006). How the eye functions to identify these wavelengths and how the brain interprets the message being received is generally similar in all human eyes, but there is a wide scope for variation from one human to another, so that even if two people are watching the same apple from the same viewpoint at the same time (an utter impossibility), they would probably still discern two different shades of red. “The most technically accurate definition of color is: ‘Color is the visual effect that is caused by the spectral composition of the light emitted, transmitted, or reflected by objects’” (Morton, 2006), yet color remains influenced by the interpretation of the receiver. The human eye interprets color through the use of the photoreceptor cones that are located within the retina, a space on the back of the eye similar to a cinema screen that collects and interprets the incoming light waves. Although scientists still aren’t sure how these cones work, they do know that they “contain light-sensitive pigments called iodopsins, but their nature and function are still matters of conjecture” (Zelanski & Fisher, 2003, p. 23). The strongest theory to date is the Trichromatic Theory, proposed by Thomas Young in 1801 and developed further by Hermann von Hemlholtz. This theory proposes that the cone has three general kinds of pigments – “one for sensing the long (red range) wavelengths, one for the middle (green range) wavelengths, and one for the short (blue-violet range) wavelengths” (Zelanski & Fisher, 2003, p. 23). The response levels within the eye are then mixed by the brain to form color impression. In an attempt to explain situations in which direct light is not the stimulant, such as in cases of afterimages, the Opponent Theory has been developed. This theory suggests that as part of a process, which has not yet been completely identified, “some response mechanisms … registers either red or green signals, or either blue-violet or yellow. In each pair (red/green, blue-violet/yellow) only one kind of signal can be carried at a time, while the other is inhibited” (Zelanski & Fisher, 2003, p. 24). Oddly enough, these pairs correspond to the complementary colors on color wheels. Another important aspect as to how we perceive color exists in the way that the brain interprets color, which seems to be largely based on societal norms. Recent studies have indicated that while the number of cone receptor cells in a human’s eye can differ by as many as 40 times, people tend to perceive colors in similar fashion, suggesting that our perception is controlled more by our brain functions than by our eyes (Sherwood, 2005). New technologies in science, applied to the study of how the eye works, have enabled scientists to finally get a look at how living cones react to different light sources, allowing them to map and count these receptors as well as learn more about how they work. In the study, participants with varying numbers and configurations of cone, who should have seen the colors differently, selected nearly the same wavelength of yellow when asked to identify pure yellow. “Those early experiments showed that everyone we tested has the same color experience despite this really profound difference in the front-end of their visual system. That points to some kind of normalization or auto-calibration mechanism – some kind of circuit in the brain that balances the colors for you no matter what the hardware is” (Hofer cited in Sherwood, 2005). Through the use of colored contacts, another study was able to prove that a person’s perception of color could and did shift over time. “These experiments show that color is defined by our experience in the world, and since we all share the same world, we arrive at the same definition of colors” (Williams cited in Sherwood, 2005). This process calls to mind the parent’s patient teaching of the young child as different blocks of color are pointed to and the child is asked to name the color, always corrected if wrong. Rather than simply teaching the child the words needed for the objects around them as is the general purpose of this game, the parents may also be functioning as early calibrators for the child’s unique system of perception. To help us study colors in their various hues (defined color), shades (level of darkness involved) and saturations (degree of pure color evident), several color models have been developed over the past several centuries. This discussion started, of course, with Aristotle, who felt that colors were sent down on rays from heaven to beautify our world (Blumberg, 2005). With the advent of the Renaissance and its great strides in artistic representation, other color models were developed based upon how the light in the sky was observed to change from morning to night, a theory mostly attributed to Aguilonius. It wasn’t until 1660 that Sir Isaac Newton discovered the means of dividing the light rays from the sun with a prism in order to observe the different families of wavelengths spanning from red to violet (Blumberg, 2005). It was through his work that the world had its first color wheel, which included the six major shades of the rainbow arranged in relative order to how they separated from the prism and designed so that as it spun, the flashing colors would blur together to create white for the observer. For this reason, colors that flashed stronger, such as green and yellow, were given narrower bands than their darker counterparts. The idea of the color wheel was built upon by Johanes Wolfgang Goethe in the 1800s from a more psychological approach, working to determine the reasons why artists chose to use particular colors in their representations. Because he was approaching color from a different perspective, he felt an entirely different color model was necessary (Blumberg, 2005). For this, he developed his color triangle in which the three primary colors of blue, yellow and red were placed at the three corners of an equilateral triangle. The secondary colors, those formed by mixing two of the primaries, formed secondary triangles between the corners and the tertiary colors filled in the gaps. “Goethe’s original proposal was ‘to marvel at color’s occurrences and meanings, to admire and, if possible, to uncover color’s secrets.’ To Goethe, it was most important to understand human reaction to color, and his research marks the beginning of modern color psychology. He believed that his triangle was a diagram of the human mind and he linked each color with certain emotions” (Blumberg, 2005). Phillip Otto Runge took this concept another giant step forward with the introduction of shades and highlights in his creation of the color sphere. Conducting his research during roughly the same period as Goethe, Runge took his explorations into the third dimension by placing the color wheel at the equator of a sphere, allowing them each to blend to white at one pole and black at the other (Vogel, 2006). As a building block of how color is seen and represented, the color wheel has become of prime importance to our understanding. As it exists today, the color wheel consists of a range of usually 12 colors placed around a circle and typically refers to the colors that can be achieved in paint rather than light. The three primary colors (red, yellow and blue) are placed equidistant apart on the wheel. These are called primary colors because they are not mixed from other colors but must come directly from their source. They are broken apart by the secondary colors, which are created when any two of the primary colors are mixed. The rest of the circle is filled in with tertiary colors, which are those colors that are achieved by mixing a primary color and a secondary color. These include red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet and red-violet. These colors are often further divided into the concepts of warm and cool colors, based upon the perceived mood they were seen to portray. Warm colors are generally considered to be those lying between red and yellow-green as one progresses through the orange side of the wheel. Cool colors include the red-violets through greens on the blue side of the wheel. Warm colors tend to jump forward and assert themselves in a design while cool colors tend to recede in our perception (Bear, 2006). This is partially because of the way in which we see the world, where atmospheric affects can make things very far away take on a bluish hue. Because we’re accustomed to blue indicating the very far away, we are pre-conditioned to see these colors as further back in the image presented. In addition to distance perspectives, the use of cool or warm colors can establish a mood. “Cool colors tend to have a calming effect. At one end of the spectrum they are cold, impersonal, antiseptic colors. At the other end the cool colors are comforting and nurturing. Warm colors convey emotions from simple optimism to strong violence. The warmth of red, yellow, pink or orange can create excitement or even anger” (Bear, 2006). Colors that fall between the two extremes, the red-violets or the greens, can be used to both calm and excite. Through this exploration of color, it can be seen that there are a number of factors that combine to provide us with a perception of the beauty of the world around us. From the natural mechanics of what produces color to the technical and chemical components that help to shape how each individual sees that color, it can be deduced that there will never be a hard and fast means of determining exactly how color is perceived by the individual mind. Despite this, a number of intriguing studies have demonstrated that the human species has developed an as yet undetermined means of agreeing on color definitions and numerous models have been proposed to facilitate discussion and exploration. Through this revelation, it has been found that colors as they are agreed upon can also begin to affect our emotions and further perceptions. This becomes clear as it is shown how a blue atmospheric tint in nature has preconditioned our minds to perceive objects in the blue spectrum as somehow more distant than objects in a warmer hue. Clearly, the study of color is quite a bit more complicated than a simple comparison between red, yellow and blue. Works Cited Bear, Jacci Howard. “The Meaning of Color.” About Desktop Publishing. (2006). August 12, 2008 Blumberg, Roger. “Color Mixing and Goethe’s Triangle.” Computer Science. Providence, RI: Brown University, 2005. Morton, Jill. “Color Matters: Color & Vision, How the Eye Sees Color.” Creative Tools for Digital Camera. AKVIS, 2006. August 12, 2008 Sherwood, Jonathan. “Color Perception is not in the Eye of the Beholder: It’s in the Brain.” University of Rochester News. New York: University of Rochester, (October 25, 2005). Vogel, Jakob. “Runge’s Color Sphere.” (November 16, 2005). August 25, 2008 Zelanski, Paul & Fisher, Mary Pat. Color. 4th Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003. Read More