When we talk about visual literacy several design principles and philosophies come to mind. The study of semiotics, gestalt and color theories have great influence on image meaning. Good design practice will utilize the elements of design. For example, space, line, form, light, color, texture, and pattern. To understand the relationship between color and symbols we will explore the art of color theory.
The following presentation will focus on the design element color and its symbology. We will look at present-day contemporary, 19th century, paleolithic art to understand the effects of color on visual language. Comparisons can be made with early developments and modern uses for instance, shape and color combined to make symbols like octagon shaped stop signs. Most traffic signs mix color with symbols to communicate meaning. Culturally color can represent emotion and add meaning to context.
A Brief History and Definition of Semiotics
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Ferdinand de Saussure founder of 20th century linguistics referred to semiotics as semiology. In the nineteenth century, together with Charles Sanders Peirce they coined the term semiotic.
Human kind has been creating images for centuries. Cultural reference and societal complexity shape our use of symbols. Behind the images we find symbology with deeper meaning. Cave paintings tell stories of hunting and natural events.
The Lascaux cave paintings are mostly of animal representations. This example demonstrates the use of symbols representing primitive intelligence. Earth tone color is used to emphasize species. The cave painting tells a story of ancestral and cultural significance.
Image Right: Lascaux Cave Painting, France 15,000 to 17,000 B.C.E.
Brief History and definition of Color Theory
Color theory will help you understand the relationship between colors and how we perceive them. Color theory is a body of principles which provide guidance on the relationship between colors and the physiological impacts.
Even Leonardo da Vinci explored color principles in his notebooks from the 1490s. However, it wasn’t until the 18th century that color theory began to formally take shape.
Later publications, The Theory of Colours by German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and The Law of Simultaneous Color Contrast by French chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul, are considered the founding documents of color theory. Published in the early 19th century, they deal with color psychology and chromatic aberration, and they further refined the color wheel.
Image Left: Color wheel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1809. (Photo: [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Color Theory and Semiotics
Color theory mixed with semiotics seen in the image on the right. The stop light demonstrates the use of color to symbol stop, green go, and yellow yield. The hand in red expresses don't go unlike the white walk signal. Art has progressed along with design. The result is an accurate use of color and signs.
Piet Mondrain (Dutch 1872 - 1944)
Image: Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red, 1937-1942
The image makes great use of color that provides balance. Black lines build a grid similar to a city map. Mondrain using only the primary colors red, blue, and yellow in pure form.
Piet Mondrian (Dutch 1872 - 1944)
Image: Broadway Boogie-Woogie, 1957 | Artsnap
The image makes great use of color to evoke movement and rhythm. This painting flows like a structured subway map. Yellow can reflect warmth and positivity. Blue can represent trust and purpose. Red creates movement resembling action and energy.
Josef Albers (German/American 1888 - 1976)
Image: Homage to the Square, Portfolio 2, Folder 5, Image 1, 1972 Silkscreen 22 × 22 in
Josef Albers’s “Formulation: Articulation” portfolio contains 127 silkscreens of his most iconic works, published by Harry N. Abrams and printed by Albers’s Yale colleagues Norman Ives and Sewell Stillman in 1972. The portfolio, released in an edition of 1,000, is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Albers explores the optical and emotional effects of color. The color yellow creates a warm joyful feeling. A shade of gray covers the top half dividing the image like a landscape.
Josef Albers (German/American 1888 - 1976)
Image: Homage to the Square from Formulation : Articulation, 1972 Silkscreen 15 × 20 in
Josef Albers was an artist and early student and later professor at the Bauhaus a famous German art school. Albers created several color studies and would work on them for over 25 years. This simple composition is a cool blend of colors that evoke a calm mood.
Dan Flavin (American, 1933–1996)
Image: artificial barrier of blue, red and blue fluorescent light (to Flavin Starbuck Judd) 1968
Dan Flavin was an American minimalist artist famous for creating sculptural objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures.
The installation has a futuristic impression using light to create pattern and division.
Dan Flavin (American, 1933–1996)
Image: Untitled, 1969. Installation, two 48-inch blue, two 24-inch pink, one 24-inch yellow lights and fixtures
This installation of color and light evokes emotion creating an unique experience. The color and mood changes as the viewer move across the room. Examples of architectural lighting is evident in modern buildings. Lights are used to articulate spatial awareness. Interior lighting can be fine tuned to influence mood and focus.
Olafur Eliasson (Icelandic-Danish)
Image: In real life. February 14, 2020 - April 11, 2021. Guggenheim Bilbao. ©FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao /Photo: Erika Ede
Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson creates his art around the viewers experience. In this installation we see the use of yellow light to change perception and space. This art reflects the advancemnets in IoT mood centered lighting.
Olafur Eliasson (Icelandic-Danish)
Image: Installation Reality equipment October 3, 2015 – January 17, 2016
A viewer circles in irregular paths above our heads, water is pumped frantically up in cascades, and in another of the halls we walk in a labyrinthine architecture of colored space. Imagine if corporate work spaces had color code.
Cover Image: Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson Installation: The Weather Project Tate Modern, London 2003.
The installations looks like a complete Sun although it is a half circle reflected by a mirror ran across the ceiling. Images like this use color to build awareness and archive experience. Eliasson brings attention to environmental issues by evoking an atmospheric connection. The scale of the space speaks to value and pride. This demonstrates how installations can become symbolic events.
Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life exhibition | Tate Modern, 11 July 2019 – 5 January 2020
Color Theory Terms
- Primary colors - The most basic colors on the color wheel, red, yellow and blue. These colors cannot be made by mixing.
- Secondary colors - colors that are made by mixing two primary colors together. Orange, green and violet (purple).
- Tertiary colors - colors that are made by mixing a primary color with a secondary color.
- Hue - the name of the color.
- Intensity - the brightness or dullness of a color.
- Color value - the darkness or lightness of a color. Example: pink is a tint of red.
- Tints - are created by adding white to a color.
- Shades - are created by adding black to a color.
Conclusion
Color theory play an important role in design and semiotics. Seen in signs color and shape is used to portray meaning for instance, red octagon for danger, yellow triangle caution, green rectangle for information etc... The selections made for color and shape have culminated over years of design evolution. Color can be used to tell a story or symbolize cultural differences. Color brings depth to an images meaning.
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Credits:
References Barret, T. (2000). Criticizing Photographs: An Introduction to Understanding Images. (3rd ed.) Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company. Hagen, R., & Golombisky, K. (2017). White space is not your enemy: A beginner’s guide to communicating visually through graphic, web & multimedia design. Crc Press, Taylor & Francis Group. Hornung, D. (2005). Colour: A Workshop for Artists and Designers. (1st ed.) Laurence King Publishing. Newton, I. (1730). The First Book of Opticks: A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light. Printed for W. Innys.