DESIGN PRINCIPLES - COLOUR THEORY 5

We started the lesson by presenting a short talk on one of Itten's seven contrasts. We chose to explain the rule of 'Contrast of temperature', which is formed by juxtaposing 'warm' or 'cold' hues, warm hues always contrast cold hues. An example of a 'warm' hue can be seen in the tertiary red orange on ittens colour wheel, a 'cold' hue can be seen in the tertiary green blue. We explained the contrast of temperature by....

After reviewing some of the rules previously learned, Fred asked us to form a list of questions we had regarding colour theory. We then had to independently research the answer to each question. 

• Is it possible that colours exist that the human eye can't perceive?
• In the rule of contrast of saturation is it the opacity of the colour that is responsible for the darker values? Or is it the difference between solid light and dark values?
• What is the difference between tone and saturation?
• What is the difference between 'hint' and 'shade'?
• Could we compensate for colour blindness by mixing colours?
• What is easier on the eyes? light or dark colour?

Answers 

1 - Is it possible that colours exist that the human eye can't perceive?

Invisible Colors Although our visual system can paint a vibrant portrait of the world, its palette of colors is actually quite limited, as we only see between 390 to 750 nm of the full electromagnetic spectrum while the remaining trillion wavelengths escape our view. Within these wavelengths exists other colors, normally invisible to the human eye. However, birds, bees, and some humans retinal genetic mutations, can see nature's other shades. Humans are trichromats, meaning that we experience color through three types of photoreceptors tuned to different wavelengths: short (blue), medium (green), and long (red); and the combinations of activity of these receptors give us the perception of color. However, it turns out that the tuning curve of the red receptor in bees is shifted up such that they are red-blind, but see ultraviolet light. This means that UV light is their version of red (try to imagine). That change in color gives nature another way to evolve its marketing campaign and attract more business. For instance, flowers have evolved to provide bright UV petals surrounding a dark region contrasting containing glowing UV pollen. Although we can't see it, bees must find this irresistible! From R-L: The same flower with human vision, only UV vision (bright = UV), simulated bee vision (UV+G+B), simulated bird vision (tetrachromatcic: UV+R+G+B). (Photos: (c) Dr Klaus Schmitt, Weinheim, Germany, uvir.eu ) The picture above shows a flower with different light receptors. The first image is what humans see. The second image is only UV light, and as you can see, the center target is vastly larger than the version we see and you can make out a faint UV glow in the center. Being red-blind, bees would see the third image, which is composed of UV, blue, and green (UV+B+G). So why would nature select for this? If the UV colors and patterns in a flower helps guide bees to pollen, then more flowers with UV features would procreate. But grass and foliage also reflect a lot of UV. How does the flower stand out? Dr. Klaus Schmitt of Weinheim, Germany is an expert in tetrachromatic photography and has taken all of the photos in this article. He explains: "Some flowers found a tricky way, they create a landing platform for bees and bumble bees, consisting of concentric rings with a bright UV reflective center highlighted by contrasting petals around it. But why is all of this invisible to us humans? Simple, we don't pollinate flowers, so the flower has evolutionary incentive to attract us towards it's pollen." To see a stunning view of the concentric rings in flowers, check out Dr. Schmitt's finalist photo of a gazania through bee-vision in the Carl Zeiss photography contest. But what about the fourth image with all four colors (UV+B+G+R)? It turns out that some species, such as birds, along with most reptiles, have four types of photoreceptors (UV+R+G+B) making them tetrachromats! Although it would be impossible to show exactly how this extra receptor affects the way a bird sees the flower, other colors can be used as a metaphor for UV to produce the stunning simulation of the tetrachromatic flower on the far right. But for birds, this extra receptor is not just for food, but also for mating. As you can see from the images below, the birds, like the flowers, have evolved to display a stunning set of colors invisible to the unaided eye. A study by Bennett, Cuthill, Partridge, and Lunau (1997) showed that ultraviolet reflecting plumage in starlings had profound effects on observed mating preferences, while plumage in the human visible spectrum did not predict choice. Their ultraviolet feathers are part of their mating call! Even the eggs have UV coloration. Bird (Top) and Egg (Bottom), R-L: through human vision (R+G+B), only UV vision (bright = UV), simulated bird vision (tetrachromatcic: UV+R+G+B) (the egg on the bottom right is not true bird vision, but UV simulated vision). (Photos: (c) Dr Klaus Schmitt, Weinheim, Germany, uvir.eu ) In humans, the genes that dictate photoreceptor color tuning are type 2 opsin genes, OPN1MW and OPN1MW2, and are located on the X chromosome. Since women have two different X chromosomes in their cells, it has been suggested that some of them could carry a variant cone cell tuned to a wavelength between the red and green, thereby having tetrachomatic vision and discrimination across 100 million different colors. Having more color receptors provides better color discrimination for quick decisions over food and mating. Although some species, such as butterflies and pigeons, have five types of photoreceptors and can distinguish over 10 billion colors, the advantage to having more receptors reaches a ceiling around three to five. In fact, many human males have color blindness leaving them with only two color receptors (dichromacy). The point to take away from this is that our sensory and perceptual scope is narrow in comparison to all of the energy available to us. Despite our limitations, we are able to use tools, such as cameras, as sensory metaphor to expand our view. And although we can't experience these physical phenomena first-hand, we can use these metaphors and reason to extrapolate our senses and obtain an educated glimpse of the physical world. And what we find there can be compelling as well as humbling, as we realize that nature was not constructed solely for the benefit and pleasure of mankind. References: Photography: Dr. Klaus Schmitt of Weinheim, Germany (http://photographyoftheinvisibleworld.blogspot.com/), (c) Dr Klaus Schmitt, Weinheim, Germany, uvir.eu Bennett, D., Cuthill, I.C., Partridge, L.K. (1997) Ultraviolet plumage colors predict mate preferences in starlings. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol 94,,pp. 8618-8621 Emmerton, J. & Delhis, J.D. (1980). Wavelength discrimination in the ‘visible’ and ultraviolet spectrum by pigeons. Journal of Comparative Physiology 141(1). Jameson, K.A., Highnote, S.M., & Wasserman, L.M. (2001). Richer color experience in observers with multiple photopigment opsin genes. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 8 (2): 244–261.

http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/the-artful-brain/alternate_realities

2 -  In the rule of contrast of saturation is it the opacity of the colour that is responsible for the darker values? Or is it the difference between solid light and dark values?

Contrast of SaturationThe term refers to the contrast between pure intense colors and dull diluted or grayed colors.   Dull colors would appear to be duller when it is placed next to pure intense colors, and pure intense colors would appear move vivid when it is next to a dull color.

http://home.ipoline.com/~legends/Insatiable/artbasics/html/colortheory.html

3 - What is the difference between tone and saturation?

Tone

Tone is a color term commonly used by painters.

There is a broader and a narrower definition of tone.

The broader definition defines tone as a result of mixing a pure color with any neutral/grayscale color including the two extremes white and black. By this definition all tints and shades are also considered to be tones.

The narrower definition defines tone as a result of mixing a pure color with any grayscale color excluding white and black. By this definition a certain amount of white and black must have been added to the original color. Furthermore the following is true: If you changed the tonal value of a color, you've been adding gray (any ratio of mixture) to the original color.

A tone is softer than the original color.


Tone is not used as a dimension of a color space. Instead, the tonal difference consists of the amounts of white and/or black used to determine a certain color.


Exception:

A result of mixing an original color with a [hue]scale color (e.g. brownscale/sepia).

Saturation

Saturation is a color term commonly used by (digital/analog) imaging experts.

Saturation is usually one property of three when used to determine a certain color and measured as percentage value.

Saturation defines a range from pure color (100%) to gray(0%) at a constant lightness level. A pure color is fully saturated.

From a perceptional point of view saturation influences the grade of purity or vividness of a color/image. A desaturated image is said to be dull, less colorful or washed out but can also make the impression of being softer.


We will clear up the term saturation from a color mixing point of view in the color spaces section. 

http://www.workwithcolor.com/color-properties-definitions-0101.htm

4 - What is the difference between 'hint' and 'shade'?

Tints

Every individual color on the Basic Color Wheel can be altered in three ways by Tinting, Shading or Toning. And that's before we even think about mixing two colors together.

Let's start with Lightening the twelve basic colors to createTints.

A Tint is sometimes called a Pastel. Basically it's simply any color with white added.

If you want to get a little more complicated, you can mix any of the twelve pure colors together.Then simply add any amount of white and you have created a pastel or tint of the mixture.

That means you can go from an extremely pale, nearly white to a barely tinted pure hue.Artists often add a tiny touch of white to a pure pigment to give the color some body. So for example a bright Red can quickly become a bright Pink.

A color scheme using Tints is usually soft, youthful and soothing, especially the lighter versions. All tints work well in in feminine environments. You often see advertising, marketing and websites use pale and hot pastels if they are targeting women as a demographic. In painting you might save your lightest pastels for the focal point or use pastels for the entire painting.

Shades

So now that you know how to lighten, what's the easiest way to make your colors darker?

A Shade is simply any color with black added.

Just as with making tints, you can mix any of the twelve pure colors together.Then simply add any amount of black and you have created a shade of the mixture.

That means you can go from an extremely dark, nearly black to a barely shaded pure hue.

Most artists use black sparingly because it can quickly destroy your main color. Some artists prefer not to use it at all. Instead they understand the rules of color well enough to make their ownblack mixtures.

Shades are deep, powerful and mysterious. Be careful not to use too much black as it can get a little overpowering. These darks work well in a masculine environment. They are best used as dark accents in art and marketing graphics.

http://www.color-wheel-artist.com/hue.html

5. - Is it possible to compensate for colour blindness by mixing colours?

Cure & Correction

If you came here looking for a color blindness cure, I’m very sorry to say that there is none.

Thanks to some amazing research at the University of Washington, a successful color blindness cure in monkeys has been created. Two monkeys have been cured with no ill effects – With such promising results, hopefully a true cure for this, and many other eye diseases are not that far away!

We can use corrective glasses to compensate for colour blindness.

The way this works is actually quite simple. You use a lens in one or both of your eyes, the lens can either be a contact lens or in glasses frames. Because one eye has a modified quality of light, the brain can use the difference in the feedback it receives from each eye to identify more information about the colors present than it would normally. You can also use tinted lenses for both eyes, but the tints must be different colors to maintain difference in what each eye is seeing.

http://www.colour-blindness.com/solutions/cure/

6 - What is easier on the eyes? light or dark colour? 

Why Dark Themes and Terminals can Strain your Eyes

July 07, 2007 around 12am (openSUSE)

I tend to regularly find myself in discussions or read blog posts where it is suggested that dark themes are “easier on the eyes” and hence a better way to go. While a darker theme means that there is less light entering your eyes, in general a dark theme can cause more problems.

Most desktop themes are all light-coloured. This is not only true on Windows, but with GNOME and KDE. Furthermore, around 99% of websites at least have a light-coloured background as well. Now, when you have a large dark terminal open, or your own website theme which is dark as well, you will inevitably have to go to a new webpage frequently which is incredibly bright in contrast. Or, you might launch another application.

You might have a dark theme for your favourite desktop environment, but even so it is a lot harder to escape the majority of websites which are not dark. When you do end up launching such a website, the pupillary light reflex causes your pupils to contract very quickly. The amount of light entering the eye suddenly increases (even more so in darker conditions), and persistent occurence of this as a sudden transition can strain your eyes. This is not too dissimilar to going for a sprint without jogging first. For this reason a well-lit work area is just as important: that is, for when you look away from the monitor and back.

Now, I do not want to imply here that a purely white wallpaper, theme, or website background is ideal. A more ideal colour is one that is just off-white, to reduce glare which can also cause eyestrain and vision difficulties.

RSIBreak is also a nice application that helps you avoid repetitive strain injury.

http://francis.giannaros.org/blog/2007/07/07/why-dark-themes-and-terminals-can-strain-your-eyes/

Moreover, we refined our questions forming a group list.

• What is the difference between tone and shade?
• Is it possible that colours exist that we cannot perceive? 
• How critical is it to master colour theory when working in a professional environment?
• Is colour theory learnt or instinctive? 
• Does looking through one eye affect how we perceive colour?

We then swapped questions with a different group, we have to select one of the questions from their list and independently research into it. In next weeks session we will be answering the questions as a group. 


(add image of group questions)

Research

I researched into the question 'How do artificial/natural light effect the perception of colour?'

http://www.cristinacolli.com/how-light-affects-colour-and-tips-on-choosing-paint/

http://www.cis.rit.edu/fairchild/WhyIsColor/Questions/1-6.html

Firstly, I am going to define artificial light as lamps and household lights. Theses sources of artificial light emit tungsten light which is yellowish white in colour. The temperature of colour is measured in Kelvin Degrees,  tungsten light usually measures at around 3,200K. If a colour is directly exposed to tungsten light it will appear to change tone and hue, as the light adds chromatic value. Additionally, as tungsten light is yellowish in colour it can also appear to become warmer and gain temperature value.  Moreover, natural light can change dramatically. Depending on the time of day, the colours can appear to gain or loose chromatic value. In low light conditions, we perceive the hue of the colour as darker, as there is not as much light traveling to the cones and rods in our eyes. Contrasting this, in bright conditions a colour will appear more intense.

Next, we presented the professionally printed items we had previously been asked to bring to the session. Using a Linen tester enabled us to see in detail the method of colour mixing used on the item when printing. There are two types of mixing colours. 

Optical Mixing - Small coloured dots placed next to each other to make us perceive colours. The dots can be spaced differently to achieve different tones or mix colours to make us perceive a completely different colour.

Physical mixing - When the inks are already mixed prior to the print process. 

We then arranged the collected pieces of design into piles, sorted by the amount of colours used to produce it. 

1 colour used & stock for background.

4 colors used.

3 colours used.

2 colours used.

4 Colour Process

The four colour process mixes tiny dots of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. We optically mix theses and perceive a range of colours.

Offset Litho printing uses four CYMK colour plates, each with an individual colour. As mentioned above, the colours are mixed to create new colours. Upon inspecting the prints with a linen tester, we noticed that the dots on the darker plates were closer together, the dots on the lighter coloured plate has more space between them.

Tints are affected by the spacing in-between the dots. When there is less space between the dot the darker the tint.