Evolving with colors, one shade at a time.
What is Color?
Color is how we see light. Without light there is no color, light bounces off objects to create the hues that are picked up by our eyes. Similarly, screens require light to display color properly. This is just one of the many characteristics of color in addition to things like hue, chroma, tint, value, shade, etc. Colors can also have abstract meanings or represent different things.
Color as a Social Class Statement
The meaning of color has been recorded as far back as thousands of years. Color history focuses dominantly on textiles, art, and the respective social status that they represented at that time. History is shady has been riddled with drama. In the Middle Ages only wealthy people wore red for example, while peasants wore grey and brown, and traders/merchants often wore green. This pattern creates an instant opinion when looking at someone’s attire, this was directly correlated with the price of red textiles versus their other counterparts.
Did you know that, at one point, green could kill you?
While red may have killed your bank account in the Middle Ages, its complimentary color, green, may have literally killed you around the late 1700s. Scheele’s Green and Paris Green were two hues that created quite the drama back in the day. They were both used in textiles, wall paint, wallpaper, children’s toys, paintings, and furnishings. Scheele’s was made with the toxic arsenite, while Paris green was made with deadly arsenic and copper. Both colors are blamed for deaths, illnesses, and long-term effects from people and artists that were exposed to the fumes.
Color Today
Today, green is safe. Green is nature, it is considered to represent life, plants, and nature. It can also be used to represent money and wealth. Green can also be used to indicate a radioactive or toxic scenario. Red on the other hand represents danger, alarms, stopping. Red can also represent love, and passion. It is also the color of blood, so it is often used in medical logos. Together, green and red represent Christmas.
Color has different meaning to different people and should be used accordingly. Does green represent money because money is green now or is it because the traders used to wear this color in the Middle Ages? Color psychology will continue to evolve and adopt meaning as time goes on and depending on the location and culture of the viewer.
