I was poking around online for info on color…. just to see if there was anything really new. I did find this interesting article “Psychology of Color” by David Johnson on infoplease.com.

Some of the info in this article is correct, some is not. Let’s take a look!

At the beginning, Mr. Johnson states: “Colors often have different meanings in various cultures. And even in Western societies, the meanings of various colors have changed over the years. But today in the U.S., researchers have generally found the following to be accurate.” I’m curious about who these researchers are because of the inaccuracies promoted here.

Mr. Johnson writes about the color BLACK: “It is popular in fashion because it makes people appear thinner. It is also stylish and timeless. Black also implies submission. Priests wear black to signify submission to God. Some fashion experts say a woman wearing black implies submission to men.”

Yes, black does make people appear thinner, but I think the main reason people wear black clothing is that the color is both anonymous as well as avant-garde and powerful, depending on the context. Anonymous in that everyone wears black- it’s an all-purpose color for work, going out at night and you tend to blend in. Wear a little black dress to a cocktail party and you’ll look stylish and timeless as Mr. Johnson asserts correctly, but wear a red dress and you’ll get noticed. The part about black implying submission is interesting, I agree with the priest’s garb but not the part about women submitting to men. What about all of the men in black; are they submitting to women? Maybe they are submitting to other men.

On the color RED: “Red clothing gets noticed and makes the wearer appear heavier….Red cars are popular targets for thieves.” Yes, I agree with Johnson, red clothing does get you noticed, as long as you are not in a sea of others wearing red, such as the Art Congress I attended in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. The wisdom about red making you appear heavier is a generalization. Black can do the same thing if the clothes are ill fitting. I’ve looked on the web for info on the most popular cars stolen by color but couldn’t find anything, mainly because it’s not an issue. Thieves (and statisticians) are interested in make and model of cars, not the color.

On GREEN: Johnson states: “It is the easiest color on the eye and can improve vision… People waiting to appear on TV sit in "green rooms" to relax. …. Hospitals often use green because it relaxes patients.” Both of these statements are partially wrong. Green is the easiest color on the eye because it focused right on the center of fovea so eye muscles have less work to do. But looking at green doesn’t improve vision.

Most green rooms nowadays are not even green anymore, but I found a nicely researched article about the origin of the “green room” here, which of course started in theater.

Hospitals used green (newer hospitals are much more progressive with their decorating!) because originally it was used as a color for hospital staff clothing, walls, and surgical drapes in operating rooms to compensate for the red of blood and open wounds. With green all around, the after images a nurse or doctor would see looking at red for hours at a time would be neutralized by a soft green environment. Unfortunately, that green intended for the surgery spread like a virus all over the hospital and you ended up with hideous “institutional green” hospitals. Depressing! I'm almost certain Faber Birren came up with this brilliant idea, but as most great ideas, it became corrupted.

YELLOW: Johnson writes that “people lose their tempers more often in yellow rooms, and babies will cry more. “ I’ve been hunting for the so-called study on this weird phenomenon attributed to yellow since about 2000. Still haven’t seen anything proving this. I always tell people to use yellow in your room if you like it.

PURPLE: He writes, “However, because it is rare in nature, purple can appear artificial.” Number one, “purple” is a color mixture. Violet is probably what he is referring to. Although I don’t have numbers of how uncommon it is, I see violet in nature all the time! Just type in “violet flowers” into Google image search and see what I mean….Blue is the color I don’t see as often in nature as violet.

BROWN: He states, “Light brown implies genuineness while dark brown is similar to wood or leather. Brown can also be sad and wistful.” Huh? The first sentence makes absolutely no sense. Maybe he thinks that wood only comes in one color. Is brown sad? I suppose if it’s your least favorite color.

Anyway, that’s my take on his article on infoplease. Maybe he’ll sign up for an IACC seminar so he can get back on track!
Ciao,
Reb