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Pulling colours out of a hat is a typical past time for every artist, and a subconscious act that goes on inside every person. We are attracted to colours and harmonies - each of them carry significant cultural and personal weight. So how do we use this colour bias to help us create beautiful and considered colour schemes for the web?
This is the Opticks series - a diverse look at the topic of colour to which Newton dedicated a book of the same name. There will be discussions on favouritism, theory, signature colours and resources. I will mostly look at how to apply colour knowledge to the web however it is applicable to any venue in which colour plays a primary role including fashion, art, print, interiors and so forth.
Today’s topic is brought to you by the colour red - one of the original eight original Crayola crayons and one of the most common colours used for cars. It’s a passionate and dangerous colour, and like every colour invokes unique emotions and thoughts. That seems to be the universal way to interpret colour but the weight any colour carries is extraordinary.
Red is the colour of controversial mega-brands such as Coca Cola and Virgin, but it is also used by charities such as the Red Cross and for AIDS awareness. In China it is customary for the bride to wear red, since the colour is associated with wealth and prosperity. Hop across the pond and red becomes the bridal colour of Satan’s concubines. Rock on.
Coupled with green it becomes a Christmas colour. Coupled with colour blindness it becomes green. Mixed with green and it becomes a shade of grey. Put next to green and it appears to be fuzzy. Stare at green and when you close your eyes you’ll see red. Dress in neon green and red and you’ll possibly cause blindness, seizures and memory loss.
Red lights illuminate active brothels, red underwear is considered tarty, red heads are stereotyped as being sex crazed. Dark reds are used by Ann Summers catalogues to advertise their kinky lingerie. It’s the colour of blood, on around 80% of the planets flags, has been used to simultaneously symbolise revolution and Communism, can be invisible to the naked eye as infrared, and is a primary colour.
Burgundy. Please, God, tell me I have not inspired something burgundy. Red! Red! Red! Red, Charlie boy. RED! Is the color of sex! Burgundy is the color of hot water bottles! Red is the color of sex and fear and danger and signs that say, DO. NOT. ENTER. All my favorite things in life. Lola, Kinky Boots 2005
Red isn’t just a colour, it’s a story told by millions. Everything from where the colour is, how much of the colour is used and the shade of the colour is intricately connected to millions of things of which you have and have not experienced. Before thinking about what colours to choose for an identity consider the power of a single colour.
Comments
I love red. I look amazing in red no matter what colour my hair is. It’s a miracle colour, really.
I’m half-inclined to wear red to my wedding. 
Excellent blog alert, goddamn! I’ll never think about the colour red in the same way again.
Love the new site by the way.
Hi Lil… Ah, change of blog URI. OK, I will update my links. Just dropping by to tell you I’ll be doing that.
First, sorry I haven’t been dropping by. I needed to go away for a while, remove myself from the noise of the blogosphere and focus on things in my life that needed fixing. Yikes, “a while” being nearly 6 months so far and counting. O_o
Roses are red. Violets are blue. I’ve been mostly blue.
I’ll be back.
Later days,
Massa P.
Oh, and I also wanted to wish you a Happy Belated Birthday. Sorry for the lateness.
Oh, I love colours. Especially when they’re given more meaning. That’s awesome. I like to think of red as a revlutionary colour
But oooh, I love your new design! Cute little twittering birdie!
I will read the article after I post this comment. I just had to say how brilliantly this site adapts when you zoom in with firefox…it’s actually incredible!!
Time to read the post now
…and a very good article is is too!
It’s also true that many of the best football teams in the world play in red. Not nearly as interesting as your points!
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