Color Attraction

 

What Is Color?

We perceive color just as we perceive taste.

 In 1666, English scientist Sir Isaac Newton discovered that when pure white light is passed through a prism, it separates into all of the visible colors. Newton also found that each color is comprised of a single wavelength and cannot be separated any further into other colors.

 Similarly, when we look at a scene, our visual nerves register color in terms of the attributes of color: the amount of green-or-red; the amount of blue-or-yellow; and the brightness.

The Psychological Effects of Color

Scientists, doctors and mental health professionals have been studying the correlation between color and mood for years. Many now believe that colors cannot only cause emotional reactions, but can also correct mood and well being.

Recent studies suggest that we don’t actually see color, but “feel” it instead. Scientists now believe that each individual “feels” color in their heart, and not their head.

Colors behave in three basic ways: active, passive and neutral.

 While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Colors in the red area of the color spectrum are known as warm colors and include red, orange, and yellow. These warm colors evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility.

Colors on the blue side of the spectrum are known as cool colors and include blue, purple, and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.

Gray	Elegance, humility, respect, reverence, stability, subtlety, wisdom, old age, anachronism, boredom, decay, decrepitude, dullness, dust, entanglement, pollution, urban sprawl, strong emotions, balance, neutrality, mourning, formality.
White	Light, Reverence, purity, snow, peace, innocence, cleanliness, simplicity, security, humility, sterility, winter, coldness, criticism, surrender, cowardice, fearfulness, unimaginative, air, fire, hope, bland, empty and unfriendly(interior), celebration.
Black	Absence, modernity, power, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, style, evil, death, fear, anonymity, anger, sadness, remorse, mourning, unhappiness, sex, seriousness, conventionality, rebellion, anarchism, unity, sorrow, life, rebirth.
Red	Passion, strength, energy, fire, love, sex, excitement, speed, heat, arrogance, ambition, leadership, masculinity, power, danger, gaudiness, blood, war, anger, revolution, radicalism, socialism, communism, aggression, summer, autumn, respect, Studies show that red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising blood pressure; red also is said to make people hungry; the red ruby is the traditional 40th wedding anniversary gift. Red is also the color of the devil in modern Western culture.
Blue	Seas, men, productive, skies, peace, unity, harmony, tranquility, calmness, coolness, confidence, conservatism, water, ice, loyalty, dependability, cleanliness, technology, winter, depression, coldness, idealism, obscenity, tackiness, air, wisdom, royalty, nobility,strength, steadfastness, light, friendliness, peace, truthfulness, love, sadness, aloofness.
Green	Great intelligence, life, nature, bad spirits, spring, fertility, youth, environment, wealth, money, good luck, vigor, generosity, grass, aggression, inexperience, envy, misfortune, coldness, jealousy, disgrace, illness, greed, corruption, life eternal, sincerity, hope, renewal, natural abundance, growth, health, balance, harmony, stability, calming, creative intelligence. Green is believed to be the luckiest of colors
Yellow	Sunlight, joy, happiness, earth, optimism, intelligence, idealism, wealth, summer, hope, cowardice, illness, dishonesty, avarice, weakness, greed, femininity, gladness, sociability, summer, friendship, deceit, courage
Purple	Envy, Sensuality, bisexuality, spirituality, creativity, wealth, royalty, nobility, ceremony, mystery, wisdom, enlightenment, arrogance, flamboyance, gaudiness, mourning, profanity, exaggeration, confusion, pride, riches, romanticism, delicacy, penance.
Orange	Happiness energy, balance, heat, fire, enthusiasm, flamboyance, playfulness, aggression, arrogance, gaudiness, overemotion, warning, danger, autumn, desire. Orange has less intensity or aggression than red and is calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow.
Brown	Calm, boldness, depth, natural organisms, nature, richness, rusticism, stability, tradition, anachronism, fascism, boorishness, dirt, dullness, filth, heaviness, poverty, roughness, down-to-earth. Brown can stimulate the appetite, wholesomeness, steadfastness, simplicity, friendliness, and dependability.
Pink	Spring, gratitude, appreciation, admiration, sympathy, femininity, health, love, sex, June, marriage, joy.