Rochester Institute of Technology
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Theses
Thesis/Dissertation Collections
6-24-1988
Color theory as applied to typographic letterforms
Mark Lewis
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Recommended Citation
ROCHESTER INSTITUTE
OF
TECHNOLOGY
A Thesis
Submitted
to
the
Faculty
ofThe
College
ofFine
andApplied
Arts
in
Candidacy
for
the
Degree
ofMASTER OF
FINE
ARTS
COLOR
THEORY
AS
APPLIED
TO
TYPOGRAPHIC
LETTERFORMS
By
Mark
E.
Lewis
Date:
APPROVALS
Advisor:
R. R. RemingtQn
Date:
J
f.JJL-W----Associa~e
Advisot:
J.
Watson
Date:
Associate Advisor:
Mary Ann Begland
Date:
~/~(Ifhf
t7
'
Special Assistant to the
Dean for
Gr~duate
A(fairs: Prof
o Po
Bornarth
Date:
Dean, College of
Fine
&
Applied Arts; Dr. R. Johnston
Date:
S
I~
y
1£/
I
{
I, Mark
Eo
Lewis, hereby deny permission to the Wallace Memorial
Library of R.I.T., to reproduce my thesis in whole or in part.
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
I
Choice
of
Color
and
Typography
as
Thesis
Subject
1
II
Statement
of
Thesis
4
III
Format
5
IV
Typography
7
V
Color
9
VI
The
Seven
Color
Relationships
11
VII
Information
Panels
24
VIII
Process
ofProduction
33
Conclusion
36
I.
Choice
of
Color
and
Typography
asThesis
Subject
Throughout
my
educational
and
professional careerboth
colorand
typography
have
been
of
great
interest
to
me.I
have
usedboth
in
my
work,
although
mostoften
separately.
For
example,
I
have
done
agreat
deal
ofbrochures
and
the
like,
although
mostly
in
black
andwhite.
This
emphasis
continued
through
my
first
yearof
graduate
school,
in
which mostassignments
were
black
and
white.
In
my
second
year
I
decided
to
explore
these
issues in
moredetail.
During
the
summer
semester,
I
did
considerable
researchin
the
area of color anddiscovered
a greatdeal
oftheoretical
information
that
I
-had neverbefore
explored.
Most
ofthe
colortheory
work,
however,
appeared
to
address colorissues
through
the
use of uniform coloredshapes,
usually
squares,
ratherthan
colored
letters.
Accordingly,
I
decided
to
do
aresearch
projectthat
waswholly
devoted
to
illustration
of color principles and phenomenathrough
the
use oftypographic
letterforms.
After
I
decided
to
usecolor,
I
had
to
make
adetermination
of
what
an appropriate medium wouldbe.
In
order
for
the
project
to
have
a practicalapplication,
I
decided
to
use
colors
that
matched
the
Pantone
Color
System,
because
it
is
widely
used andrecognized within
the
graphicdesign
community.
The
Pantone
system
is
used
by
printers as well asgraphic
designers
andit
necessary.
The
colors
can
be
matched
in
printing
ink,
markers,
paint,
colored
paper,
and
silkscreen
inks.
These
multipleapplications
make
the
Pantone
system
and,
therefore,
this
thesis
useful
to
artists
and
designers
whomay
work
in
various media.The
final
preliminary
decision
to
be
made was whetherto
address
optical,
subjective
orobjective
color
issues.
Optical
color
study
is
mostclosely
alliedto
science.
One
studies andmeasures
the
properties
ofcolor
including
how
much of particularpigments must
be
combined
to
achieve a particularcolor,
the
wavelengths
oflight
that
producevarious
colors,
and othersimilar
kinds
ofinvestigations.
Subjective
colorinvestigations
are
studies
ofthe
use ofcolors
individually
andin
combinationto
create certainemotional or psychological
effects.
Objective
colorinvestigations
arethose
that
reach
the
issues
ofhow
colorsinterract
with each other when usedtogether.
Particularly,
this
areaaddresses
the
visual effectsthat
are produced.Optical
coloris
outsidemy
sphere ofinterest
andexpertise.
Although
subjective color questions areextremely
interesting,
I
believe
that
they
arebest
studied
through
reviews
ofhow
groups
of
individuals
react
to
colors
in
various
settings
and
contexts.
This
areablends
into
that
of
psychology
and would seemto
Objective
coloris
the
areathat
I
believe
relates mostdirectly
to
the
work ofthe
graphic
designer.
In
addition,
it
was
the
areathat
I
felt
I
wasmost
qualifiedto
address.II.
Statement
ofThesis
The
purpose
ofthis
thesis
is
to
investigate
colortheories
through
the
use oftypography
whileusing
the
Pantone
Color
System
as aguide.
The
examples
used arenot,
nor werethey
intended
to
be,
the
best
oronly
definition
of a particular colortheory.
Rather,
they
represent
one solutionto
a given problem.In
this
thesis
I
intended
to
illustrate
coloreffects,
(by
combining
color
andtypography,)
that
cannotbe
achievedthrough
III.
Format
The
first
thesis
format
that
I
proposed
wasto
apply
each ofthe
sevencolor
relationships
to
a series of postersbeing
developed
for
the
Bevier
Gallery.
I
intended
to
develop
a3
x7
grid
matrix,
withthree
posters,
each of which would appear withidentical
text
andimagery
in
all seven color relationships.With
this
approach,
I
intended
to
illustrate
how
the
sameposter
would
be
perceiveddifferently
in
the
various colorrelationships.
Also,
it
would
illustrate
how
three
different
posters,
in
the
same colorrelationship
woulddiffer
because
oftheir
contentand
imagery.
Sketches
were proposed and submittedto
my
committeechairman.
A
newdirection
was proposedbecause
the
postershad
already
been
displayed
andit
wasfelt
that
to
usethem
as athesis
subject wouldbe
redundant.Also,
the
postershad
imagery
as well as
typography
and,
therefore,
the
content ofthe
postersmight
distract
from
the
maintypographical
focus
ofthe
thesis.
I
then
returnedto
a conceptthat
developed
as an offshoot ofmy
theoretical
researchduring
the
summer.At
that
time,
I
had
begun
experimenting
with a singleline
offive
letters
in
variouscolors
to
illustrate
the
seven color relationships.That
linear
format
was expandedinto
a5
x5
gridthat
became
the
final
thesis
format
(See
111.
1).
This
format
allowed
the
use of morecolors and
also
providedthe
opportunity
to
explore
multipleIn
addition
to
these
panels,
I
conceived
two
more series ofseven
illustrations
each,
onefor
eachcolor
relationship.The
second
series
consisted
ofsuccinct
definitions
of each colorrelationship
sothat
the
series
ofletter
panels wouldbe
comprehensible
to
the
observer.
Each
ofthese
definition
panelsalso
contained
asingle
five-letter
line
that
illustrated
the
color
relationship
defined
by
the
text.
This
created a sense ofvisual
unity
among
the
panels.
The
final
series
wasto
consistof
examples
ofthe
use of each ofthe
color
relationshipsdrawn
from
existing
sources such asposters,
brochure
covers,
andsimilar
graphic
materials.This
final
serieshas
notbeen
executed
because
these
actual practical examplestend
to
combinevarious
color relationships anddo
not,
therefore,
illustrate
particular
relationships asthe
remainder ofthis
theoretical
project
does.
Another
problem reasonis
due
to
copyrightissues;
copyrighted
materials canonly
be
usedby
permission ofthe
IV.
Typography
The
primary
typeface
I
chose
wasHelvetica
andthe
type
weight
is
Bold
(See
111.
2).
This
combinationis
simple,
legible,
andeasy
to
reproduce.
Helvetica
is
a san-seriftypeface
composed
ofclean
straight
lines
with well-definedborders.
I
chose
the
bold
typeweight
because
it
provides goodvolume
and
is
easy
to
readin
this
individual
characterformat.
The
characters
chosen
for
all
panels
were"H",
"N",
and"Z".
These
three
areeasy
to
reproduce
and when placed nextto
eachother
the
character
borders
touch
in
someplaces,
whileproducing
interesting
figure-ground
relationships
in
others.All
three
characters
are ofthe
samesize
althoughthey
fill
differing
portions
oftheir
volume space.Throughout
the
generations ofthe
thesis,
the
characters usedto
illustrate
any
particularrelationship
changed.This
occurredbecause
I
visualizedthe
project as aseries
at
alltimes,
ratherthan
asa
group
ofindividual
panels.
Therefore,
the
characterschanged
asthe
order
ofthe
illustrations
changed.The
color andtonal
values of eachillustration
in
relationto
the
ones oneither
side
determined
the
order
ofthe
panelsand,
therefore,
their
character composition.All
characters
weretwelve
picas
in
height.
This
sizeis
large
enough
to
be
clearly
legible
in
anexhibit
format.
The
substrate
size
is
17"(102
picas)
x17".
This
size
wasarrived
at
by
taking
astandard
8
1/2"of paper and
experimenting
withit.
The
squareformat
ofthe
color section
dictated
a square substrate.Therefore
I
doubled
the
8
1/2"inch
side anddeveloped
a square.The
samemethodology
using
the
11" measurement resultedin
a substrateV.
Color
The
colors
used
to
illustrate
each
relationship
were chosenfor
either
one
of
two
reasons.
In
some
cases
the
relationship
itself
dictated
those
colors,
as
in
hue
and
cool-warm contrast.In
others
I
chose
colors
because
I
wanted
to
use asmany
colors(primary,
secondary
andtertiary)
in
the
series
aspossible,
for
visual
interest.
The
particular
Pantone
colors
chosen werebased
on researchand
evaluation
of eachcolor
in
relation
to
existing
colors ofthat
hue.
(See
111.
3,4)
In
other
words,
whenchoosing
a colorsuch as
orange,
I
chose aPantone
colorthat
the
observer wouldclearly
perceive
as orange.The
color
figures
in
eachrelationship
aresituated
to
createthe
greatest
contrastavailable
based
onweight,
intensity,
andcolor
soas
to
create astriking
visual effectinsofar
asis
consistent
withthe
color relationship.The
multiple color ground creates complex visual effectsthat
would
not exist with a solid colorground,
whetherit
werewhite,
black
or another color.In
the
panelsother
than
simultaneity
and
extension,
if
there
werefive
colorsin
the
figures,
I
chosethree
middle
tones
for
the
ground.This
choice
created a moresubdued
color
interaction
between
figure
andground
than
that
which
existed
among
the
figures
themselves.
In
effectthis
choice
created
asecondary
level
ofvisual
activity
in
each
In
the
case
of
simultaneity,
all
ofthe
figures
wereone
color
andthe
ground
wasthe
second
color.The
principal andonly
level
of
visualactivity
in
this
example wasthe
figure-ground
relationship
itself.
In
order
to
illustrate
contrast
ofextension,
the
all-grey
ground
that
I
chose
helped
the
viewer
to
perceivethe
weight andintensity
of
the
color
figures.
Had
there
been
a multiple colorground,
the
viewer
wouldhave
been
distracted
from
the
primary,
and
only,
effect
presentin
the
panel.In
my
early
investigation
of eachrelationship,
I
usedvarious colored
borders
on each panel.After
review ofthe
format,
it
wasdetermined
that
the
coloredborders
interacted
too
strongly
with,
anddetracted
from,
the
central color area and allpanels were
finalized
with whiteborders.
HELVETICA BOLD
FGHIJ
KLMNO
PQRST
UVWXY
VI.
The
Seven
Color
Relationships
Contrast
ofHue
even
those
ofthe
primary
colors,
containimpurities. As
colorsarecombinedthese
impurities
multiply,
dulling
the
contrast.
Contrast
ofhue
occurswhentwo
or morehues
are usedtogether.
This
contrast exhibitsits
strongestcharacterwhencomposed of
two
or more ofthe
primary
colors:red,
yellow,and
blue. Strength
ofthe
effectdiminishes
when otherhues
are used
because
ofthe
inherent impurities
ofreflective colors.
All
pigments,Adding
white orblack
to
a purehue
createstints
andshades of
that
hue.
Although
these
additions reducethe
contrast, tints
and shadescanbe
usedto
illustrate
ahue
relationship.
Careful
manipulation of
the
luminousity
of
the
colors usedis
requiredwhen
using
white orblack in
this
way
to
expressa contrastof
hue.
Although
this
contrastcanoccur
between any
two
ormore
colors,
care mustbe
taken to
minimize other colorrelationships or
the
intended
hue relationship may be
overshadowed, particularly
by
complementary,
cool-warm or'<u",
Contrast
ofhue
wasfrom
the
outsetillustrated
solely
by
'H"s.
This
use
ofletters
dictated
a verticalformat,
asthat
impression
naturally
emerges
from
an all "H" panel.The
originalversion
ofthis
panel
utilized
red,
blue,
green,
violet,
orange,
and
yellow.
The
letters
wereblue,
red,
green,
violet,
andorange,
while
the
ground
was yellow.I
worked onthree
versionsof
this
initial
phase,
one with a yellowborder,
one with awhite
border,
and one with ablack
border.
See
Exhibits
H-l,
H-2,
and
H-3.
These
various
coloredborders
introduced
and exploredthe
interaction
ofthe
central color area with a coloredborder.
White
provedthe
best
border
because
it
enhancedthe
image,
making
it
seemto
spring
offthe
substrate,
withoutinterfering
with
the
colorrelationship
itself.
Black
detracted
from
the
effect
and yellowtended
to
flatten
into
the
central area.After
white was chosen asthe
border,
asit ultimately
wasin
each
andevery
panel,
I
investigated
multiple color groundsto
replace
the
all-yellow ground.For
the
groundI
chose onelight,
one
dark,
and one middletone
color:yellow,
blue,
and red.See
Exhibit
H-4.
I
then
decided
to
use alltwelve
colors. ofthe
color wheel
in
the
panelin
orderto
maximize colorinteraction,
although
I
kept
only
three
background
colors.See
Exhibit
H-5.
This
composition wasessentially
the
final
version exceptfor
achange
in
value.All
prior
versions
had
used
pure saturatedhues,
but
the
light-dark
contrast
that
occurs
naturally
between
yellow andviolet
in
the
pure
saturatedstate
competed withthe
hue
effect.Accordingly,
I
lightened
each colorto
the
lightest
Pantone
colorin
the
final
version.
See
Exhibit
H-6.
This
changein
valuesubdued
the
light-dark
contrast withoutdetracting
from
the
contrast
of
hue.
--5 1
:;-PANTONE
172U
PANTONE
173U
PANTONE
405U
PANTONE
294U
PANTONE
Complementary
Color
color
is
that
colorwhichappears opposite on
the
colorwheel.
When any
pairofcomplementary
colors aremixed,
neutralgray-blackis
formed.
In
the
case of coloredlight
(direct
color)
the
complementof a color
is
that
color whichresults
from the
mixtureof allthe
other colors ofthe
visiblelight
spectrum.When
all ofthe
hues
of reflectedcolors aremixed, a neutral gray-black
will
be
the
result.The
complement ofareflected
Particular
pairs of complementsexhibit
distinctive
characteristics.
Yellow
andvioletare
the
extremes oflight
and
dark
colors.Red-orange
and
blue-green
form
acomplementary
paircomposedof
the
polar extremes of coolandwarm colors.
Red
andgreen constitute a
complementary
pairin
whichthe two
colorsareequalin
brilliance
as purehues.
When
complementsare placedadjacent,
but in very different
volumes, a remarkable
vividness
is
produced.This
vividness
is lost
asthe
volumesapproachequality.
Complementary
colorsincite
each other
to
a vividness whencontiguous, that
is
totally
lost
as
they
are mixed.Ultimately,
equal mixturesyieldMy
line
ofstudy
centered
around
red
and
green
with "H" and"Z"
in
avertical
reading
format.
I
reviewed
red
and green witha
red
border,
red
andgreen
with
a whiteborder,
and red andgreen
with
ablack
border.
See
Exhibits
C-l,
C-2,
andC-3.
After
review
ofall
of
these
variations
onthe
two
basic
solutions,
I
concluded
that
the
vertical
format
that
I
had
been
using
wastoo
distracting.
To
address
this
problem,
I
adopted anall "N"
horizontal
format
in
red and green with a whiteborder.
This
format
proved easierto
read.The
five
figure
colors arered,
green,
neutralgray,
gray-green,
and
gray-red
with ground colors ofred,
green,
and neutralgray-
See
C-4,
andC-5.
It
is
withExhibit
C-5
that
I
turned
to
an "N" and "Z"
format.
At
this
point,
I
determined
that
red and green was providedto
be
too
common of a solutionto
the
complementary
colorissue,
so
I
replacedthem
withblue,
orange andgray
whileretaining
the
scheme of color placement.
See
Exhibit
C-6.
The
final
version ofthis
panelis
blue,
orange,
andgray
in
an "H" and
"N"
horizontal
reading
format.
See
Exhibit
C-6.
PANTONE
Warm Red U
PANTONE
185U
PANTONE
Purple
U
PANTONE
293U
PANTONE
Cool-Warm
Contrast
The
two
polesofthe
cool-warm
relationship
arefound in
a pairof
tertiary
hues
blue-greenand red-orange.
Unlike
all other
hues,
these two
arealways
respectively
cool andwarm.
Although
the
colorsyellow
through
redto
red-violetare
generally
referredto
as
warm,
andthe
colorsyellow-green
through
blue
to
violetare
generally
referredto
ascool, these
descriptions
canbe
misleading.
All
ofthese
colorscan
be
either cool or warmdepending
on whetherthey
are paired with cooler orwarmercolors.
To
ensureastrong
cool-warmrelationship,
colorbrilliance
must
be
regulated.If both
poles
(blue-green
andred-orange)
areto
be included in
astudy, the
chromatic scaleshould
be formed
through
violet
because
the
colorsin
this
part ofthe
color wheel areclosest
in brilliance. Should
the
chromatic scalerunthrough yellow, then
allcolorbrilliances
shouldbe
equalto
that
of yellow orthe
strongesteffect will
be
alight-dark
relationship because
these
colors aremore
distant in
their
relative
brilliances.
Cool-warm
contrastis
arelativecolor relationship.
Colors
appearmore orless
cool or warm
depending
onwhether
they
are set againstaThroughout
the
various
studies
ofthe
cool-warmrelationship,
the
palette
of
colors
I
usedremained
the
same.It
consisted ofwarm
red,
red,
red-violet,
violet,
blue-violet,
blue,
andblue-green.
The
first typographical
solution
I
developed
consisted ofall
"N"s.
I
produced
and
reviewed
versions
using
violet asboth
ground
and
as aborder
(See
Exhibit
C/W-l),
violet as ground andwhite
asborder
(See
Exhibit
C/W-2),
andviolet
as ground andblack
as
border
(See
Exhibit
C/W-3).
Regardless
ofthe
border
color,
the
violet
wastoo
dark
in
value.
Because
of
issues
regarding
placement ofthis
relationship
within
the
series,
I
movedto
ahorizontal
"H" and "N"format.
I
substituted
red-violet,
blue-violet,
andblue-green
asground
colors.
See
Exhibit
C/W-4.
The
blue-green
and red-violetportions of
the
groundinterracted
well withthe
figures,
but
the
blue-violet
did
not.The
blue-violet
was stilltoo
dark
for
this
solution,
andthe
blue-violet
portions ofthe
ground appeared recededfar
beyond
the
rest ofthe
panel.Keeping
the
same colors asin
the
priorpanel,
I
then
used anall
"N"format
because
ofissues
regarding
placement withinthe
series.
See
Exhibit
C/W-5.
The
same problem withthe
blue-violet
remained,
asit
was notin
any
way
affectedby
the
letter
change.Up
through
this
point,
cool and warmfigures
had
been
integrated
throughout
the
panel.I
then
decided
to
do
aversion
that
contained
acool
and
a warmpole
within
the
panel.The
figures
in
the
top
two
rows
were
blue,
blue-green,
andred-violet.
The
bottom
two
rowscontained
red,
red-violet,
andred-orange.
The
center
rowcontained
in
sequence,
from
left
to
right,
blue,
blue-green,
red-violet,
red-orange,
and red.In
the
top
section,
the
ground
waspredominantly
cool,
containing
blue,
blue-green,
and
red-violet.
In
the
bottom
section,
the
groundwas
predominantly
warm,
containing
red,
red-violet,
andred-orange.
See
Exhibit
C/W-6
The
particularly
noteworthy
aspect ofthis
panelis
that
the
red-violet which appears
throughout,
looks
either cool or warmdepending
uponthe
context within whichit
is
placed.The
final
version presents a
pleasing
visual effectin
part alsobecause
ofthe
segregation ofthe
cooland
warm sections.msop
PANTONE
Yellow U
PANTONE
103U
PANTONE
104U
PANTONE PANTONE
Saturation
There
arefour
waysin
whichto
dilute
pure
hues,
each of which yieldsa
different
result.Adding
whiteto
a color creates atint.
A
shade
is
achievedby
adding
black
to the
hue.
Addition
ofgray
neutralizesacolor,
removing its
characteristictraits.
As
acomplementary
color
is
addedto the original,
aContrast
of saturationis
the
relationship
between
afully
saturated
hue
andits less
saturatedvariants.
grayish value
emerges,
whichintensifies
asthe
amountsofthe
colors approachequality,
at which point
the
mixtureis
gray-black.
Any
mixturecontaining
allthree
primary
colorslacks
brilliance. Proportions
canbe
controlled
to
causeit
to
appear
to
lean
moretoward
oneof
the primaries,
moretoward
a neutral gray-black ormore
toward
black.
Degree
ofsaturationis
notabsolute.
It
appearsto
vary
depending
onthe
brightness
ofthe
backgrounds
againstwhich
it
is
set.The
saturation
panelhad
two
distinct
generations,
the
first
of
which wasbased
on
amisunderstanding
of
the
saturationrelationship.
The
first
three
panels
had
ablue
ground
andblue-green,
green,
yellow-green,
and
yellowfigures.
I
executed onewith
a
blue,
one
with
awhite,
and
one
with
ablack
border.
See
Exhibits
S-l,
S-2,
andS-3.
All
of
these
were
in
an "N"format.
These
wererejected
because
ofthe
lack
of
blue
letters,
whichI
had
omitted
because
ofthe
difficulty
engendered
by
using
blue
letters
andblue
ground.
In
the
next
panel,
I
useda
whiteborder,
added
blue
as afigure
color
andused
ayellow,
blue,
andgreen ground.
See
Exhibit
S-4.
This
multiple
color
ground wasmore
visually
interesting
andthe
blue
letters
added visualdepth
to
the
panel.
The
next versionrepresents
the
only
one ofthis
generationof
the
saturationpanel,
asit
used
a "Z" and "H"format
but
with
the
same
figure
and groundcolors.
See
Exhibit
S-5.
At
this
point
I
realizedthat
I
had
misunderstoodthe
saturation
relationship.
The
previous panels exhibited astronger
light-dark
relationship
than
a saturationrelationship.
Further,
I
realized
that
in
order
to
illustrate
the
saturation
relationship,
I
must use
neutral
gray
as an additivecolor.
Responding
to
my
perception ofthis
problem,
I
adopted awholly
new
approach
using
yellow asthe
predominant
color.
I
assigned
each
ofthe
colorsthat
had
appearedpreviously
a
number
based
on
its
color
value.Each
ofthose
numbers wasthen
assigned
to
a
value
of yellow and gray.Because
ofplacement
issues
I
transferred
the
same colors andvalues
into
an "N"and
"Z"format.
See
Exhibit
S-6.
In
the
final
version,
the
three
groundcolors,
arethe
three
yellow-gray
admixtures
in
the
series
that
areclosest
to
gray.There
werestill areas of
high
contrast,
but
the
overall effect was moresubdued
and
illustrated
saturation
better,
withoutthe
intrusion
of
light-dark
contrast.1
k
PANTONE
354U
PANTONE
Simultaneity
Simultaneity
is
the
effect createdwhenthe
eyespontaneously
generatesanabsentcolor while
viewing
anothercolor.
This
phenomenon occurs
in
many
color relationshipsalthoughit
is
moststrongly
stimulatedby
a pure
hue. When
a chromatic and achromaticcolorofequalbrilliance
touch,
this
effectmakes
the
achromatic colorlook like
it
containsthe
complementof
the
chromaticcolor.
Each
oftwo
abutting
chromatic colorsthat
arenearly complementary
willappear
to
be the
exactcomplementof
the
other.Complements
that border
appear
to
oscillatebecause
ofthis
effect.The
absentcolorgeneratedis
not always
the
complementofthe
existing
color.There
aretwo
other color relationshipsin
whichentirely different
phenomena occur.
When
alight-to-dark
sequencewithina color
is
positioned sideto
side, the border
of eachsegment appears
to
vibrateas each color attemptsto
influence the
othertoward
itself.
This
effectis
calledsuccessive contrast.
A
coloredfigure
with a whitegroundcreatesstill another
illusion.
Instead
ofseeing
the
complement as
the
figure
on a white ground asthe
afterimage,
the
figure becomes
white and
the
groundbecomes
the
color.This is
calledcontrast reversal.
Each
ofthe
colorsin
these
relationshipsattempts
to
influence the
other.As
this
occurs,
the
original color appearsto lose
its
characterwhile
the
sensation ofthe
simultaneous
hue
appearsto
strengthen.
This
effectexplainswhy, after
staring
at a colorfor
a prolonged period and thenlooking
at a whiteground, the
eye sees aresulting
transparentafter-image.
The
perceived effect ofsimultaneity is
characterizedby
visualactivity
ofcontinually
changing
intensity
that
causesthe
colorsto
oscillate.This
vibration
is
causedsubjectively
by
the eye,
notThe
Simultaneity
panel
began
with
a vertical"H",
"Z",
and"N"
format
using
light
gray
letters
and
an all-yellow ground.The
yellow
and
the
gray
used
wereequal
in
value.I
investigated
one
version
with
ayellow
border,
one with a whiteborder,
andone
with
a
black
border.
See
Exhibits
SC-1,
SC-2,
SC-3.
After
further
research
I
determined
that
by
using
two
colorsthat
areinexact
complements,
I
would
achieve
a morestriking
illustration
ofthis
relationship.
In
addition,
the
originalcolor
combination
wasvery
similar
to
that
ofthe
saturationpanel.
The
placement ofthis
panel withinthe
seriesultimately
required a solution
using
only
"Z"s,
andI
investigated
a numberof versions
using
one color asfigure
and one color as ground.The
first
of
this
group
was yellow andlight
gray,
using
the
samecolors
that
I
had
employedin
the
"H",
"Z",
and "N" version.See
Exhibit
SC-4.
This
solution providedvery
little
contrast.The
nexttwo
colors with whichI
worked wereblue
andyellow-orange.
See
Exhibits
SC-5.
These
colors wereacceptable,
andprovided an
interesting
textural
effectbecause
ofthe
all-"Z"format.
Interestingly,
however,
because
ofthe
simultaneity
effect,
when
using
one ofthe
colors asthe
figure
and one asthe
ground,
they
appearedto
be
perfect complements.Although
this
wasobviously
a successfuldemonstration
ofthe
relationship,
it
would
not
be
apparent
to
the
viewer
whowould
simply
seetwo
colors
that
appeared
to
be
complements.
My
solution
to
this
problem
wasto
isolate
the
two
colors.Each
would
appear
on
awhite
ground
and,
in
the
centeronly,
nextto
each
other,
so
the
viewer
would
be
able
to
seethe
operation
of
the
simultaneity
effect.
See
Exhibit
SC-5.
This
first
version
ofthe
segregated
format
wasessentially
vertical.I
movedaway
from
these
colors
whileretaining
the
newformat
for
two
reasons.
First,
and
mostimportant,
the
entire sevenpanel
series
wastoo
dark
and
the
blue
in
this
panel contributedto
the
problem.
Second,
the
blue
was so muchdarker
than
the
yellow-orange
that
alight-dark
relationship
began
to
intrude
into
the
panel,
detracting
from
the
simultaneity
relationship.As
red and greenhad
been
removedfrom
the
complementary
panel,
I
experimented
with red-orange(warm
red)
and green.I
did
several
versionsin
whichthese
colors wereisolated.
In
the
first
one,
I
found
the
patternto
be
too
dominant.
See
Exhibit
SC-7.
This
combination wasproperly
balanced
andin
the
final
version
I
simply
reversedthe
positions ofthe
green andthe
red-orange
for
whatI
felt
was a more attractive solution.See
Exhibit
SC-8.
Within
the
overallseries,
this
solution alsohad
a
better
relationship
to
the
Cool/Warm
panel./
/
kJ
PANTONE
Yellow U
PANTONE
Warm Red
U
PANTONE
266U
PANTONE320U
PANTONE151U
PANTONE185U
PANTONEReflex Blue
UColor Proportion
Color
proportion,
alsoknown
as contrast of
extension,
concerns
itself
withthe
volumetric
relationship
between
two
or more color areas.Value
ofthe
colors usedand volume
both interact
withthe
background,
asin
the
example used.
Although
colorsnaturally
canbe
appliedin
areasof
any
size, there
existsa quantitativerelationship
between
brilliance
andvolumethat
allows multiple colorsto
be
usedin
areas ofvarying
sizes withoutone color
dominating. For
two
colors ofvarying brilliance
to
appear equalin
intensity,
the
volume of each mustbe
inversely
related
to
its brilliance.
The
proportionalbrilliance
of one colorto
anothercanbe
expressed throughnumerical
ratios.
Under this analysis,
each color receives a
numerical value.
For example,
yellow
is
9,
orangeis
8,
redand green are
both
6,
blue is
4,
and violetis 3.
Yellow
is
three
times
asbrilliant
asviolet,
orange
has
twice
the
brilliance
of
blue,
and red and green areequal.
Utilization
ofthe
volumetric ratios
among
colors createsabalance that
compensates
for
differences
in
brilliances.
When
colors are relatedproportionally, the
effectis
balanced
and sedate.The
Extension
panel
was
the
only
one
in
whichI
worked with anon-repetitive
typographic
design.
Initially,
the
panelillustrated
the
inverse
relationship
between
brightness
andvolume.
The
figures
wereyellow
andthe
ground
wasred,
showing
that
in
order
to
achieve
abalanced
effect,
one
needed a smallervolume
ofyellow
to
balance
the
red.
I
use a vertical"N",
"Z",
and
"H"typographic
format
with
ared,
awhite,
and ablack
border.
See
Exhibits
E-l,
E-2,
andE-3.
The
redborder
had
too
much red
in
relation
to
yellow andthereby
destroyed
the
balance
of
the
panel,
andthe
black
border
had
adarkening
influence
onthe
groundcolor.
I
then
experimented with a newformat
that
containedregular,
medium,
andbold
letterforms,
See
Exhibit
E-4.
The
red-violetin
this
version was stilltoo
dark
andI
decided
to
changethe
layout
to
conform moreclosely
to
the
othersin
the
overallseries,
i.e.
a more regular pattern wasdeveloped.
I
reversedfigure
andground,
using black
asthe
figure
andvarious
colors asthe
groundto
see whatinfluence
black
wouldhave
on similar shapesin
different
colors.See
Exhibit
E-5.
Although
the
textural
pattern wasinteresting,
the
black
letters
overshadowed
the
rest ofthe
panel.More
importantly,
this
version
did
not provide anillustration
of contrast of extension.Returning
black
to
the
ground,
I
assigned each color anumerical value
from
1-4,
based
uponits
brilliance.
This
four-value
schemeis
analogousto
the
four
typeweights.
Hence,
acolor
designated
as a "1"would
have
the
lightest
(thinnest)
typeweight
and
a "4"would
have
the
heaviest
typeweight
to
compensate
for
its
lack
ofbrilliance.
See
Exhibit
E-6.
Upon
further
review ofmy
research
I
realized
I
had
taken
afalse
pathusing
black
as aground.
Using
black
as a groundlessens
the
brilliance
ofdark
colors
andheightens
the
brilliance
ofbright
colors.A
midneutral-gray
shouldhave
been
used
because
it
does
notinfluence
the
brilliance
of colors.white
PANTONE290U
PANTONE
291U
PANTONE
292U
PANTONE
293U
PANTONE
294U
PANTONE
295U
PANTONE
296U
PANTONE
Light-dark Contrast
Light-dark
contrastis
mostdramatic
when whiteandblack,
the
achromaticpoles,
are used
to illustrate it.
Of
the
chromatic
colors, the
complementary
pair ofyellowand violet exhibit
the
moststriking
light-dark
relationship.Compositions
that
showthis
contrastcan
be
createdwithmany
color combinations.These
include:
white,black,
and
grays;
white,black
orgray
with chromaticcolors; tints
and shades of a particular
hue;
and pure
hues
such asyellowand violet.
A
complication ariseswhenusing
purehues
to illustrate
this
contrastbecause
ahue's
valuevarieswith
the
intensity
of external
illumination.
Red,
orange,
and yellowappeardarker in
reducedlight,
whileblue
and greenlook
lighter.
When
several colors are usedtogether,
anillusion
ofdepth
can
be
achieved.Grouping
ofcolors similar
in
lightness
ordarkness
causesdifferent
planes
to
emerge.For
example,
agrouping
oflight
colorsappears
to
be
on ahigher
planethan the
remainderof
the
composition.If tones
are not segregatedby
lightness,
then
aflat
overalleffect
is
achieved.Although
gradationsin
brilliance among
achromatic colorsareeasily
distinguished,
as are
those
withintints
andshadesofone chromatic
hue,
when
different hues
arecompared,
perceptualproblems arise.
Careful
observation
is necessary
to
identify
colors of equalbrilliance
sothat
desired
effects are not
distorted.
The
light/dark
panel
utilized
essentially
the
same colorsthroughout
its
development.
In
the
first
versionthe
figures
were
light
blue,
mid-blue,
blue,
and
dark-blue
with a groundthat
was
entirely
blue-black.
I
did
this
with ablue-black,
awhite,
and
a
black
border.
See
Exhibits
L/D-l,
L/D-2,
andL/D-3.
Next
I
added
whiteto
the
figures
and
replaced
the
blue-black
groundwith
dark-blue,
mid-blue,
and
white.
See
Exhibit
L/D-4.
To
balance
the
volume
of
whitefigures,
I
added ablack
figure
and
added
more
white
to
the
ground.See
Exhibit
L/D-5.
Up
through
this
point,
the
letters
had
been
"H"and
"N"
reading
horizontally,
but
because
ofthe
overall seriesorder,
I
changed
to
"N",
"H",
and"Z",
whileretaining
the
color positionsof
the
figures.
Because
ofthe
typographical
change,
I
reinvestigated
the
position ofthe
colorsin
the
ground althoughthe
actual colors stayedthe
same.IX.
Informational
Panels
Each
of
the
seven
color
panels
has
a separateassociated
information
panel.
The
purpose
of
these
panels wasto
give aconcise
explanation
ofeach
ofthe
seven
color
relationships sothat
the
viewer
would
understand
the
associated
color panel.The
language
was
written
in
such
away
asto
be
clearto
the
lay
audience.
Each
informational
panel
was alsovisually
identified
with
its
color
panel
for
the
viewer's
comprehension.
I
determined
that
the
overall
dimensions
ofthe
substrate ofthe
information
panels wouldbe
the
same asthat
ofthe
substrateof
the
color
panels.
First
I
wrote adraft
ofthe
copy
for
the
information
panels.
This
gave mesome
idea
ofhow
muchcopy
would
be
included
on each panel.A
clear statementdescribing
each
ofthe
color relationships requiredbetween
between
1000
and2400
characters.After
writing
the
copy,
I
decided
on nine pointtype
withthree
points ofline
spacing.I
decided
onthis
type
specification
based
on research and review ofmany
examples ofbody
copy.This
specification waslarge
enoughto
be
readeasily,
but
small enoughto
fit
withinthe
viewer's area offocus.
I
used afour
columnlayout
withtwo
twelve
point unitsfor
each
margin and onetwelve
point unitfor
each gutter(See
111.5).
This
layout
wasbased
upon a square modulargrid
composed of sixteen modules.
Each
square module was composed of121
twelve-point
units:
fifteen
across
and
fifteen
down.
The
line
length
of afour
column
layout
with
this
size
type
waseasy
to
read,
lacking
the
distraction
of alayout
with more columns
in
which
the
eye
must
travel
continually
up
anddown
the
page,
or alayout
with
fewer
columns
and
longer
lines,
in
whichthe
eye musttravel
along
distance
across
the
page.
Further,
aone-column
ortwo-column
layout
lacked
the
figure-ground
interest
of amulti-column
layout
such asthis
one.After
establishing
this
layout,
I
developed
aheadline
andbody
copy
horizon
line
which
were placedconsistently
throughout
the
informational
panels.Initially
the
headline
wasto
be
a mediumtypeweight
andthe
copy
wasto
be
a regulartypeweight.
The
headline
was mediumtypeweight
for
emphasis andthe
copy
was regulartype
weight,
whichis
easy
to
readin
a columnarformat.
This
first
series ofblack
and white panels served as sketchesfor
later
developments
ofthe
informational
panels.Looking
atthe
overall appearance of eachpanel,
each would containa
white(substrate)
area,
agray
(copy)
area,
and ablack
(headline)
area.Because
ofthe
"color"
variation,
each sectionof
the
panel would appearto
be
on adifferent
plane.The
relatively
large
volume of white madeit
the
ground.The
value
of
the
body
copy
madeit
the
midground.Finally,
the
boldness
ofthe
typeface
in
the
headline
madeit
the
foreground.
Naturally,
these
depth
relationships were relativeto
each other ratherthan
absolute..
Using
linespacing
as atypographic
element,
in
each caseI
separated
the
first
sentence
ofcopy
from
the
remainder ofthe
text.
Between
paragraphs,
I
added
anadditional
linespace.
I
manipulated
the
copy
sothat
column
lengths
varied.All
headlines
remained
in
the
same
position
in
the
upperleft
quadrant,
flush
with
the
left
margin.
The
headline
wasimmediately
above,
andthe
same
length
as,
the
left
column ofbody
copy
simply
one
module
higher.
This
placement allowedthe
headline
to
provide
anintroduction
to
the
body
copy.Looking
atthe
informational
panels as agroup
presentedin
ahorizontal
row,
the
headline
andcopy
horizon
line
remainedconstant
throughout.
Each
panel,
however,
displayed
adifferent
gray/ white,
or
figure-ground
relationship
based
onthe
variancein
length
of columns and overallquantity
oftype.
See
Exhibit
TS-1.
After
developing
this
black
and whiteseries,
using
anidentical
layout
andformat,
I
developed
a color series.See
Exhibit
TS-1.1
-TS-1.
7.
In
the
headline
space,
I
placed a graphicband
that
I
willrefer
to
asthe
"header,"
consisting
of aline
oftwo,
three,
four
orfive
charactersfrom
the
associated color panel.Beneath
the
header
was a narrowband
of color whichI
will referto
asthe
head-line.
This
created a variationin
length
ofthe
headline
that
had
not existedin
the
black
and whitesketch
series.
These
characters werein
the
color palette ofthe
color
relationship
panel,
but
not
necessaily
in
the
particular color orcolor
in
which
they
appeared
onthe
color
panelitself.
The
useof
the
characters
from
the
color
panels
gave
the
information
panels
visual
continuity
withtheir
respective
color panels.In
each
panel
the
body
copy
wasonly
one color.This
colorwas
notnecessarily
identical
to
that
in
the
head-line,
and wasin
most
cases
identical
to
atleast
one ofthe
colorsthat
appeared
in
the
header
band.
In
the
extensionpanel,
the
colorof
the
body
copy
wasthe
same asthat
ofthe
head-line
andheader.
Each
of
the
information
panelsin
this
series also containeda
background
color
that
illustrated
the
colorrelationship