www.artsy.net: By the 1920s, researchers were just about ready to throw in the towel regarding that straightforward question, “What’s your favorite color?” People’s answers appeared far too idiosyncratic to study in any substantive way. But as statistical tools and color standardization improved during the decades that followed, a pattern slowly but surely began to emerge.
Everyone liked blue.
4 comments:
This article was really cute. I feel that the question of, "What's your favorite color?" is the most elementary about a person as it does not reveal much. I definitely agree with the theory that we associate our preferences for certain colors based on our experience with them, so therefore I am not too shocked to hear that blue is the worlds favorite color. I do really like to hear people opinions on the idea of if all humans see colors the same way. One person's blue might be different for another person. These types of preferences definitely change over time. I remember when I was younger my favorite color was yellow but my teacher would not let me use a yellow crayon on everything because it was hard to see. The experiment they describe is a very interesting concept, I would like more details to how this was done, as it seems like something a test subject would catch onto and that could throw the results a certain way.
I genuinely thought this article was so interesting. The scientists originally thought that the preference for blue was based on DNA but actually it came down to Nature vs Nurture. People associate blue with lots of good things and hardly any negative things. As I was reading this article, I was raking my brain for any examples of when I associated blue with something bad, and honestly couldn't come up with anything except frostbite but even that has a purplish tint. I think this knowledge is fascinating because today companies and even theater can use it to their advantage to set the mood. I learned something similar to this called Color Theory and it is truly fascinating to think that when blue lighting washes the stage everyone feels calm but when a dark red of eery green cross the stage people can feel uncomfortable and scared. This kind of affect is all based on how we were raised and what objects we associate, negatively and positively, to our feelings.
I find color theory and the emotional and cultural connotations of color fascinating. We all understand on an instinctive level (if not a theoretical one) that different colors invoke different emotions: red is aggressive and passionate, blue is calm, yellow is energetic, etc. But I found the part of the article that talked about color experience and preference being shaped by personal experience fascinating. As the article pointed out, blue being universally like as a color makes sense when you consider that the clear, blue sky and the sea are almost universally positive experiences. The same can be said of green and lush grass and leaves. But I wondered when reading this article how strong those individual experiences can be in shaping preferences? If someone works in an emergency room, over time will their preference for dark reds, purple, yellows, and browns diminish? Furthermore, if artists can utilize this information to shape an audience's experience of color? Color is just another facet of the world that is shaped far more by personal experience and cultural connotation than we could ever know.
What a coincidence! My favorite color is blue! I think it is fascinating to study why we like certain colors. I remember reading an article a few years ago about prisons and how the use of blue uniforms lowers the rate of violent incidents between inmates. The idea that we like blue or find it calming is due to the objects we associate them with is intriguing. Reds and yellows are known for promoting hunger (which is why the inside of certain fast food restaurants liberally use this color scheme). Why is that? Is it due to the red of meat and apples or have these colors been affiliated with restaurants for so long that it became a self-fulfilling prophesy? We might be able to consciously use this knowledge in designs. Can we incorporate blues into relaxed sets or happy moments? Can we turn it on its tail and use a blue for a violent scene or a vomit-yellow for a happy one? Might color be able to hint at unrest in a seemingly peaceful set or call attention to a specific prop?
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