My thoughts on the Yellow Submarine

The “Yellow Submarine” is a very colorful and graphic animation movie. It is highly reflective of the organic shapes, clashing colors and almost hypnotizing contrasts in the 70s. The following are some of the way color was used in a powerful way to compliment the music and the narrative of the story:

• In the opening scene, Pepperland was a harmonious and happy place. The scene had an organic and hand-drawn illustration quality, and was composed of whimsical objects, floral and foliage in backgrounds, and vibrant warm colors of greens, yellows and reds. All these elements suggested of harmony and nature. A cheerful classic music was playing in the background.
• In the scene where the villains “the Blue Meanies” appeared, the backdrop has been changes to a bleak monochromatic white and grey scheme, with the villains colored in contrasting deep blue. The cool and harsh color scheme is strikingly different from the previous scene. The music also changed from harmonious to dramatic and sharp. As the Blue Meanies attacked the people of Pepperland, and all victims that were frozen and turn into black and white statues, further emphasizing the contrast between the two worlds.
• In the scene of “All the Loney People”, we see a backdrop of the grey cityscape of London, and this time, the graphic is more photo-like and realistic, giving us a sense of seriousness and reality compared to the organic hand-drawn illustrations before. This of course corresponded with the seriousness of the music and lyrics of the song. With this backdrop, the bright yellow of the submarine really stood out, creating a strong focal point.
• At the large whimsical mansion where the members of the Beatles were living, it is interesting to see the different theme, music and colors in the different rooms. For example, the India room has a warm, deep violet color scheme, and had Indian music as the background music. The interior hallways of the mansion also had neutral colors and simple design, creating a contrast to the rooms, which were overfilling with whimsical and colorful characters and objects.
• In the Yellow Submarine” underwater “scene, the graphic was very vibrant and energetic, very much like the beat and the pulse of the song. The fishes had contrasting colorful patterns, which flashed in tune with the beat of the song. The contrasting stripe patterns on the sea rocks also added to the busy and mesmerizing scene.

Metamerism examples in interior design

One example of metamerism I have personally encountered is the impact of lighting on wall paint color. I am sure many of you have picked a wall paint color in a store based on the samples, and when you actually paint your wall at home, the color appears warmer.

This is due to the different light sources used in the store and at home. Fluorescent lighting is usually used at the hardware stores, causing the color samples to have a cooler tint. On the other hand, the lighting we have at home is usually sunlight or incandescent lights, so the paint color will look warmer.

Another example of metamerism is the effect of finishing/texture on color. On glossy or polished surface, more light is reflected, creating the illusion of a cooler color. I have tried to apply a semi-glossy paint to a wall in a neutral muted grey color, and due to the reflective finish of the paint, the color actually appeared to be violet during daylight.

Pointillism

Pointillism branched out from Impressionism during the late 1880s, and I found quite a few striking example of this technique by famous artists from that period:

Georges Seurat used a light and muted palette to achieve a diffused, hazy impression of his landscapes, as if you are looking through a misty rain or a textured glass window.

La Tour Eiffel, 1889, Georges Seurat (1859–1891)

View of Fort Samson, 1885, Georges Seurat (1859–1891)

Vincent van Gogh also used pointillism in some of this paintings. In the self portrait below, he used contrasting warm and cool colors to create sharp highlight and shadows on his facial features, as well as adding energy and vibrancy to the background. In particular, he used a cool green to add contrasting shadows on his face and hair, and this corresponds with the color of his eyes, his tie, the trimming on the collar, and the background.

Self-portrait, 1887, Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)

In many of his other works, he also used optical mixing, but using directional brush strokes instead of points.

The Starry Night, 1889, Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)

I also like the following painting by Belgium artist Georges Lemmen. I think it is very successful in capturing the brightness of the yellow and orange light during sunset by using pointillism.

The Beach at Heist, 1891/2, Georges Lemmen (1865 – 1916)

Adelson's Perception of Lightness

In his article, Adelson described the theories which scientists have developed to explain the perception of lightness by the human eye. Our visual system processes light in the retinal image received by the brain, adjusting the illumination and other viewing conditions and estimating the reflectance to obtain lightness constancy. As a result, we are able to perceive properties such as color, size, shape of objects in our surroundings.

The multi-level visual processing system

The visual system processes information at multiple levels of sophistication, classified as low, mid and high-level vision.

Low-level vision includes light adaptation and the center-surround receptive fields of ganglion cells. Adaptation and local interactions at a physiological level are the crucial mechanisms of low-level vision.

Mid-level vision is the region between low and high-level vision. The representations and the processing in the middle stages involve surfaces, contours, grouping, etc.  Mid-level vision emphasized the importance of perceptual organization, including grouping, belongingness, and good continuation, proximity.

High-level vision includes cognitive processes that incorporate knowledge about objects, materials, and scenes. This explains the phenomena that perception is the product of unconscious inference. A lightness judgment involves the workings of the whole visual system, and that system is designed to interpret natural scenes. Lightness constancy is achieved by inferring, and discounting, the illuminant. Simultaneous contrast and other illusions are the byproduct of such processing.

Measuring light in scientific terms

Luminance, illuminance, and reflectance, are physical quantities that can be measured objectively by physical devices. Luminance is the amount of visible light that comes to the eye from a surface. Illuminance is the amount of light incident on a surface. Reflectance is the proportion of incident light that is reflected from a surface. In scientific terms, an illuminance image, E(x,y), and a

reflectance image, R(x,y), are multiplied to produce a luminance image, L(x,y):

                                    L(x,y) = E(x,y)R(x,y)

Real life examples

The scientific founding highlighted in this article is very crucial in design. The visual perception is fundamental to design and designers must understand how the physiological and cognitive visual processing will affect the viewer’s perception. In fact, some artists and designer have been able to manipulate the viewer’s visual perception to achieve some interesting results. Here are some examples:

Artist Julian Beever's sidewalk illusions, manipulating viewers' perception of light to achieve the illusion of depth and shape.

Application in interiors (demonstrates grouping)

Eureka car park illusion (demonstrates figure)

Thoughts on Munsell's "A Color Notation"

In his article, Munsell proposed a spherical system to notate colors on three dimensions – hue, value and chroma. He draws a lot of similarities between the musical scale and his system, which classifies color accordingly to hue (5 colors), chroma (1 to 10) and value (1 to 10).

A color system such as the one proposed could be a very useful tool in the design process.  By using a systematic way to describe color, the information can be communicated clearly and interpreted accurately during the design and production process. The systematic classification of color is also a very useful reference guide to color selection, especially when you are looking for the different variations of a hue.

However, while I agree that using a system such as the one proposed would be useful in the communication and apprehension of color, I believe that such a mathematical system disregard that the perception of color is highly influenced by the viewer’s emotional, cultural, and cognitive preconceptions.  Color carries a lot more information then just the hue, value and chroma, and isolating the colors from these attachments would remove the social and personal context to fully appreciate a color and would limit the imagination and creatively of a designer.

There are also some potential limitations to the application of the color system proposed. Firstly, the range of colors is actually infinite, so although the classification system will help in describing the quality of the colors, it will not be sufficient to notate all the color variations. Secondly, the suggestion that we can use the standard intervals to determine the triads or combinations that would result in harmony is a good guideline, but combining colors is a lot more complex than combining musical notes, and depends on many other factors such as the arrangement of colors in a space, the lighting, and the surrounding environment.

Color Forecasting website

Hi All,

Here's a color forecasting website that is similar to the NSKYC project mentioned in this week's lesson. Basically the software captures the color of the clothes on people walking by in Paris, Milan, and Antwerp, and calculates the trending color.

http://www.pimkiecolorforecast.com/

Cobalt Blue

A perfect blue. Yves Klein (1928-1962), Blue Monochrome, 1961

Blue is arguably the most prevalent color in nature. But why do we have blue sky and sea? It is because blue light has a shorter wavelength and is scattered around the atmosphere and the water particles, while much of the longer wavelength (red, orange and yellow) light pass through without being reflected. 

The Blue Planet

I have been interested in the cobalt blue used in Chinese ceramics. Not only is the color one of the oldest pigment applied in history, the monochromatic designs of floral and other intricate patterns are always striking and elegant on white.

Chinese Ceramics

Ming period (1368–1644) porcelain with under glaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware)

The cobalt blue pigment used in the ceramics is actually made using cobalt salts of alumina, or cobalt oxide. The technique seems to have come from the Middle East in the 9th century, notably from Iran, where cobalt blue pigments were from local mines, and were exported as a raw material to China. 

Commercial cobalt blue pigment

Cobalt blue has been used by many different cultures throughout history on artworks and painting. Blue carries a number of different meanings and symbolism. It could symbolize divine, fidelity, sadness, conserving, healing, relaxation, exploration, trust, and calmness.

Given the cultural and symbolic context, there are certain associations drawn when cobalt blue is used in design, especially in interior design, since it could affect how people feel and act in a space.

The cobalt blue color is best used when you want to convey a sense of seriousness and importance. It is quite a bold color due to its intense saturation or chroma, so it is definitely a prominent element if it is used in an interior. Given the intensity of the color, it is important to use other elements to achieve balance in the design. For example, in traditional blue and white Chinese ceramics, the cobalt blue is contrasted against the white background of the patterns, creating a harmonious balance. In interior design, a block of solid cobalt blue color best used in small accents such as tableware and upholstery. To be used on wider surfaces, the color should be used in combination of other muted hues, in patterns.

On the other hand, cobalt blue is not suitable for signage when you want to provoke the feeling of excitement, emergency, or danger, since the color might not be visible from a distance, so any signage or important communication message might be lost.

Source for research on history and origin of cobalt blue: Wikipedia

Intro - Rosa

Hi Everyone!

My name is Rosa and I am a part-time AAS Interior Design Student.

I used to work in finance and am now tapping into my creative side, hopefully to start a business in design eventually. I studied in Canada and London, and worked in Hong Kong up until last year. I am currently based in Middle East in U.A.E.

I have scanned and attached a vintage poster for Capri in Italy. I really love the posters from 1920s - the colours, the illustration style, and the typography!

Hope to learn a lot about using colour this semester!