​Some simple, additive comments to Mike's excellent post on color.

On Sun, Feb 21, 2016 at 10:42 AM, Paul Mike Zender <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> These phenomena are well-established and related, though how is not clear.
> They point toward a complex reality but that does not require that we throw
> up our hands and say no theory is possible.
>

​There already exist excellent, comprehensive theories of human color
perception. Scientists still dispute the details, but the major themes are
pretty exhaustive and agreed upon.

BUT: The scientific theory of color perception does not tell us
about color usage in design. For example, why are some color combinations
discordant, others harmonious (I have seen theories trying to address these
issues, but none are satisfying, at least not yet).  Second, there are
strong beliefs about whether colors are soothing or jarring, calm or
whatever. Some colors are hot, others cool.  I suspect many of
these beliefs are true, but I have no understanding of why. Here, the
science really lags the practice.

We also know that different cultures place great value on certain
colors: black, white, and red are common to represent death, life, good, or
evil -- which color represents what varies with the
culture. Discriminating cultural associations from biological, genetic ones
is difficult sometimes.
(For color assications, see for example,
http://webdesign.about.com/od/colorcharts/l/bl_colorculture.htm
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kdEOmMxo-Shy2gGlUpPe_Low3s27ZXIw15hybMmtMDU/edit?usp=sharing

>
> I
> ​f​
> as a discipline we could move away from philosophical musings and toward
> building upon what we actually know we might make more progress toward
> stable, actionable principles and eventually theories.
>

​Thank you Mike. ​Hurrah.

And then Mike went on to say:

But then such research is, I admit, hard work.


​One of my fundamental principles is that everything of value requires hard
work. If it were easy, the answer would already be known (and probably not
very important)

Don​


Don Norman
Prof. and Director, DesignLab, UC San Diego
[log in to unmask] designlab.ucsd.edu/  www.jnd.org  <http://www.jnd.org/>


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