The most fundamental thing I have learned since I first started flirting with design, is the power of color.
While color can be perceived as just the reflection of light from an object into our eyes, it actually has a much more powerful effect and literally changes our experience of life on planet Earth.
Color affects who we date, which brand of water we drink, and perhaps which sports team we root for.
Different color combinations offer varying experiences and visual contrasts for the viewer, making it a critical component for transmitting information effectively.
What I have found most interesting is that in pre-modern times, color was actually a cause of much strife. As the author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, expressed back in 1810:
“Savage nations, uneducated people, and children have a great predilection for vivid colors”.
Chromophobia represented groups who viewed color as impure and sinful. In fact, for this reason, Henry Ford, insisted for many years on only producing black cars.
"Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black". Henry Ford
The greatest proof that life is not meant to be simply black and white, is in our dreams, which are made up of all the colors that we know.
As the use of color evolved, the need for complementary colors and using colors correctly and in harmony with each other became clearer. When we use color correctly we can literally change the world.
