Put a little blue in everything you do. T.KELLER DONOVAN 1
Table of Contents Signature Color 4 Introducing Blue 6 Introduce Color Story 8 Texture Monochromatic Hue Study Pattern Analogous Schemes Contrasts Neutrals Collage Credits Conclusion 14 18 22 30 34 38 42 44 2 3
Signature Color 95/86/0/0 Blue has a close relationship with nature. The sky is blue, stands for unreachable permanence and heaven; water is blue, stands for the original color and breed life. Because of this, blue is the symbol of beauty, calm, intellect, serenily and vastness. 4 5
Introduce Blue COLOR STUDY The symbolism of blue also depends on its lightness: high lightness blue means freshness and peace; low lightness blue means solemnity and sublime; when the lightness is extremely low, this kind of blue is linked to loneliness and sorrow. On the positive side, blue is associated with harmony, integrity, wisdom. In the commercial field, those brands which focus on science, technology and efficiency will choose blue as their identity color. On the negative side, as the coldest color in the spectrum, blue becomes a melancholy color. It is used to describe a dejected mood or situation; blue is also related to cold, isolation and immaturity. 6 7
Introducing color story My answer is blue simple but a little lonely, sometimes sad. I m from China, I ve never left my hometown before, unexpectedly the first time to leave there is to go to a totally different country. Which color will you choose to describe your current life? I have no family and very few new friends here. So I do everything by myself: take the subway alone, get back alone; buy groceries alone, eat alone; watch movie alone, sleep alone. One silent night, I suddenly realize maybe keeping a diary is a good way to get rid of this nasty feeling, using letters to talk with myself, at the same time recording this unusual life experience. 8 Now, I ve decided to share them with you, because I know I m only one of those millions of people who are living or lived in an unfamiliar city. If we are the same, hopefully my diary can let you understand it is not a big deal to have a negative mood and to change your perspective. We will discover the lonely beauty in our life. 9
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New Era 85/58/17/2 20110823. This bunch of number is important to me for it is the date I flew to New York, a completely different place from where I lived for 22 years. My hometown is famous for her natural and peaceful beauty, people gave the name heaven on earth to praise her breathtaking scenery. Genius poets from every dynasty wrote poems for her. 62/27/9/0 While on the 14-hour flight, I thought to myself, maybe I should say goodbye to this tranquil feeling. 36/4/8/0 However, as it turns out, my life in New York is even more quite than before... 12 13
Texture COLOR STUDY Color Schemes: Double Complementary, Tetrad Texture is used to create surface appearance, and relates to the physical make-up of a given form. Texture is both a visual and a tactile phenomenon. plastic bag from Chinatown, gloves, crisps scrubber, scarf, towel These are the texture of the objects in my dorm. Blue and green texture often used in products stand for clean. Orange and yellow used more with food. left to right, up to bottom: jeans, swether, brushes sky, ocean, wall painting Painted textures banana, sponge, wood rolling pin scarf, plastic bag, grapes 14 15
Study Time 27/8/9/0 72/53/0/0 95/86/0/0 Study is busy, no more other words to describe it. The system is quite different here. In China, we arrange every course in a certain period, for example, these two months, we learn illustration, and next two months, we learn web design. Can t say which one is better, but the fact is I m still trying hard to adjust to it. How to organize time is extremely important in current situation. Also, how to distribute the time to each project, balance the time with rest and work. Developing 4 totally different project is quite frustrating, especially when I don t have any idea, but have to present something the next day. Then I don t desire to sleep that night. But overall, learning something new is always a pleasure thing. 16 17
Monochromatic Hue Study COLOR STUDY In this exercise, we used Color-Aid Hue notation to create a Monochromatic Color Plane. One color, but using different shades, tints and tones is called monochromatic. A color scheme derived from a single base hue, and extended using its shades, tones (saturation), and tints. It has no color depth, but it provides the contrast of dark, medium and light that s important to good design. 18 19
Winter Rain 93/86/38/31 67/62/48/30 98/89/30/18 If one person is easily influenced by weather, that means he don t have a high Emotional Quotient. I don t know whether my EQ is high or not, but a raining day is really annoying because my sweater would never dry. It may be hard to imagine, but in China most people still prefer to hang cloth up under the sun rather than use the electric dryer. Not only this example, lots of different habits and customs between China and America, or even west and east may make my life a little inconvenient. The most common one is the measurement, the measurement of currency, length, weight and temperature is all different, and for some reason, it s hard for me or better to say I m unwilling to use the American measurement system. I believe when it refers to the notational category most people don t like make a change. 20 21
Pattern COLOR STUDY 100/93/27/20 0/18/12/0 Pattern is a type of theme of recurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set of objects. Base on different grid and direction, there can be many variations of one motif. I create the shape because it like a drop of water, or a drop of tear which has blue color. Through change the scale and position, it produce a complicated pattern. 22 23
Pattern COLOR STUDY 100/93/26/19 This time I used straight line to create the motif. As it turns out, the pattern has a feeling of this concrete forest: cold, crowded and steel-like. 24 25
Murmur 26 13/0/1/0 24/4/9/0 24/9/32/0 Has it ever happened to you? When you feel extremely lonely, you will try to find something to talk with. My partner is shrimp. They are supposed to be my dinner, but these three are the best looking from the rest, so I decide to save them and communicate with them. I must be crazy. My English is not good, I feel sorry for those kind people who try hard to guess what I m saying or keep waiting for me to pop up the next words, so most of the time I just keep silent. The more silent you are, the more you won t talk. I can t talk to my family too, because of the time difference. The time we can talk is limited. Unfortunately, my partners died a few hours later, lack of oxygen. Maybe next time I should find something that lasts longer to talk with. 27
Roaring Ocean 89/73/54/61 44/55/79/29 48/69/86/61 This is the Pacific Ocean. My family and old friends all live on the other side. I shouted hello Mum to the roaring ocean, hoping she can hear me. About homesickness, I was amazed I don t very miss my home. Maybe it is because I can still see them through Skype, or there s no time for me to get sick. When I stand in front of the vast ocean, it is one of the few times I really wanna see their faces. Human beings are weird animals. When you can t see others you give up easily. But now since I know they are there, I begin to become very emotional and sentimental. Don t burst into tears, Shu Li! 28 29
Analogous Schemes COLOR STUDY For this one I used blues, blueviolets and violets. The photo was taken at a summer evening. I was shocked by the color of New York s sky. In my hometown, the color is more like light grey blue, I had never seen such a condense and strong blue and violet sky before. Analogous color schemes use colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel and so have similar hues. When using analogous colors in a design, make one color dominant to avoid confusion and use the other colors as accents. Analogous colors next to each other on the color wheel get along and are referred to as being harmonious. In these types of schemes the colors naturally flow from one to another creating a soothing harmony of color. I used blues, blue-greens and greens here. It s a little difficult to combine blue and green in one photo. Blue is considered as the color of sky and ocean, while green is plants. The only thing I can think of is a lake, although it s more like blue green, i.e. neither obvious blue, nor green. However, isn t nature like that? Everything is not aggressive, but peaceful and harmonious. 30 31
Grocery Store 100/94/4/1 97/94/41/45 32/94/93/45 This semester is more stressful than last one because I m taking 4 courses. As a result, there s no time for me to hang out, even the time to go to the grocery store is precious. Even worse, I don t know how to cook western food, and the store nearby don t sell frozen dumplings.this is the most frequent food I eat. Because it s easy to cook, it savea me a lot of preparation and cooking time, although I have eaten so many, it now makes me nauseous. So every two weeks, I rush to Chinatown and grab sufficient frozen food for the following weeks. Always think I m the most ridiculous person on the subway, carrying 4 to 5 big bags of food and transfering 3 trains back to Brooklyn. It often happens, but the worst thing is getting lost on the subway system with so much food. I m so exhausted and can t move when I get back to the dorm. 32 33
Contrasts COLOR STUDY 3/17/86/0 1/95/92/0 5/0/88/0 41/88/0/0 Contrast of Saturation Relates to the degree of purity of a color. Contrast between pure, intense colors and dull, diluted colors. The contrast is formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values and their relative saturation. Because of sunlight, a cluster of flowers can have different saturation; the second photo, I lowered the saturation of the whole picture, make it feel more pure and lonely. Light Dark Contrast The contrast is formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values. Yellow and Violet have the strongest light dark contrast. The picture was taken at Museum of Art and Design, I went there several days after I arrived, and it is the first museum I went to. 6/8/0/0 24/44/8/0 6/8/0/0 24/44/8/0 34 35
Blossom Mind 94/79/0/0 52/64/78/59 17/14/18/0 Spring is finally coming! I feel more delighted now. The cherry tree is in blossom; instead the cold wild wind, the breeze now is warm and fragrant. It also blows some inspiration to me. Just like the wind will change, why can t I change the way of observe the surroundings? Review the former entries, I realize my life in New York is not that dull and tough, although sometimes I feel lonely, sometimes stressful, sometimes confused,but isn t it an uncommon and unique experience for me? How many people can enjoy this kind of life just with themselves, and how many can discover the beauty detail of their daily life? I m quite proud of myself suddenly, through tackling everything by myself and experience different mood, I can learn more just from the life! 36 37
Neutrals Collage COLOR STUDY From my paint mixtures, I created an image collage of inspirational imagery that features the neutral colors. Blue and Orange is a complementary pair. It also represents the most extreme warm cold contrast. By mixing them, you can create a range of beautiful chromatic grays. 38 The mixed tones should occupy more space in the composition than the pure hues. Thus, understanding the rules of complements is the basis of harmonious color design. 39
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Credits P 6-7 Janpaness fireman s uniform http://lambertnyc.blogspot.com/2010/03/japanese-firemans-uniform.html Egg http://www.teapot.com.br/blog/lindas-ideias-para-a-pascoa/ Peacock http://www.flickr.com/photos/imwolfies/3496293320/ Blueberry http://www.flickr.com/photos/mellow_stuff/5841775579/ Bottle http://www.flickr.com/photos/webersweb/478754391/ Iceberg http://www.flickr.com/photos/realsmiley/4575577883/ P38-40 http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomla/4447822/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/21644167@n04/3790385987/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/6640038169/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/6640038169/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/5602776098/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/6055718188/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/4648356455/ 42 43
Conclusion Is it not an easy thing to distinguish the color around us, as we don t rely on color to describe one object. It seems color is always changing itself. But for me, no matter how color changes its appearance, the feeling of a color is essential and permanent. Just like we won t use orange to describe a sad feeling, or describe yellow as a mystery color. Even different hue of blue also has different expression. Through the process of gradually finishing this book, I m increasingly immersed in the magical feeling blue brings to me. Quite enjoyed doing this book, it s more like a mind travel, and let me have a deep conversation with my mind. I ll explore these thoughts in the future, carefully taste every color around me. 44