By Editor Design.nl / 04-05-2010

Red Ferrari and blue meatball; the effect of colour in designing

A pink fluid in a coffee cup seems strange and suspicious, but the same pink drink in a cocktail glass looks festive. Colours invoke emotions, associations and responses. Colours affect the atmosphere of an interior or the attractiveness of a product. How much are designers aware of colour, and what part do psychology, zeitgeist and culture play? An exhibition along these themes titled “COLOUR! Red Ferrari and blue meatball; the effect of colour in designing” can be seen at the Designhuis in Eindhoven from 27 March until 12 September 2010.

A fire-hose is red almost as a matter of course, as is a bicycle’s rear light. In brand identity colour often plays the lead role, for instance in beer cases or tools. In the sixties and seventies the combination of brown and ochre was cool, now we consider that dated. And a carton of whole milk is blue, while buttermilk is in a red one. Why is that?

Primal emotions
The exhibition COLOUR! shows how colours evoke all kinds of conscious or subconscious, emotions, associations and responses. According to some psychologists this is connected to our primal emotions and our primal memory. Others assume there is a link between the preference of certain colours and personality traits. But colours can also attain meaning under the influence of religion, culture, fashion or time period.

Designers and artists like Bas van Beek, Frank Bruggeman, Anneke Jakobs, Fransje Killaars, and Jeroen Vinken freely use colour as starting point in their designs sometimes. On the other side of the spectrum we find design firms of industrial products like GBO Design Engineering and VanBerlo Design Strategy + Product Development that capitalise on the psychology of colours with their designs or are bound by branding, agreements or even legislation.

COLOUR! also shows designs by Raw Colour, Hilbert Tjalkens and Vera Teunen, Tejo Remy & René Veenhuizen, Christien Meindertsma, Richard Hutten, Jacob Schlaepfer, Mart Visser, Marianne Kemp, Rianne de Witte, and designs from the lines of Van Besouw Tapijt, Koninklijke Mosa, Tichelaar Makkum and Royal Leerdam among others. In addition the Van Abbemuseum made available a couple of works of art, by Peter Struyken among others, and the Graphic Design Museum in Breda also cooperated. The exhibition COLOUR! was compiled by Yksi Design.

COLOUR!
27 March until 12 September 2010
Designhuis, Eindhoven

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