by Soham Sarkar » Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:54 pm
I was thinking if derivation of any liner relation between Emotions and Colors are really necessary... Theories of color perception would definitely help but there are so many other factors, the utmost of it has been interpretation and predisposition of the mind. Predisposition means readiness of the mind to accept and recognize an object (color is an object in that sense) as it is- and there is no as it is- everything is relative. Anyway, if we have to start with color theories then why not starting with Young-Helmholtz and Herring as well! As well as, we might deal with little bit of physical properties of spectrum thus we could accurately evaluate how achromatic properties might stand really important in interpreting chromatic experiences. So, its hue, saturation, brightness, contrast- four fundamental psychological properties of any Colour. Hue gives the symbol (how much pure the color is), Saturation gives the body (how much color is present in that color- its somewhat similar to gravity due to mass), Brightness works with attraction (not necessarily every healthy person would be attractive, brightness opposite to gray but not to black). Now, contrast, it is really important because it determines edges- cues for brain to work with (it depends on the individual how he wants to use contrast in order to make others' brain work. Contrast can affect mood because it makes our mind toil over decoding the difference). Now mix our gray scale- the range of it, as needed, with the hue- it will result in sombre or neutral feeling (mind it that it is neither mood nor emotion but an immediate virgin feeling) at the other end, change the saturation to make the matter either demanding or 'floating on surface'. Change brightness according to the desired level of color shock that you want your viewers to experience. I have already talked about the contrast part. But no, even at this point we are far for achieving emotions by mean of any color, for that we have to deal with the concept of Gestalt achieved by any of the numerous combinations possible by these four psychological properties of a single color particle. It does not end here, Chomsky says that culture determines perception- the way Eskimos perceive white we do not, they have different names for different types of white, that are associated with different emotions as a part of living. We will never be able to achieve that sense, our brains had not been trained as per because of the environment. So there is no Universal cultural symbolism present in colors- but yes, we can definitely make associations between colors and felt emotions to a certain degree- personally I am more keen on experimentation. (I am very happy for being able to share my thoughts with respected members.) {*In this write up Perception is essentially used as the interpretation of virgin sensations gained via different sensory organs* *Mood is the prevailing psychological disposition of the individual, mostly unrecognized unless called for, whereas emotions are acutely felt conditions, and awareness of emotions are essentially interpretation of that acute sensation at immediately later period- any recognized emotion is heavily tied up with our cognition*}