The Power of Colour

So I'm definitely still adjusting to the idea of getting up for lectures and actually being mentally present as well as physically. But a lecture just the other day actually caught me attention, and somehow woke me up from this semi-slumber state I've been in for the past week. We talked about colour and how colour alone is one of the many languages used in fashion communication.

Coming from an artistic background, both personally and in education, colour has always been a major priority for me. For example, as much as I try to find my own sanctuary in my room at home, the fact that I still have to deal with the yellow walls and blue carpet (that was left behind from when me and my brother shared it- gender neutral colours apparently) puts me on edge. I also almost always stay away from green sweets and I try to steer clear of navy clothing - I don't really have a reason for that. The point is colour is very powerful, it can make us feel things that don't necessarily make sense but from a marketing perspective, it can be used to nudge a customer in your direction.

It'd sound extremely patronising if I were to assume that you didn't know that colours follow with seasonal trends. Autumn is especially predictable: mustards, deep burgundies and emerald greens almost always see themselves in a pattern or print on some line of clothing. Spring/Summer allow for more daring colours, as well as being able to strip back to basic whites and washed out tones.

Colour also follows trends in art, with movements having an attached colour palette. With most modernism movements using the typical primary colours like cubism and pop art. Contrasting to this are the movements such as romanticism and even things such as ancient Egyptian art, both using subdued, earthy colour palettes to echo the period of time in which their popularity was at it's peak. An added factor is the discovery of dyes which lead to certain time periods being dominated by one particular colour. Synthetic dyes were developed in the 19th century, creating colours as complex as 'mauvine'. A rich purple that revolutionised women's fashion in the late 1860's.

Since first writing this blog I have added my favourite colour palette study that we have learnt at the end of October using an image from our London trip.

These discussions and a photoshop session later led me to look at my own choice of imagery in terms of their use of colour. Do they have abstract colours that strike a definitive line between each other? Do they share complimenting colours that set a theme for the image?

The reflection of the window as well as the window display itself, makes for very interesting layers of colour and perspective. My palette explores the journey of colour from the top left down and across, ending in the top right.

The palette is definitely muted, probably why it's my favourite. The second palette is my attempt to create contrast between the set of colours, and make for an abstract sample.