How people associate colours with the emotion of
happy and angry?
In this essay my intentions are to explore the emotions, happy and angry. I will us examining how some
people link colour to express the emotions of happiness and anger. Colour plays an important role in brand
identity — it draws consumers to products, stirs emotions and has a huge impact on brand recognition.
Colours can make us feel happy or angry… they can make us feel hungry or relaxed. As a designer, it’s
important to understand the psychological effects colors might have on an average person, or your client’s
target audience. Let’s take a closer look at how color impacts our emotions and behaviors. The artists I will be
analyzing for this investigation are Hector Sos, Daniele Buetti and Arnolf Rainer.
In psychology of art, the relationship between art and emotion has newly been the subject of extensive
study. Emotional or aesthetic responses to art have previously been viewed as basic stimulus response, but
new theories and research have suggested that these experiences are more complex and able to be studied
experimentally. Emotional responses are often regarded as the keystone to experiencing art, and the creation
of an emotional experience has been argued as the purpose of artistic expression. Research has shown that
the neurological underpinnings of perceiving art differ from those used in standard object
recognition. Instead, brain regions involved in the experience of emotion and goal setting show activation
when viewing art. Anger is an emotional response related to one's psychological interpretation of having been
threatened. Often it indicates when one's basic boundaries are violated. Some have a learned tendency to
react to anger through retaliation. Anger may be utilized effectively when utilized to set boundaries or escape
from dangerous situations.
Defining happiness can seem as elusive as achieving it. We want to be happy, and we can say whether we are
or not, but can it really be defined, studied and measured? And can we use this learning to become
happier?
Psychologists say yes, and that there are good reasons for doing so. Positive psychology is “the
scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.” These
researchers’ work includes studying strengths, positive emotions, resilience, and happiness. Their argument is
that only studying psychological disorders gives us just part of the picture of mental health. We will learn
more about well-being by studying our strengths and what makes us happy. The hope is that by better
understanding human strengths, we can learn new ways to recover from or prevent disorders, and may even
learn to become happier.
Anger is a normal emotion with a wide range of intensity, from mild irritation and frustration to rage. It is a
reaction to a perceived threat to us, our loved ones, our property, our self-image, or some part of our identity.
Anger is a warning bell that tells us that something is wrong This study examined colour-emotion associations
and the reasons for emotional reactions given to colours. Ten fully saturated chromatic colours were chosen
from the Munsell colour system: red, yellow, green, blue, purple, yellow-red, green-yellow, blue-green,
purple-blue, and red- purple. Apart from these ten hue groups, three achromatic colours (white, black and
gray) were also used. The sample consisted of 98 volunteered college students at a public institution in the
southeast region of the US. Results revealed that the principle hues comprised the highest number of positive
emotional responses, followed by the intermediate hues and the achromatic colours. Colour symbolism seems
to be apparent in how individuals associate colours with things, objects or physical space. Red-purple, for
instance, was associated with the colour of red wine, plum, bridesmaid dress, or the colour of a bedroom.
Overall, a colour-related emotion was highly dependent on personal preference and ones past experience
with that particular colour.
Orange enhances a feeling of vitality and happiness. Like red, it draws attention and shows movement but is
not as overpowering. It is aggressive but balanced — it portrays energy yet can be inviting and friendly.
Orange is great for a call to action to buy or subscribe to a product. Yellow is perhaps the most energetic of
the warm colors. It is associated with laughter, hope and sunshine. Accents of yellow help give your design
energy and will make the viewer feel optimistic and cheerful. However, yellow tends to reflect more light and
can irritate a person’s eyes. Too much yellow can be overwhelming and should be used sparingly. In design, it
is often used to grab attention in an energetic and comforting way. Cool colors include green, blue, and
purple. Cool colors are usually calming and soothing but can also express sadness. Purple is often used to help
spark creativity as it’s a mixture of blue (calm) and red (intense). If a company wants to display health, beauty
or security, incorporate these colors.
Green symbolizes health, new beginnings and wealth. Green is the easiest on the eyes and should be used to
relax and create balance in a design. It is a great color to use if a company wants to depict growth, security or
inspire possibility. Blue evokes feelings of calmness and spirituality as well as security and trust. Seeing the
color blue causes the body to create chemicals that are calming. It is no surprise that it’s the most favored of
the colors. Dark blues are great for corporate designs because it helps give a professional feel, but using too
much can create a cold, disengaged feeling. Light blues give a more relaxing, friendly feel. Great examples are
social sites like Facebook and Twitter who use lighter blues. Purple is associated with creativity, royalty and
wealth. Purple is often used to soothe or calm a viewer, hence why it is used in beauty products. Incorporate
purple to make a design look more luxurious and wealthy or a lighter purple to show romance and mystery.
Neutral colors include black, gray, white, tan and brown. In design, these colors are great as background
colors; Use black, gray and white when using brighter colors. If you are using textures, then incorporate tan
and brown as your backdrop. It is important to note that colors can be subjective – what might make one
person feel cheerful can make another person feel irritated depending on the viewers’ past experiences or
cultural differences. Color is not completely agreed on universally and can appeal differently to individual
countries. A designer must study their target audience and choose colors accordingly.
Red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power,
determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally intense colour. It enhances
human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It has very high visibility, which is
why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red. In heraldry, red is used to indicate
courage. It is a colour found in many national flags. Red brings text and images to the foreground. Use it as an
accent colour to stimulate people to make quick decisions; it is a perfect colour for 'Buy Now' or 'Click Here'
buttons on Internet banners and websites. In advertising, red is often used to evoke erotic feelings (red lips,
red nails, red-light districts, 'Lady in Red', etc). Red is widely used to indicate danger (high voltage signs, traffic
lights). This colour is also commonly associated with energy, so you can use it when promoting energy drinks,
games, cars, and items related to sports and high physical activity. Dark red is associated with vigour,
willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.
Yellow is the colour of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. Yellow produces a
warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Yellow is
often associated with food. Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted
this colour. When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known that babies cry more in yellow
rooms. Yellow is seen before other colours when placed against black; this combination is often used to issue
a warning. In heraldry, yellow indicates honour and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was connected with
cowardice.
Use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings. You can choose yellow to promote children's products and
items related to leisure. Yellow is very effective for attracting attention, so use it to highlight the most
important elements of your design. Men usually perceive yellow as a very light-hearted, 'childish' colour, so it
is not recommended to use yellow when selling prestigious, expensive products to men – nobody will buy a
yellow business suit or a yellow Mercedes. Yellow is an unstable and spontaneous colour, so avoid using
yellow if you want to suggest stability and safety. Light yellow tends to disappear into white, so it usually
needs a dark colour to highlight it. Shades of yellow are visually unappealing because they lose cheerfulness
and become dingy.
Austrian painter, printmaker and photographer. He had
almost no academic training as an artist. From 1948 to
1951 he produced Surrealistic drawings representing
underwater scenes and mystical forms, rendering these
fantastic images in pencil as a densely worked surface.
Deeply suspicious of rationality, he investigated the
potential of dreams, madness and the subconscious; to
these ends he co-founded the Hundsgruppe under the
influence of French Surrealism in 1950.
From 1953 to 1965 he devoted himself principally to a
series of Over paintings, in which he obliterated his early
expressive drawings or pictures by friends with whose
work he was in sympathy, to produce almost monochrome
paintings dominated by black or red. In this photo, the
artist has taken a photo of a man pulling a face but you
can't see what face he is doing because there is a splash of
paint smeared on the piece. This piece of work Oil pastel
and oil paint on black and white photograph. He printed
the photograph then splashed paint on the face to hide the
emotion the man was feeling in that moment in time.
The mood of this piece I have chosen is determined by the colored used to wipe of the facial features as
colour is used to symbolize and describe what the man is feeling. What I see from this colour palette choice is
that he has mixed emotions because layering yellow and red tell me that his happiness was destroyed b
Daniele Buetti is an artist working in various media, principally installation and intervention. His work includes
photography, video, sound, drawings, sculpture and digitally assisted work. Initially his concept is centered on
exploring photography as an artistic medium. In the last couple of years he has expanded his focal point to
include varying painterly stances, spanning from abstract to representational. Thematically he aimed to shed
light on fundamental questions regarding human perception. It is a very conceptual art based idea that I have
found very interesting. In this image I have chosen is of a
women crying red tears. It's not a true representation as it is
created by using paint on the photograph to highlight the
emotion Buetti is trying to portray. His work has a theme of the
emotion sadness by painting or pressing whole to create tears
on his photograph.
The photograph is of a portrait of women in black and white. In
the image, Buetti has painted over the hair and background to
a block black and white colour. With the black and white image
and the colorful red tears helps emphasis the emotion on how
the modal May be feeling at this moment in time. The photo is
a Portrait, head to the shoulders. The lighting seems to be very
dull but I can't really tell from the black and white effect. I feel
this is important as the main focal point of this photograph is
the face of the girl in the picture which has been shown by
lighting her face. It is a staged portrait. This effect of the tears
has been added making a series of hole in the printed
photograph and then placing over a source of light most likely a
light box and then re-photographed to capture the effect in
photo form.
The photograph by Daniele Buetti is a traditional black and white image; it's showing her emotions through
crying suggesting she could be sad. The colour red is used to create the emotion Sadness. It is a bright red
light from behind the photograph, it makes the image have a gloomy atmosphere and feeling it is trying to
show which I think is anger and sadness mixed together. It was created by perforated photographic prints on
aluminum light box. This work makes me very sad because the model looks like she in pain as there are tears
running down her face. This Photo's mood is sadness and anger.
Hector Sos Barcelona based designer created this series of
unusual paper creations for a Spanish paper company. The
project was created with estudio rosa lazaro and photographer
xavier mandiola for the torras papel paper company. The
photographs were used in a catalog for the company
showcasing the unique qualities of the company’s products.
Each work features a model with a mask of head piece made
entirely form paper that has been bent folded and cut in unique
ways.
The title of the paper series that is presented in today’s post is
Paper Faces and it is worked out especially for the paper
company. The goal of this series is to showcase the unique
qualities of the products, and, as you see, it has been
successfully achieved. The works from Paper Faces by Hector
Sos show the people in masks made of the pieces of paper that
are cut in the original manner. Here you will also find some
other interesting works by this talented artist, and I hope that
you will enjoy them.
http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2011/09/08/how-color-impacts-emotions-and-behaviors/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_and_emotion
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html
http://www.designboom.com/design/hector-sos-paper-faces/