When you see color what are you really seeing?
As a remodeler I have for years dealt with the issues surrounding the choosing of colors. Mariages have disintegrated and lawsuits have been filed over this basic ritual that every homeowner must eventually face. But in the end it always comes down to choices.
There are several approaches you can take when you decide to redesign your humble abode. First, you can do it yourself. There are books, DVDs and even an entire television network dedicated to cheering you on and guiding you every step of the way. If you take this route it can save money but the risks often lie in the choices you make. I have come onto many potential job sites and often been greeted at the door by a frustrated man or woman who looks like they have recently lost a lot of sleep. It usually turns out that they started the work themselves and it either turned out they didn't have as easy a time as they thought or they made catastrophic choices.
If you have the money you can hire an interior designer. It is his or her job to look through carpet and linoleum samples, shuffling them together with paint chips to pour over literally thousands of possible combinations. These they scrutinize with vigor and a fine eye and ultimately narrow it down to a select few that for some reason might appeal to the customer. Since we all think differently and all have different tastes how can they possibly hope to accomplish such a momentous task?
They answer may lie in their training. Good interior designers have an understanding of the way people think and perceive colors and color arrangements and when it comes to understanding people and color one of the best educators is Josef Albers. His teachings on color theory are an essential for designers and artists alike.
According to Josef Albers we all have a different perception of color. We can all look at the same red school house but we all see it in a different way. Through the filters of our eyes the particular combination of shades and tones is different to each one of us; as different perhaps as our own fingerprints. Albers compares the pairings of colors and the ultimate combination they form to the way different musical notes come together to form a chord. In music when you mix together a combination of notes that doesn't work we describe the resulting cacophony as “discordant”. In the contracting world when yo
u mix together a combination of colors that doesn't work we call it a “homeowner special”. How can you avoid living in a “homeowner special”?
A good start would be to learn the basics of understanding color and the perception of color. Albers book “Interaction of Color”(1971 Yale University Press) is great read on the subject. Of course Albers goes way beyond the basics. In his book we learn of such discoveries as “The Bezold Effect” stating that when you have a particular collection of colors you can change just one tone and create an entirely different effect and perception- akey element when applied to design. He also goes further in his comparison of music tocolor showing us that we measure both musical tones and color hues in
wavelength. Other topics that serve to educate the reader or the “Relativity of color”, harmony and relative “weights” of tones when juxtaposed to each other. In the end the reader comes away armed with a whole new understanding of how we view color and what “color” truly means.
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