Preserved Topic: White or opaque? (Page 1 of 1)

The question:

White or Opaque?

#FFFFFF or #FEFEF4?

why, where?

a bit cryptic, but that is part of the point,

-mage-

Egg Shell White
Antique White
Off-White
Almost White But Not Quite
You Wish It Was White

Wish I had the hex to go with those, but I don't.

I'm just a little confused as to how 'opaque' has anything to do with this. Opaque is not a color.....or a characteristic of a color. Opaque concerns the material of the object that would be "White, or "***".

So I guess I just don't know what the hell you're asking?

Ok, maybe I was more cryptic than I had hoped to be.

I was recently walking in a building, all of the colors were off white, a not quite blue, a not yet really yellow, a soft red - pinkish but even less.

I walked into a different building, the colors were white (#FFFFFF white), and a difinitive blue(navy?).

I was wondering what the psycological equivelence of this was, as well as how it could be applicable to the colors I choose for sites.

I know when I was in the first, softer building, the atmosphere was much more relaxed, and social, while in the white building it was an in your face feeling, also felt like tensions were a bit higher.

I may simply be over analysing a situation, but I was wondering if this was a real significance, and if any of you out there have ideas on this.

-mage-

I think that different types of colors definitely have different psychological effects of people. Like you observed, lighter colors tend to create a more relaxed feel, while bold colors put forth a more powerful feeling.

Think about military dress uniforms...almost always made with bold colors (white, navy blue, black, red). Then think about newer hospitals...softer colors are used to try to relax the people being cared for (off white, kinda green, sorta blue, kinda pink).

I know there have been studies about this kind of thing for years. I'm not sure where to look, but I'm sure you'll find a mop-bucket full when you do.

I think colors will have an effect on visitors to your web sites. Look at the Asylum. Oranges and browns. Kinda reminds me of psych wards and strange people. Look at my personal site. My handle is that of a dragon...but not a scary one. I think the colors help convey the feeling you're trying to give to your visitors.

Have fun with those colors! After all, isn't that what all of these web pages made of...tiny dots of color?

"off-whites" are used to dampen the feeling of sterility, and harsh structure of using a titanium white colour in structures and layouts.

Using a hint of orange, red, terra-cotta of any sense (burnt umber, sienna) evokes a sense of warmth, comfort, and smoother transitional lines.
In hospitals, blues and greens are often the more dominant hues due to the "cool" nature of the appearance, also being calming (it evokes a sense of water in most people), and in more practical terms, muting the colour of blood better (same reason that OR scrubs are pale green tones).

There are some great books out there on the psychological impact of colour, picking up one or two can only improve the direction of design.


Hope it helps.

Peter




ICQ:# 10237808

Yes, there have been extensive studies into the psychological effects of colors -- read up.

Some are very obvious...as you said, in one environment you felt more relaxed while the other was more 'in your face'.

How things look very strongly and completely effects how they make you feel. That includes shape texture and color.

Hey, Amethyst Dragon, ever read the Book of Carnal Knowledge? It's not very often I laugh *that* hard.

Just to follow on the calming effect.....
I read somewhere's that a psychologist proposed the painting of the inside of prisoners cells in muted pastels for that calming effect....a sort of rehab thing......

Wonder if it'd work here?

That`s what the meds are for. I can see lots of pretty colors in my cell.