Effects Of Colors In Info Design

color in info design is used to class

  • this classing gives ‘visual signals’

  • even if it’s one color, it’s still classing

example: say the beginning of a summary had some visual indicator via a color (in all the endless ways that could be done)

  • why is this important? that’s a question, what answer would you say?

the most important thing about colors is that colors stand out apart from the black & white (question: if there’s something more important than that about colors, please let me know)

  1. so color classes

  2. that classing provides visual signals

  3. that visual signal can create flow (in terms of eye movement, visual flow)

  4. those visual signal can create separation in layout like on a web page design

in the end, it’s all the same (including outside of info design), im pretty sure (question: are there any significant evidence to the contrary? i’ll like to know)


let’s take summaries since they’re so important from vt’s fcc post that links to this post:

say some summaries are currently (or forever) more accurate than other summaries:

  • and you color-code based on accurancy, again the colors are classing the summaries

someone asked what else color can do ‘besides priority’:

colors does many many many tons of things, but they all the same things:

  • color classes which gives visual signals

  • or put another, color gives visual signals and that is all color does at the highest top level, it classes

the convo in that post seems to have gone from color to someone talking about workflows (at least that’s what it sounds like)


but what are we forgetting here?

  • what’s the most importanat thing we’re forgetting about color?

  • that’s a question, what’s the answer?

the answer: color creates emotions (or more scientifically accurate, they affect emotions)

  • in game design, in films, in everything, everything including info design

but, it’s still classing, so why is this conceptually a separate answer if color is still classing

  • when a film has an array of red variations that slowly moves to blue (possibly indicating passion to calm, or hell to heaven, or love to icy death cold)

  • and while it may be a tiny bit more difficult to mark the exact millisecond of the shift/change from one discrete class of red, to another discrete class of blue

it doesnt matter, it doesnt matter why?

it doesnt matter if it’s a conceptually separate answer or not cos why?

cos in the end, the only thing that’s going to matter most is the effects

  • & the effects are not only or predominantly at the sentiment level

or as the leading edge ppl call it, emotional design

  • and ofc the ones that are traditional experts are the storytellers and photographers and costume/fashion designers, etc.

  • and to translate/compile that talent / skillset / & charm onto the web is part of what progress is about

  • & that is exactly what the leading edge ppl in society are doing

  • so perhaps while “the effects are not only or predominantly at the sentiment level”

  • perhaps that is the first & last place, & most meaningful place that color for purposed for?

but maybe not? why should info design & dyna start playing your fav song upon opening? (that’s would be distracting at least for songs with lyrics)

why? why should it? isnt that the narrow function of a music player, isnt that the narrow function of the symphony?

shouldnt things be merely functional? isnt functional the purpose & meaning of ‘effects’? that it does one thing and it does that one thing well

but it makes you wonder, doesnt it? or at least it should,

it should make you wonder what more colours could do (all the endless wonderful undiscovered possibilities)


for me, i know my answer: i didnt use dropbox paper anymore cos they didnt have color (as the primary reason), they didnt understand the importance of color, so many thing dont have color, what makes paper any better or more promising than anything else non-unique in this universe? just like the rest, they didnt understand the value of color

so we ask again, just as we should wonder again, ‘isnt functional the purpose & meaning of ‘effects’?’ perhaps unlike how a gift – affects – one’s affection on vali day :two_hearts:

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