COLOUR IN PRODUCTION

The use of Color in production is an age long practice. Whether in newspaper production,
illustrations, television and advertising production, color has become a phenomenon as it adds
value and beauty to jobs.

Over the years, the amount of color in print production has increased substantially due to
improved technology that has resulted in better color at lower costs. Another factor that has
led to more use of color is the stiffer competition among various print media and the intense
campaigns aimed at better parts of the market by advertisers. When color is used, it offers the
advantage of attracting attention better than black and white, depicting subject matters more
realistically and emphasizing a particular element in production, psychological stimulation or
pleasure and providing accurate representation of images in products and packages for easy
recognition.

The use of color may not necessarily mean better jobs than black and white as some products
come out best in black and white (e.g. Vaseline advert). The practice in today's production is to
use black and another color, or two colors without black for the purpose of effects, but the use
of four colors though more expensive is a good way to achieve realism.

Even in today's packaging, color has been employed to enhance visibility and realism. In order
to get the attention of the buyer among several products, the package must be made to stand
out and offer eye appeal to the consumer. In terms of rates, color costs 25% - 60% more than
black and white but on the average color is 100% more memorable.

COLOUR THEORY
The three PRIMARY COLOURS are Yellow Blue and Red. They are so called because these are
the only colours that cannot be created by mixing any other two colours.

SECONDARY COLOURS are created from the combination of two primary colours.

TERTIARY COLOURS are created by combining a primary colour with a secondary colour.

WARM COLOURS are Red, Yellow and Magenta.

COOL COLOURS are Blue, Green and Cyan.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOUR

We live in a colour dominated world where virtually everything is set in colour. In the media
world colour preferences influence people's purchase decisions, the clothes they wear and
what they keep in their environments. A good understanding of human colour preference is
essential in sales and marketing. Both print and broadcast messages are presented in colour for
impact and Influence. When black and white is used, it is done to set the message apart rather
than simply to save money. Almost every study on the subject of communication indicates that
colour sells and communicates well. Colour brings the printed page to life, colour soothes, it
shocks, stimulates and seduces.

BENEFITS OF COLOUR IN GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION

1. Colour creates attraction
2. Colour depicts nature
3. Colour connotes and dictates mood
4. Colour depicts reality that is it makes objects real e.g. food and flower
5. Colour complements other elements in graphic communication
6. Colour shows relationships in graphical images

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF COLOUR

All colours evoke both positive and negative associations. For instance:

BLACK denotes evil, divination and sophistication.

WHITE represents peace, celestial, heavenly, truth, healing, divination, purity and cleanliness.

YELLOW points to vitality, creativity, happiness, communication, and intelligence.

RED indicates sexual love, lust, fire, danger, courage, energy, strength, anger, action,
confidence and vitality.

PINK represents queenly, marriage, love, affection, compassion, tenderness, beauty.

ORANGE connotes success, courage, self pride, friendship, communication, opportunities.

GREEN represents freshness, newness, growth, abundance, harves,t fertility, employment, luck
jealousy, life, and wellbeing.

BROWN stands for stability, integrity, Justice, sensuality, endurance, earth order, and
convention.

BLUE represents truth, tranquility, protection, hope, honour, change, psychic ability, youth and
intelligence.

GREY stands for vision, neutrality, negativity, sorrow, security, maturity.

GOLD stands for health, prosperity, wisdom, good success, and confidence
COLOUR AND CULTURE
Colours have meanings that are specific to them in different cultures. Thus, every culture has
different symbolisms of colour. Cultural colour connotations often derive from religious spiritual
social or historical events

RED: Red means love and passion in many countries in North and South America and Europe.
In America ,Valentine's Day is celebrated in red hats to celebrate love. In Indian, culture red
represents fear, wealth, purity, love, marriage and beauty. In China, Red represents luck and
fertility. Red in African culture represents death and grief. In Nigeria and South Africa, red
symbolizes violence and sacrifice.

BLUE: Blue is a dichotomous colour because it has positive and negative meanings. For instance,
in North America, blue represents trust and serenity, but it can also stand for depression and
loneliness. Blue is also a symbol of masculinity in North America and Europe but in China it is a
symbol of femininity. In Asia and the Middle East, especially among the Hindus, blue represents
immortality. In Ukraine, Blue symbolizes healing. It is also said to repel evil. In Turkey, Greece
and Albania, citizens can be seen wearing blue amulets to protect them from evil.

GREEN: Green symbolizes luck, prosperity, renewal and jealousy in the United States of America
and Ireland. In the USA, green can be wealth as seen in the colour of the dollar.
A person can be described as green when they lack experience. In Mexico, green suggests
freedom and independence. In Islamic culture, green is a valuable colour as it symbolizes
Mohammed. Green also represents respect in many Eastern cultures. In the Far East, Green
can mean eternity, infidelity luck, wealth and fertility. In Japan green represents eternity and
vitality.

YELLOW: stands for jealousy, betrayal and weakness in France and Germany.
in North America, yellow is the symbol for happiness warmth and hope. In Egypt, yellow means
mourning and the afterlife.

ORANGE: in Ireland protestants wear orange while Catholics wear Green. In British culture,
orange stands for peace humility and love. It symbolizes bravery and courage in Ukraine.

PURPLE: In Japan, purple represents nobility and spirituality.

In Thailand, purple represents death and mourning. for instance, women wear purple after the
death of their husbands. In the U.S, purple symbolizes courage.

BLACK: Black symbolizes death and mourning in many Western cultures. For example, in the US
Mexico, Greece and England, it is customary to wear black to funerals. Some cultures in Mexico
and Greece require widowed women to wear black for the rest of their lives. In African
cultures, black represents maturity and masculinity. Men wear black to demonstrate their
transformation from boys to men. In China, Black is worn among young boys to represent
formality and sophistication.
WHITE: In most western cultures, white represents innocence and purity. In the US and
Western Europe, women wear white on their wedding day. In several Asian cultures, like China
and Korea, white symbolizes death. White is often worn to funerals. Each colour carries with it a
symbolic representation that shapes cultures across the world.