19. March 2010
Which colours are considered ‘utopian’ and how colourful is ‘uncultured?
The Colour Dictionary – the first reference work about the colourfulness of the words
Fig. 1: Title page The Colour Dictionary. The Colourfulness of the Words by Axel Venn.
Fig. 2 and 3: Excerpt from The Colour Dictionary, colours allocated to one concept (‘exotic’) and the respective colour scheme.
Sankt Augustin, 19 march 2010 – Colours convey emotional messages. But is envy always associated with yellow, hope with green and love only with red? With The Colour Dictionary by Axel Venn, we now have a unique reference work that discusses the colourfulness of the words. It is the result of the first scientific study into the question of which colours people associate with specific adjectives – including, for instance, which colours are associated with ‘grand’ and which colour tones mean ‘spirited’ or ‘poor’. Venn and his co-author have broken new ground by asking 60 participants to associate 360 adjectives with colours. What they found was that people associate concepts not just with one colour, but several. It is therefore the right combination of colours that achieves the desired effect – this is an important finding for all colour designers and advertising experts. Thus, The Colour Dictionary goes beyond the remit of most theoretical books as these are normally limited to associating each concept with a single colour.
In their study, the authors asked participants to paint the colours they associated with each adjective in special boxes. All participants had the same painting materials. The Colour Dictionary displays the colours associated with the 360 concepts using 49 colour images that were painted for each concept by the participants. The colours the participants chose have been translated into RAL DESIGN System colours, as it was also necessary to present them using a recognised, scientifically based colour system. According to Venn, ‘It was crucial that the results remained unaltered and were translated exactly into RAL DESIGN System colours. This makes The Colour Dictionary a reference work that can easily be consulted on a daily basis.’ The overall finding of the study is highly significant as it shows that even with a group of twenty or thirty participants, the majority of results were very stable. With a larger group, there were still only minor variations between participants.
This study has led to the creation of the first contemporary reference work that discusses the emotional characteristics of colours. It will be particularly valuable for professional users as it helps to define the language of colour. The study revealed that even concepts which are very similar in meaning, such as ‘glamorous’, ‘expensive’ and ‘luxurious’, are worlds apart when it comes to the colours that are associated with them. This precise definition of colours makes The Colour Dictionary an indispensable standard reference work for professional colour designers. Architects, interior designers, painters, designers and graphic designers will find it a valuable new tool when it comes to design and customer service and advice.
The Colour Dictionary. The Colourfulness of the Words by Professor Axel Venn and Janina Venn-Rosky, edited by Dr. Wolf D. Karl, RAL gGmbH. The bilingual edition (German and English) comprises 864 pages with approx. 20,000 images and contains a large overview poster with colours and concepts. The hardback book, 24 × 26 cm in size, costs 139 Euros in Germany and can be ordered via the RAL website www.ral-farben.de. ISBN: 978-3-7667-1825-9.
About the authors
Axel Venn is Professor of Colour Design and Trendscouting at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hildesheim. The author, who lives in Berlin, has been involved in colour research for many years and enjoys international renown as a colour, trend and aesthetics consultant. Janina Venn-Rosky is a qualified designer, with a degree from the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg.