How to Choose Colors

April 13, 2009

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We learned last week that numbers are a language.

Things communicated in numbers can be spoken in no other language. And because numbers are language, numbers can lie.

Color, too, is a language.

We use the language of color to reinforce – and contradict – statements made in the languages of shape and symbol, illumination and proximity. Hues, shades, tints, and intensities of color work together to create a mood, an ambience, an attitude.

Yes, color is a language and I am fascinated by it.

Colors are chosen for websites, logos, furniture, offices and art.

The question is, “How do you choose?”

Wizard Academy studies what gifted people do when they are feeling inspired. We investigate the greatest accomplishments of great men and women so that we may reverse engineer their unconscious methods.

We teach you how to do consciously what a gifted person does unconsciously when they are feeling inspired.

How would you like to be able to say, “The color palette of this website was selected by Claude Monet?”

Imagine the impact of a color scheme that was the basis of a Gustav Klimt painting that sold for more than 100 million dollars.

“The colors in this church were chosen to match the mood of ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo DaVinci.”

Do you suppose the color scheme of ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch might create a similar mood of disquiet even when separated from the painting? After all, Munch chose the colors to reinforce the scene. We can safely assume the colors are saying the same thing as the painting.

Colors sing most eloquently in chorus. Rarely does one color say much alone.

I have said enough today in the language of words. It's time to let the colors do the talking.

Just click the beagle at the top of today's memo to begin your instructional journey down the rabbit hole. Each painting clicked will take you one step deeper. There are also a couple of strange side tunnels. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of each page.

What colors might one find in a minor key rainbow?

I'll tell you next week.

Roy H. Williams