Nuleif's Weblog

Color Theory and Human Behavior

nuleif — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:27:50 +0000

In order to achieve a living or business space that enhances the purpose of the room, I believe it is important to incorporate color theory in relation to human reaction for desired results. “Since 70% of the information we intake about our surroundings comes from vision, it makes sense for designers to have a deep understanding of how color affects the human experience and when its use would be beneficial or detrimental to a situation, hence a place.” (http://www.asid.org/events/ceus/pocket/pocketwydra4.htm) Color theory in relation to human behavior has been well noted by feng shui theorists to create a peaceful flow and balance throughout one’s home. However, this theory in color and human reaction is well noted in the science community as well. Due to the fact that color is widely accepted as affecting the human condition, it is significant that it is considered when designing a space; for instance, in the case of babies it has been shown that most babies do not sleep well in rooms that are rendered in yellow. Color holds a lot of cards on how people feel; it is suggested, for example, that orange is a very stimulating color, great for creating productivity and activity when stabilized by whites and blacks. Greens are supposed to be very calming. “Red raises a room’s energy level… and blue brings down blood pressure and slows respiration and heart rate. That’s why it’s considered calming, relaxing, and serene, and is often recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms. Neutrals help balance a room, by using more it can calm a room or using less to liven things up.” (http://freshome.com/2007/04/17/room-color-and-how-it-affects-your-mood/) By utilizing color schemes that enhance the appropriate reaction for the purpose of a room, I will be able to accomplish as a designer better living and business environments for my clients. To use color appropriately I can enhance the spaces’ experience. In order to enhance a space’s experience I might use orange, for example, for a gym or an accent wall in a work environment as it is a color that ‘stimulates and motivates,’ or green and natural tones to create relaxation in a bedroom with just hints of bright colors to off set it. By using color theory to enhance a room I can guide the clients into the feel that they really want but are not sure how to achieve on their own. Furthermore, while wall colors and major furniture pieces will help set the tone of a room, I can offset the mood just slightly with alternatively colored accents so that no one room is too heavily weighed in one emotion. By offsetting the major color of a room with splashes of contrasting and complimentary colors, an aesthetically pleasing movement throughout will be achieved as well as will make no one room too extreme in its attempts to dictate an emotion. Using a core color, offset and enhanced by accessories and accents will make sure that a Blue room is calming but not so much so that it makes the client sluggish, or a Red hue makes someone passionate but not agitated or enraged, creating environments that are moderate in their purpose. Similarly, colored accents can further be enhanced by directing them toward the client’s interests; for example if a blue accent is needed, finding a picture of somewhere the client has been on vacation or would like to go can be rendered in blue, then this article is not only achieving a color reaction but also a location reaction that will create a pleasurable experience.

-Amy Schendel

Form and Function

nuleif — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:26:56 +0000

By generating a duality between function and form the human experience will be enhanced by allowing their needs to be met as well as their wants and their comforts. The function of one’s space is hugely significant to the ease at which one lives their life. The function of a table may be to hold a glass or remote within reach when placed next to the sofa, however its form is important to please the person who looks upon it. It is my idea that a table that holds a drink and is pleasant to look at is not doing enough. The job of a table should be greatly influenced by the client/who it is that sits next to it. A table can also be a storage unit for books to the heavy reader, or an instrument to the musician. There is no where in the rules that says a person is only inspired by one thing at a time, the musician does not always think of his best piece of music when in a music studio, inspiration can hit at anytime. It is for this reason that a person’s space should reflect their interests as a person. For the musician, it would be significant to give him a side table that is also a drum or guitar, but looks like a beautiful oak table. A table that looks like a table but is sectioned in fours, with each square making a different tone as a drum in fact exists. It is important to me that when decorating a space that not only is the client’s aesthetic appeal being met but also that they are being properly paired up with functionality that is significant to them and their interests. The musician with a “drum” table might be watching TV one night, rapping his fingers upon his table and there finds the beginning of a new song. The reader while watching TV sees his books besides him and decides he would rather be reading. However, the reader with an instrumental table and the musician with a book/storage table denies the clients the potential impact the room should have on the person. Therefore, it will be my goal to properly pair function and form as suited to the needs of the client.

-Amy Schendel

“Green” living

nuleif — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:25:49 +0000

With the concerns of global warming and depletion of natural resources being moved to the forefront of societal attention, I believe it is in the best interest for artists and inventors to incorporate environmental concerns within their products; it is for this reason that I intend to utilize “green” living in cooperation with aesthetics to create living and business spaces that are not only pleasing but also significant. One way I intend to create environmentally conscious spaces is to find the potential in clients’ already existing household items. Firstly, trash created by clients’ “old” products (to be replaced) can be reduced by re-facing, reconstructing and reinventing them into new reusable items. Old products can change face by reinventing them, such as taking an old mattress and use its springs as small hanging wall hooks or the large springs as wine holders, re-upholstering old couch pillows to make large bed throw-pillows, old lamp stands can be converted into new candle holders and so on. Secondly, by developing a relationship with a furniture designer, it becomes possible to reuse and recycle old furniture into new exciting pieces. By taking an old piece of wood furniture, for example, parts can be torn off, refinished, stained and reused in new furniture items. Similarly, environmentally conscious spaces are easier to create today more than ever as vast amount of new environmentally friendly products are coming out all the time. With new, earth-friendly products around, a large portion of creating a “green” space simply relies on “smart” shopping. Also, having herb gardens, decorating with plants and using fountains as fish tanks may seem small but help keep the environmentally conscious mind active.

-Amy Schendel