Roy G. Biv

Psychology of Color - Segmation Digital Art Game You probably have a favorite color, but chances are you rarely stop to think about why you are drawn to this particular hue.

For years, psychologists have been claiming that people are drawn to choice shades for particular reasons. This means that, whether you know it or not, there is good reason why your favorite color is your favorite color.

What is Your Favorite Color?

It is likely that your preference stems from personal tastes and the culture that surrounds you. After all, we develop color affinities at young ages. For instance, to make conversation with a child, it is common to ask, “What is your favorite color?” Therefore, it makes sense to think that these hues have an influence on our personalities as we age too. According to some psychologists and color experts, our favorite colors reflect parts of our personalities, but how?

One artist who correlates colors with personality traits is Oliver Munday. His color maps recently made their way into a highly anticipated book on color, ROY G. BIV: An Exceedingly Surprising Book About Color (Bloomsbury 2013).

Color Maps of Your Favorite Colors

The color maps explore long held truths about colors as well as historical events and phenomenon related to specific colors. Like, did you know the yellow pencil can be traced back to Ch’ing dynasty in China? At the time, yellow was the “exclusive imperial color for the country” (Huffingtonpost.com).

Take a look at Munday’s color map of black. “Miserable Ecstasy” and “The Vast and The Minute” it says in bold. Nobody needs to ask why these sayings are associated with the shade because they make perfect sense. As the color map enfolds them into historical events and phenomenon, like “The curious science of ink” and “Glossy vs. matte blacks,” readers begin to learn facts about their favorite color and become enlightened as to why they prefer certain shades.

Emotional Connections to Color

To some, it is fascinating to learn that the reason our favorite colors are our favorite colors are rooted in history. However, most of us understand that there are emotional reasons why we connect with certain shades. Empower-Yourself-With-Color-Psychology.com lays out what your favorite color says about you on an emotional level. Click on the link to find out what your favorite hue reveals.

If you’ve never stopped to think about why your favorite color is your favorite color, take time to explore this thought today. Use the resources and links provided in this post to identify the historical significance and emotional ties you have to your choice hue.

We live in a colorful world. Learning about your favorite color may enlighten you.

Read more Segmation blog posts about color psychology:

The Psychology of Color

Colors Change What is Beautiful

Art Therapy Treats more than the Heart

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What is better than taking in a beautiful array of color? This can happen in a natural setting, where autumn leaves are turning crisp and ocean waves rush to make whitecaps. It can also occur in an art gallery, where wall hangings mesmerize art enthusiasts, encouraging them to stop and be still.

These are examples of times when people give color their full attention. In most instances, however, color is taken for granted. People go days and even weeks without taking in the vibrancy surrounding life. How can this be? Color is everywhere.

The Complexity of Color

One possible reason people let the miracle of color pass them by is because it is so complex. Sadly, some will never truly understand how involved and deliberate color is. On the other hand, many people cannot contain their fascination; these tend to be those who dedicate their lives to pursuing the intricacies of color. A woman who does this is Jude Stewart. She is the author of Roy G. Biv – An Exceedingly Surprising Book about Color. In this book, the designer explores how there is more to color than meets the eye.

For some time, people have been trying to fit color into the box of human understanding. This may be the reason behind the pressure that was put on Issac Newton to claim there were seven colors in a rainbow – not six.

He decreed red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet as a rainbow’s colors. Taking the first letter of each color creates the acronym Roy G. Biv. Without indigo (the color that he rushed to fit in) this helpful memorization technique could not exist.

Color is Cultural and Universal

Color exists beyond human understanding and advances human understanding at the same time. This is why people groups use color to set themselves apart. Despite efforts to be distinct, color also brings the world together.

In Roy G. Biv, Stewart explains how the concept of color differs between cultures. Across the world, people attach various meanings to colors. For instance, in Japan green is called blue. But color also has a way of bringing the world together. One example of the universality of color is how speakers of different languages list colors in a similar sequence. The widely accepted order goes black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown.

Ultimately, color is an earthly phenomenon that may never be totally understood. But people like Jude Stewart are going to continue trying to make sense of it all. If for nothing else, than to encourage people to stop, be still, and take in the world around them.

Read more Segmation blog posts about Art and Color:

The Most Colorful Cities In The World

The World’s Favorite Color

Pursuing a Career in Art

Be a Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

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