Front and back cover design using yellow portions from flags around the world.
Thesis Statement
There are many similarities and differences in color associations in different cultures. For graphic designers, knowing these associations and being aware of them can result in a massive impact in their design work. For others, knowing these associations can broaden their perspective of the world and the cultures within it. Color is something we interact with everyday and yellow is no exception. By choosing this one color my goal was to show the depth and span of its accumulated meanings.
Here you can see a few of the different written languages utilized. From left to right: Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.
My table of contents was transformed into a Map of Contents so viewers could see how much of the globe was covered which included 17 countries across a span of 5 continents.
Here is a comparison of Italy to Thailand and their uses of yellow, one represented crime while the other represented a state of nirvana.
This spread featured India and Mexico, both of which celebrate annual festivals. India, the Festival of Colors or Holi (celebrated in the spring), and Mexico, Day of the Dead (celebrated in the fall). For India yellow stands for the mind, intellect and the essence of joy, for Mexico it stood for unity, mourning, and the fragility of life.
Above is Papua New Guinea, the Huli Wigman tribe use yellow and red facepaint to instill fear in their enemies and confidence in their own men while in Russia, the phrase, "Yellow House," refers to insane asylums.
This spread dealt with different meanings behind flowers. In Mexico yellow-orange marigolds help deceased family member's spirits find their way back home, while in Japan yellow chrysanthemums were worn by Japanese warriors to honor the emperor and as a pledge of courage.
This is the Designer’s Index, viewers can reference and read up on the variety of artists that each page was influenced by.
Background
My process began by choosing a color. I knew it would have to be a color used throughout the world, by looking at flag designs, it was clear there were standard colors used so it came down to four, blue, green, red and yellow.
From a quick glance in my research, blue was mostly associated with the sky, water, and relaxing. Green was highly associated with vegetation, “going green,” and money. Red had a wider range of meanings but most of them were politically charged, something I wanted to avoid. Yellow, on the other hand, had the widest range of meanings, which made it a perfect candidate. Personally, yellow was challenging for me since it is a color I tend to shy away from in general and in my design work.
Once I settled on yellow, I started researching, which first took form in creating quick sketches to remember my research. Such as yellow is the first color an infant’s eyes recognize (sketch #1), it is also a color that stimulates our brain the most (sketch #2).
From there I began creating, what I call, an image archive, a way for me to begin to visually categorize and make connections which consisted of 100 photos. Some of those categories included power/government, religion, and nature.
Below are some of the best resources I was able to find when collecting
concrete information.
concrete information.
(Left) This was the best resource I was able to find. It went region/country by country, color coded and easily organized to find the meanings for
certain colors.
Peterson, L.K., & Dangel Cullen, C. (2000). Global Graphics: Color. Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers, Inc.
(Right)This book was most helpful in helping find designers in certain regions of the world.
Caban, Geoffrey. (2004). World Graphic Design: Contemporary Graphics From Africa, the Far East, Latin America, and the Middle East. New York, NY: Merrell Publishers Limited
This was a great resource when finding the word "yellow" translated into many written languages.
Palermo, Victor (2018). Colour Words in Many Languages. Omniglot. Retrieved from omniglot.com/language/colours/multilingual.htm
Process
From there I began researching designers from the countries I was going to feature
in my book.
in my book.
Luis Pinto is a Mexican graphic designer who is known for his bright, saturated colors, and decorative elements. He sometimes uses up to six colors within a single composition. Using this style is how he connects with his culture. And here is how
I translated that.
I translated that.
One of Pintos very colorful compositions. Here are a few renditions of this page incorporating all of the meanings associated with yellow in that country.
5 Mexican Designers You Should Know (2016). 99designs. Retrieved from 99designs.com/blog/creative-inspiration/mexican-designers/
I quickly found that I really needed to push yellow more which meant pushing myself out of my own comfort zone by applying color boldly and unapologetically.
Originally, my pages included all meanings of yellow from that country but, I quickly learned that it was very text heavy and hard to pair with others so I found that I needed to split the meanings into different pages. I chose a square format which allowed for the visuals and text to breathe better. In this instance, I replaced the hand with what is referred to as a sugar skull, a particular decorated skull sold on Day of the Dead (left), then I focused solely on the flowers, giving them their own composition (right).
Another designer example is Ikko Tanaka. A Japanese graphic designer whose compositions are strong, clean, playful, and very precise with simple shapes.
Ikko Tanaka is a Japanese artists and this is one of his most famous works (left). My translations with all meanings incorporated featured on the right.
Ikko Tanaka (2017). Design is History. Retrieved from designishistory.com/1960/ikko-tanaka/
Here are the meanings split into two different compositions in square format, making it easier for me to pair pages together to create
interesting comparisons.
interesting comparisons.
Lastly, using a map I was able to track my progress and make sure that I was covering the widest range of regions/counties.
Conclusion
Personally, throughout this project, I have noticed that yellow has grown on me and I am more aware of the uses of yellow in my environment.
One thing that is most successful about my project is the depth of information it contains. From the meanings of yellow, to the styles of designers across the world, and the written language of the countries.
If I had more time, I would like to create a way for this to live digitally so it's more easily accessible to designers around the world. I would also love to explore meanings behind other colors.
Resources
America Sanchez (2017). Spain is Culture. Retrieved from spainisculture.com/en/artistas_creadores/america_sanchez.html
Anonymous (2014). Holi Festival and Significance of Holi Colours. Online Prasad. Retrieved from blog.onlineprasad.com/holi-festival-and-significance-of-holi-colours/.
Argentina (2017). Facts.Co. Retrieved from argentinaflag.facts.co/argentinaflagof/argentinaflag.php
Berdy, Michele A. (2013). Going Crazy Over Russia. The Moscow Times. Retrieved from themoscowtimes.com/articles/going-crazy-over-russia-21360
Briggs, Olivia (2016). What Colors Mean in Other Cultures. SmarterTravel. Retrieved from smartertravel.com/2016/01/22/what-colors-mean-in-other-cultures/
Caban, Geoffrey. (2004). World Graphic Design: Contemporary Graphics From Africa, the Far East, Latin America, and the Middle East. New York, NY: Merrell Publishers Limited.
Dashrath Patel (2017). Wikipedia. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Patel
Deats, Richard (2011). The People Power Revolution in the Philippines. Super Consciousness. Retrieved from superconsciousness.com/topics/society/people-power-revolution-philippines
El Lissitzky (2017). The Art Story. Retrieved from theartstory.org/artist-lissitzky-el.htm
Bülent Erkmen (2018). Turkish Cultural Foundation. Retrieved from turkishculture.org/whoiswho/visual-arts/graphic-artist/bulent-erkmen-2782.htm
Fulleylove, Rebecca (2016). It’s Nice That. Retrieved from itsnicethat.com/articles/wang-zhi-hong-book-covers-061216
Huli Wigmen Tribe: Tari Basin, Hela Province of Papua New Guinea (2017). Any Way in a Way. Retrieved from anywayinaway.com/photography/papua-new-guinea/huli-tribe/
Ikko Tanaka (2017). Design is History. Retrieved from designishistory.com/1960/ikko-tanaka/
International Color Guide - South Africa (2018). Xerox. Retrieved from office.xerox.com/small-business/tips/color-guide/south-africa/enus.html
Joesph Foo (2017). 3X. Retrieved from 3x.dk/about/joseph-foo
Kamal Amin (2017). Alchertron. Retrieved from alchetron.com/Kamal-Amin.
Lins, Rico (2010). Rico Lins: Annotated Graphic Design Projects, Sao Paulo: Solisluna Editora.
Lowry, Camille (2008). Saki Mafundikwa. AIGA. Retrieved from aiga.org/design-journeys-
saki-mafundikwa.
saki-mafundikwa.
Manav, Banu (2007). Color-Emotion Association and Color Preferences: A Case Study for Residents. Istanbul, Turkey: Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Margaret Calvert (2017). Wikipedia.
Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Calvert
Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Calvert
Massimo Vignelli (2017). Design is History. Retrieved from designishistory.com/1960/massimo-vignelli/.
Mooth, Bryn (2017). How Design. Retrieved from howdesign.com/featured/pum-lefebure-no-second-place/
Morton, J.L (2018). The Meanings of Yellow. Color Matters. Retrieved from colormatters.com/the-meanings-of-colors/yellow
O’Brien, Barbara (2017). The Buddha’s Robe. ThoughtCo. Retrieved from thoughtco.com/the-buddhas-robe-p2-4123187
Our Top 10 Graphic Designers and Illustrators from the Philippines (2014). Retrieved from idesigni.co.uk/blog/top-10-graphic-design-philippines-2014/
Palermo, Victor (2018). Colour Words in Many Languages. Omniglot. Retrieved from omniglot.com/language/colours/multilingual.htm
Peterson, L.K., & Dangel Cullen, C. (2000). Global Graphics: Color. Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers, Inc.
The Role Marigolds Play in Dia De Los Muertos (2012). LaJOLLAmom. Retrieved from lajollamom.com/the-role-marigolds-play-in-dia-de-los-muertos/
Saul Bass (2017). Wikipedia.
Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass
Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass
Smith, Ben (2014). The Story of Brazil’s ‘Sacred’ Yellow and Green Jersey. BBC Magazine. Retrieved from bbc.com/news/magazine-27809268
South Africa (2017). Facts.Co. Retrieved from southafricaflag.facts.co/southafricaflagcolors/southafricaflagmeaning.php
Sun of May (2017). Wikipedia. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_of_May
Williams, Shayla (2009). Symbols and Color in African Clothing. Ezine Articles. Retrieved from
ezinearticles.com/?Symbols-and-Color-in-African-Clothing&id=2710905
5 Mexican Designers You Should Know (2016). 99designs. Retrieved from 99designs.com/blog/creative-inspiration/mexican-designers/
