Month: February 2021

I’m going to be honest here and say that until recently I haven’t thought about sustainability in a design setting. Don’t get me wrong, I think about sustainability a lot. I avoid single-use plastics as much as possible, recycle what I can, buy locally, and so forth. There is a lot of care in the actions I take to try to make a difference in my personal life. I thought it was interesting to not only use design to speak up about these climate issues but to bring a sustainable mindset into the work I produce. I especially liked the idea of using recycled or eco-friendly materials in our design work. It’s such a simple and easy thing to incorporate into what I do, and something that sounded even easier to sell to potential future clients.

This also answers the question, “How can businesses or design agencies implement design for good into day to day work?” Pushing eco-friendly materials and avoiding things like single-use plastics in their design planning. I think it can be hard to focus on what the design is going to be on when we spend so much time focusing on the design itself. This makes me think back to a class taken with Christine last year when we had to repurpose our assigned object and package it. Some of the designs did not mention materials and process and some put a lot of time into this idea of sustainable packaging. I believe I brought up the idea of recyclable cardboard packaging but I was blown away by the few people who designed their packaging to be used as more than packaging, such as a way to store their object or an extra tool that worked with their object. I think giving more purpose to packaging than just packaging is an amazing way to think sustainably. I found that to be a pretty inspiring process and it has made me think more deeply about packaging and its purpose. Packaging makes up a majority of the waste we produce, almost 90 million tons of it.

It is a lot to think about and as a creator, I do think I have a responsibility to lead by example and practice what I preach, but I don’t think I hold any responsibility in the situation on climate change itself. I have a responsibility to use my voice and platform for good, but the people ruining this place for all of humanity are the ones that need to make a change. And by this, I mean the multi-million (and in some cases billion) dollar consumer industries that are burning this place to the ground. Literally.

“Emotion and color perception: A psychoanalytical theory of graphic design in consumer of goods”  By E. Bankole Oladumiye and Odji Ebenezer 

This is an academic journal for the Department of Industrial Design at the  Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. The article was published in 2017 and was accepted in 2018. 

“Emotion and color perception: A psychoanalytical theory of graphic design in the consumer of goods”  by E. Bankole Oladumiye and Odji Ebenezer discusses the use of the principles of design in packaging and how the emotional response and physical look of the packaging determine if it purchased. Line and color are two principles that appear most often in package work and can help invoke emotion, arouse the viewer and create a sense of movement or guide the eye through the package. Colored sunray patterns are one of the more popular arrangements on the package because of the emotional response and excitement created by the formation. The study then goes into detail about texture and the psychological response elicited by color and the principles of design present. The study itself was a survey that measured qualitative data. The study sample was a group of young adults ages 18-45. This group was asked a series of questions to determine their purchasing reasoning. Does color affect your purchase? Does color affect your emotion? How do you feel color and emotion relate to one another when purchasing goods? A majority of participants responded positively, saying color and aesthetically pleasing packaging that elicited a positive effect did influence their purchase. 

E., Bankole Oladumiye, and Ebenezer Odji. “Emotion and Colour Perception: A Psychoanalytical Theory of Graphic Design in Consumer of Goods.” Journal of Fine and Studio Art, vol. 7, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1–11., doi:10.5897/jfsa2017.0050.

“Age-related decline in color perception and difficulties with daily activities–measurement, questionnaire, optical and computer-graphics simulation studies”  by  Keiko Ishihara

Keiko Ishiharaa,, Shigekazu Ishiharaa , Mitsuo Nagamachia , Sugaru Hiramatsub , Hirokazu Osakic were all participants in this study across multiple Universities in Japan. The paper was revised and scientifically accepted in 2000. 

“Age-related decline in color perception and difficulties with daily activities–measurement, questionnaire, optical and computer-graphics simulation studies”  by  Keiko Ishihara focuses on the visual impairments experiments by the elderly and how it affects their interaction with technology. The lens in the eyes, which is responsible for a lot of our visual processing and how we focus on the world, begins to harden and yellow with age. 130 elderly were asked to distinguish between shades of yellow and white. The rate of misjudgment was over 41% in elderly 75-80 years old and almost 50% in elderly 80 and up. Another experiment in the study was a simulation of age on young adults. These individuals were asked to wear yellow goggles that simulated the changes the lens goes through over time and to go about their daily lives. These users reported having a hard time distinguishing color, a hard time reading electronic displays, worsened depth perception, and even having a hard time dealing with nonsolid items, such as liquid or flame. Multiple more studies were used to verify the difficulties that the elderly go through in their day to day lives dealing with packaging and electronics and is valuable information when it comes to improving these designed elements in the future. 

Ishihara, Keiko, et al. “Age-Related Decline in Color Perception and Difficulties with Daily Activities–Measurement, Questionnaire, Optical and Computer-Graphics Simulation Studies.” International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Elsevier, 21 Aug. 2001, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169814101000282?casa_token=9P52uga8ax0AAAAA%3AjfDIhCzVudODGNZsghg3MUazNly5OZWuzPK3uwy1YjbqBgWB_Qqvq2G8IExc02MMaZnf2rnH2g. 

“ The psychological effect of color on the suppression of human aggression”  by Alexander Schauss

Dr. Alexander has over 191 publications and a PhD in Natural and Medicinal research. 

“ The psychological effect of color on the suppression of human aggression”  by Alexander Schauss illustrates the effects of Baker-miller pink on aggression and how it can be used in certain settings to decrease violent behavior and negative emotion in individuals. The color was tested in multiple settings with a range of subjects and its effects were recorded. These setting included jail holding cells and a youth correctional facility. The effects were also tested on the normal functioning individual, individuals with behavioral disorders, blind individuals, and individuals suffering from schizophrenia. It was discovered that individuals placed into rooms painted this color began to calm from their aggressive state. They acted less violence, used less offensive language, and would decrease any self-mutilative behavior. Because these studies could not declare the pink a cause of this sedated behavior, a trial that was more controlled and less observational was implemented. 72 right-handed men were brought in to be tested. The men viewed a controlled panel in a shade of blue and the experimental panel in the baker-miller shade of pink. After viewing each panel their strength was tested. This was repeated with 60 men. In both cases, the men performed lower on their strength test after viewing the pink tile versus the blue. While studies are still ongoing, the pink appeared to have a sedative effect when viewed. 

Schauss, Alexander. (1985). The Physiological Effect of Color on the Suppression of Human Aggression: Research on Baker-Miller Pink. International Journal of Biosocial Research. 7. 55-64. 

“Color Psychology and Graphic Design Applications” by Rose Rider. 

I couldn’t find much on Rose Rider, but this was a piece of her Senior Honors Thesis for an honors program at Liberty University. Her sources were cited properly and the source was found on google scholar, which I deem a pretty trustable search engine. 

“Color Psychology and Graphic Design Applications” by Rose Rider discusses the fundamental principles of color perception and how they can be applied in the context of Graphic Design. Color by itself is light that is being transmitted at different wavelengths and our perception of it can be broken down into three separate categories, hue, saturation, and value. Color preference can be found in children as young as three months old, and these color preferences universally change with age. For example, infants prefer yellows and reds while older adults are often reported to prefer blues or greens. Color is also reported to carry emotion with it, which is most often seen when comparing hues. Warm hues (the longer wavelength hues) are often associated with energy and are found to be more arousing compared to the calming nature of the shorter wavelength cool hues. Cooler Hues are also the more preferred hue. This information is extremely important when considering its application in Graphic Design. Color is a large factor when trying to appeal to your audience and can be used to reach a specific age, personality, social status, ethnicity, and culture. A good example of this is the preference of color with age, the hue is important, as was mentioned earlier, but saturation and value also have a huge part in what colors are preferred by what ages. Children prefer darker, richer hues and secondary colors, as well as fun textures like glitter, compared to other adults who prefer lighter primary colors. 

Rider, Rose M. “Color Psychology and Graphic Design Applications.” (2010).

This was my answer to anyone trying to start a discussion with me about anything even slightly political, throughout high school and even into my first year of college. It wasn’t that I was stuck up or too good to talk about politics, and I had opinions, I was just traumatized. Since I could remember, politics has always been a hot topic in my family. Without being too personal for the sake of the topic, my mom came from a very religious, very conservative family and ended up marrying my dad (a very loud and very liberal atheist.) This started a lot of conflicts, screaming matches, and broken ties that never really mended. Things have improved since then, but a lot of trauma and negative emotions have remained.

Why is this important you ask? Well, I needed to explain where I was before to help contrast where I am now and now that that is out of the way, I can finally go about answering the question, “How does the inevitable intersection of design and politics make you feel?” In short, this intersection makes me feel responsible and in some ways, it makes me feel powerful. When I first started the graphic design classes here at OSU, I had no idea what GD was and I just wanted to create art and be doing something I enjoy. After learning about what GD is and the rich history it has, I discovered it was not just art for the sake of art. Graphic design is a tool and a powerful tool at that. No wonder it has such strong political ties. Knowing that I have this power and skill at my fingertips has helped me overcome some of this past trauma and find a voice in the madness of politics. Besides posting my beliefs on social media and speaking up in person, I created my first poster urging people to vote. It was for a class, and I even submitted it to the AIGA! It didn’t go anywhere, but I was still proud of myself and the progress I have made as a person. Galvanized is a good word for it. I feel strong, and connected to the community because of the intersection between my future profession and politics. But overall, the strongest feeling that comes from this relationship is responsibility. It’s not a burden per se, but a reminder that graphic design is probably one of the closest things we have to a universal language, and things I make have an impact.

I am a woman, a member of the LGBTQ and a fighter. After many years of being too scared to speak, I have found my voice, and I do not plan on wasting it.