Color In Context

How objects and colors appear is dependent on their context.

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Red appears more brilliant against a dark background and duller against the white background. In contrast with orange, the red appears lifeless and with a blue-green background, it exhibits brilliance.

Notice that the red square appears larger on black than on other background colors.

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The small purple rectangle on the left appears to have a red-purple tint
when compared to the small purple rectangle on the right.
They are both the same color.
This demonstrates how colors can be perceived with different background.

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The above demonstrates how we are fooled by our eyes.
Would you believe that the two circles in the centre of the left and right figures are identical?

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Background Check

Same colors can be perceived differently because of the background. This phenomenon is what you call the "contrast effect".

Generally, when a color is placed against a white background it appears subdued compared to the same color placed against a dark background. As such, when evaluating color make sure that the background that you have is the same or in other words make some "background check".

The Physiological Effect of Colors

"Respiratory movements increased during exposure to red light and decreased during blue illumination" Robert Gerald, University of California.

Powerful, dominating, energetic, fiery, exciting, penetrating

Calm, concentrated, patient, passive, waiting, respecting

See if this is correct.

Powerful, dominating, energetic, fiery, exciting, penetrating

Calm, concentrated, patient, passive, waiting, respecting

What do you think? The caution sign works best in blue or red? Did you notice that the red sign seems to 'jump' at you? And the blue sign is 'retreating'.

It is rare to find a Ferrari in blue. It would be odd. In fact Ferrari sells more red models than other colors.

Size Matters

In color measurement size affects how color is evaluated by the naked eye. Maybe you don't notice it, but if you look closely in the picture below you will understand my point:

This is what you call the area effect. Wherein the same color is perceived by the naked eye differently due to it's size. Normally the larger area is perceived as brighter and more vivid than the smaller area. This is the reason why size should be standardized when color is evaluated.