Magic |
Monday, 3rd June 2003 |
There is one project scheduled for last and coming week:
Graphical redesign of
www.huizentoppers.nl.
Old design |
 |
New design |
 |
I can spend weeks messing around with a design and it will never get really appealing.
- Picking colours is magic to me.
- I see when something looks good, but can't invent it myself.
- When I have to select colours, I just use
my own Nutty Buggie Wuggie
in despair.
Such a graphical redesign is pure magic to me.
It is like the graphical designer circles his magic wand over a design,
sprinkles a but of magic star dust
and then suddenly switches on the light
so everybody can admire his work of art.
How does a designer do that?
What is going on in his head?
I have asked several designers.
And to my frustration, they don't know themselves.
They create their artwork, within minutes, hours or days and
see
that it is beautiful.
For years I'm looking for a theoretical definition of
beautiful, matching colours
.
- I've searched a lot of design sections at major and minor bookstores, but did not find anything.
- In many museum shops around the world I've looked for colour usage in design, architecture and art.
I've found many examples of beautiful colours, but never the theory behind it.
- The best thing so far was an old library book on Goethe's theory of colours
cs.brown.edu/....
This theory was clear to me.
Colours at a 120º distance match.
I visualise this as a rotating triangle in a colour circle.
The edges of the triangle point at the matching colours.
To me it is a nice mental model and yes, it's resulting colours do match.
But unfortunately there are many more colours outside the circle.
- Colours have lighter and darker shades,
- and have vivid and more gray versions.
So, the circle is too simple.
It should have been
a filled cylinder.
- still with colours going round.
- with vivid colours on the outside and grey in the centre.
The greater the distance to the centre, the more colour.
- with lighter shades on top and the darker ones at the bottom.
The centre line of the cylinder hosts shades of grey from white to black.
I can imagine this visualisation, but it does not help me.
Why do some colours in that cylinder match, while others don't?
- Why is the combination of dark blue characters on light blue/grey so nice?
Do all dark colours match with their light grey equivalent?
- White characters on orange look happy to Dutchmen.
We relate orange to the annual Queens day, a nation wide party.
- Why do dark blue and bright orange match together in one screen?
That colours are opponents in the circle.
Is there a kind of 120° rule for bright versus dark that compensates for the colour circle?
Is there a pyramid or other polyshape within the cylinder that points at matching colours?
I don't know.
The cylinder of colours is a closed book to me, a black-box.
Or should I say a black cylinder.
Hmm, the only missing items are two white ends.
Yes, this is going to be a magic wand.
Didn't I tell you?
It is magic!
Till
next nut,
Nut
See
The real estate site picture gallery
for a photo of the graphical magician: Erik Spinhoven