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Comment by Dr. Van Aardt du Preez on January 22, 2010 at 13:50

Corne Lourens
This study was done on open-plan offices, as well as COMBI-OFFICE. It seems that the individual and combi offices got the most possitive results, just because of their individuality where personal needs could be accomodated, and I take it for granted that colour played a role.

Comment by Corne lourens on January 22, 2010 at 12:43

Dr. Van Aardt du Preez

Question from my side, in this study was it found that colour doesn't play a vital role?

Comment by Dr. Van Aardt du Preez on January 22, 2010 at 11:51

Phillip Newmarch
Your comment on working out what colours to use in offices, I want to explain the following..
You are bounded by an architectural design and a users needs. Not a very happy situation. Read my comments to Bridget, maybe there is something to use in future. Here is some info about a study for your interest
The office workplace is undergoing major changes, and most of us is still used to deal with the old fashioned designed office. Globalization and worldwide business networking, the transition from an industrial to a knowledge society, pose new challenges for managers and employees. Employees have to meet extremely high productivity demands. . In 2002 the Franhofer Institute (IAO) in Stuttgard conducted an empirical office performance study called "Office 21), which focused on "soft success factors" The results of this study clearly indicate, from an ofiice worker's point of view, which factors play a decisive role in optimizing spatial surroundings, and the extent to which these factors determine well-being and performance. Performance and the well-being of office workers are closely linked. Here are some of the results from that study:
1 Well-being is influenced by office attractive environment
2 Materialism plays decisive role like quality, neatness
3 It is important to create an atmosphere that reflects an intentional design(dont know what they mean by that?) and thus makes an inspiring and orderly impression.
4 No significant effect by decorating the workplace with personal objects
Far too little attention is still given to colour, reason, too little colour knowledge, in office desing, because you now have to deal with group of people and how do you satisfy their needs. Ever tried to work out a colour design for an office with a few females with their different tastes. Men are easy, but woman cant make up their minds.(No offense ladies)
I feel that the influence of a colour on the psychological well-being of the worker is the basis to work from. What atmosphere is of importance. Any colour, with high & white in it and strong reflection properties like chromatic yellow will not create a soothing environment, because the highr reflection value of light and strong yellow colours causes the PITUITARY gland in the brain to procuce the tension enzime, CORTISOL
Also never judge a colour in isolation, colour perceiving changes/adjust in the final environment(Furniture etc in place)

Comment by Dr. Van Aardt du Preez on January 22, 2010 at 10:48

Willem Basson
I support you fully on your comment " you are concerned about the way that some self proclaimed "colour experts" are attempting to wrench away colour decisionmaking powers from architectrural practitioners and interior designers" You specifically refer to the many architects who do not have a very good grounding in colour use. I asked this question to DM whether there is a professional colour training system for architects......I also said that no one can become a colour designer in a one or two day colour course of any sort. (I was scorned) I still maintain that colour design is an extremely professional service, and I cant ever see that an architect will be able to render such a professional service. The architect should according to my beleive consult a colour designer in his design preparation, to especially accomodate the influence of colour quality right through all 4 seasons. He must leave the eventual colour design to the professional/experienced colour designer to communicate with the owners taking into consideration the living conditions the owner require.
Most architects think that the planning phase of the architectural form is relatively easy, and it gives them confidence to continue with the colour design, while actually the "emotional value" of the space is ignored. This can only be acquired if you deal with the users subjective opinions, social backgrounds, phsychological sensations, and physiological structures, something the professional colour designer do on a regular basis. With colour design the properties of elements is of importance. The basic categories of dimensions that humans. perceive are the point, line, surface and body. In other words, the properties of elements, the relationship of elements and the relationship between elements and the people who perceive them(Just in short... will need a long explanation and not of importance now)
What we cant ignore in colour design is that there are relevant needs to design for the human being; That in addition to satisfying the human beings physiological needs, such as light, air, food sleep and sexuality, people have additional basic needs that are of interest with regard to interior design. One of the most fundamental of these related to experiencing one's own existence, is the experience of "I am" In an environment, the complete system of our senses plays a major role in the process of human-environment relationship. Psychology regards the following types of needs as effective.:
-The need for impressions-allowing oneself to be impressed by one's environment.
-The need for expression: being able to express oneself
- The need for exploration: exploring and understanding one's surroundings
In addition people inherently seek harmony and beauty
Now try and achieve all this with poor colour design!

Comment by Dr. Van Aardt du Preez on January 22, 2010 at 9:34

Bridget, I would also like to hear if you worked on a pure feeling, and what did you take into consideration on deciding on colours.
The humane design approach will be testing the colour choice requirement, like;
1 What is the room to be used for?
2 Who use the room the most?
3 What time of the day will the room be used the most?
4 What important architectural features are there in the room?
5. What is the light quality in the room?
6 Which colours are there adjacent to the room?
7 What feelings do you want the room to convey?
These information you cannot work without and also the characteristics of colours, positive , negative etc. The difficultness of colour is like Gavin pointed out, LIGHT quality. Colour is LIGHT and LIGHT changes colour. In the southern hemisphere(South Africa,) we find that colour can change more than 40,000 time a day. Now we must also realise that there are three requirements for a colour to "exist " namely, 1. Light Source, 2 Objest and 3. Observer. All three these factors have further influences(will discuss later)
Then of cause I can test it against a 2, three or five colour image scale as designed by Shigenobu Kobayshi(adjusted to S/African conditions)Here I take colour combined images, characteristics into consideration like Soft/Warm/Cool/Hard quadrants. In the Soft/warm/cool quadrants you will find colours with characteristics like ROMANTIC-dreamy-charming/ CLEAR-neat/ NATURAL-mild-tranquil-plain-spontaneous-cozy&comfortable-simple & honest/ELEGANTdelicate-refined &comely-artistic & tasteful. (I will discuss this later... it is an Image scale which will differ from area to area, and one YOU compile to your analysis, but it helps you working with the psychology of colour.) this is a wonderful tool(not a rule) to help you, but even more, impress the client and make her/him think seriously about what they want and appreciate what you explain
(Which paint companie's colour chips do you use. Think seriously to switch over to any paint company who uses the NCS system It is far superior to the old fashioned chips, which do not eventually provide the help of changing whiteness/blackness and chromaticness. This system will help you to use a traditional cold colour as a warm colour or warm colour as a cold colour. In other words there is no such thing as a wrong colour, only a colour used wrongly.)Then you can also compile a colage of colours present to prevent the over use of a colour influencing the eventual atmosphere of that room. Only then will I analyse the room, fixed colour features around which I have to work like tiles, carpets, curtains, upholstery and lighting, which direction is the room facing etc. Then of cause, like you know, I will ask the client, is there any colour she would like to have. Only then will I be happy to start my design approach. Remember, you will always be able to use ANY colour by changing the whiteness, blackness, using it with other hues by working with the same blackness, same whiteness and same chromaticness. This is the wonderful NCS notation aid system... you cant go wrong, it has been tested by the NCS research in Stockholm Sweden. I visited them and it was an eye opener to see their research and colour control. Remember, this sounds very complicated, but if you sit down and analise your own natural approach, you will most likely find that you cover most or even all these factors, butan inexperienced designers can use this very successfully.

Comment by Gavin Tonks on January 22, 2010 at 8:47

I see we are introducing a very important point here -FEAR- we fear so much and it hampers our ability to create
The lack of fear instills confidence, so understanding the nature of the project removes fear, which engenders confidence [hopefully]

Comment by Bridget Lardner-Burke on January 22, 2010 at 8:43

Van Aardt, you have made my day! and yes Corne you are right, one does need to have a basic understanding of colour, certainly experience is key and gives one the confidence, my training in Fine Arts and Interior Design and with years of working with different products and how colour changes on texture alone has assisted in my confidence to assist my clients in selecting the right colours. I have been fortunate to have always had a good eye for colour and read my customers very well, this combination allows for success on my projects. If you are starting out, I believe it is always good to have some form of grounding as this will also give you confidence. Remember colour in my mind cannot be taught if you have no natural inclination towards it, you maybe technically proficient and your schemes may look good, it's the soft wow that you are essentially looking for.

Comment by Dr. Van Aardt du Preez on January 22, 2010 at 8:30

Phillip Newmarch
Some interesting points you made, I wonder if you realised that you were touching the core of colour. A lot for me to deal with now, I will touch it soon, just to confirm that I have taken note of your statements
I still have to react to Bridget's question to me. Read it and see if it answers some of your question.

Comment by Dr. Van Aardt du Preez on January 22, 2010 at 8:21

Corne Lourens
You are of cause correct, colour design can be tought, but the person witk the natural feeling and gut feeling will always be able to design quicker and with more confidence. You should contact Lisa and let her introduce you to the NCS system, it is the best practical aid you will ever find....unifying aid...fantastic!
Remember, by learning the psychological effects of colour, the influence of light etc, you build up your confidence.

Comment by Corne lourens on January 21, 2010 at 18:16

Hi all, thanks for this insightful topic which people more often than not get wrong.

What I could basically gather is that through experience you gain knowledge... to a certain extent(with color theory as a basis) and that with that knowledge comes better color confidence. And as Bridget stated looking at the interaction of different colors within a scheme and seeing their relation and interaction to create a unifying whole. I am correct in saying this or am I missing something..

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