I never really thought too deep into the meaning of color and why I chose a specific color and why. I simply thought about what I was trying to do and what looked good to me at the time. I have, though, researched what color is associated with 20 years of being married because my husband and I are celebrating our 20 years of marriage this year and we are renewing our vows. The color, silver, represented 20 years, so we chose silver as one of the colors in our theme.
In our reading, I learned that colors have healing properties, mood properties, and other psychological properties that may help others understand us better without even saying a word. I would give it a name as non-verbal understanding. Specifically, the reading mentioned bright red, orange, and yellow as being a stimulator. Blue and green helped people to feel more peaceful. Black was represented as being depressed and afraid. Let’s talk about black for a moment…..those that are referenced as “gothic” who wear all black, are they “depressed and afraid”? I am not sure, but it is something to think about. I know, before I lost weight, I felt like black was the only color that looked best on me because of the illusion of a slimmer body. I guess you could say that I felt a sense of depression and shame of my overweight body at that time. Now, black is not part of my daily wear life.
Let’s talk about the science of healing with colors: chromo-therapy. It is a practice of being bathed with colored lights, placed in colored environments and asked to meditate on specific colors thought to stimulate particular glands. I am sure that a lot of medical spas use this type of therapy along with other internal and external treatments. This is more in tune with natural remedies and healing instead of using pharmaceuticals. I was particularly intrigued by the Indian philosophy 7 chromatic hues of the rainbow; the chakras. Each chakra is represented by a color and have a philosophical meaning behind them. See the image for additional information.
In the article “How Kodak’s Shirley Cards Ste Photography’s Skin-Tone Standard” I didn’t particularly like the article began talking about Kodak’s early practices when it came down to their preferred audience for photography. It even mentioned that some felt like Kodak was racist because they only marketed “white” women or having a “white” woman as their brand image.
Jim Lyon stated that “it wasn’t a big deal, but simply the right thing to do” by incorporating black models into their marketing plan. I absolutely disagree that it wasn’t a big deal. It was a huge deal and sent a strong message in the beginning that it wasn’t for “black” people. The article stated that while people were the consumers that were buying Kodak products. The reason for this is because in that time, black people were not allowed to have equal access to the same resources as white people and felt like Kodak was not for them anyway. I am glad that they realized their error and became more inclusive because after all “white” would be boring without accentuating colors (hues) to go along with it.
