Egyptian historical period

Ancient Egyptian Interior

Egyptian theatre interior

When thinking of ancient Egypt there is that image of gold, sand and blue skies coming in mind. However the Egyptian people had at their disposal six colours green, red, yellow, blue, including black and white. These colours were generated largely from mineral compounds and thus retain their vibrancy over the millennia. Each of these colours had their own intrinsic symbolic meaning. It is safe to say that the Egyptian use of colour in their life was largely symbolic. To continue with, the two construction materials that the ancient land of Egypt seemed capable of producing in multitude was sand and papyrus reeds, with some stone quarries. Therefore, the majority of ancient Egyptian houses were constructed of mud brick, sand and stone, all natural in colour. In conclusion, the Egyptian palette of basic bright colours and natural sand hues evokes memories of ancient times when tints and shades were not known.

Greek historical period

Greek Interior

Knossos dolphin

Unfortunately, due to the perishable nature of the materials used and the major upheavals at the end of antiquity, not one of the famous works of Greek panel painting has survived till nowadays. However, certain parts of the superstructure of Greek temples were habitually painted since the archaic period. Such architectural polychromy could take the form of bright colours directly applied to the stone or of elaborate patterns, frequently architectural members made of terracotta. Greek buildings had originally been painted ochre yellow, with the moulding and sculptural details in red, blue, green and gold. While this may or may not have been the case with older wooden or plain stone temples, it was definitely not the case with the more luxurious marble temples, where colour was used sparingly to accentuate architectural highlights. In other words, the most typical for an ancient Greek interior are carefully used colour accents on a background of natural materials.

Mid to late Georgian historical period

Mid To Late Georgian entrance hall

Mid To Late Georgian living room

Distemper paint was generally considered the cheapest paint option in the late 1700’s. It was ground from chalk, and mixed with glue made from animal bones. Then it was tinted with natural pigments, like yellow ochre, red oxide, or even ox blood (for a nice rusty-pink colour). Wealthy home owners, on the other hand, preferred to paint their walls and woodwork with oil-based paint, mixed with red or white lead and linseed oil. Around 1760, interiors started becoming lighter and lighter thanks to the use of plaster. Wainscoting and wood panels were replaced by plaster walls above the chair rail.  To protect this plaster surface, dados became all the rage. Back in the Georgian period, plaster was a softer white with a yellow undertone due to the linseed oil and lead mixture. While basically anyone could tint their plaster with earth tones like yellow or brown, only the wealthy could afford the more decadent, costly colours.

Red

Red is considered one of the most powerful colours because of its ability to be seen firs and closer than the rest of the colours. Moreover, the effect of red colour is physical, e.g. it stimulates us and raises the pulse rate, and giving the impression that time is passing faster than it is. Hence, careful use should be taken in account when using red in relaxation areas as well as in working places. Despite the fact that some people get aggressive under influence of red colour, the major part is finding it stimulating the appetite that makes it suitable for places with food consummation. Additionally, red draws attention and a keen use of red as an accent can immediately focus attention on a particular element.

Good for: dining rooms, kitchens (not for professional ones), cafeterias, fast food places, as it promotes sociable and lively feelings, and stimulates the appetite.
Bad for: hospitals, big areas at working places, predominant in bedrooms, baby’s rooms. It can be overpowering and lead to headaches. Either vary the shade, paint one wall red, or use it for accessories only.

Green

Green is simply the colour of nature and balance and can be used everywhere but in reasonable quantity. Greater attention should be made using yellow green hues, which are not appropriate for food places. Yet, green occupies more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye and is second only to blue as a favorite color. Green is the pervasive color in the natural world that is an ideal backdrop in interior design because we are so used to seeing it everywhere.
For interior color schemes, olive and sage greens seem to be appealing because of their neutral character. Lighter shades of both are easy to live with for a long time. Both combine well with many colors. Dark greens are favored as traditional banker’s colors like burgundy, ruby, and sapphire blue. Yellow greens and muddy greens are relatively unpopular.

Good for: bedrooms, living rooms; as a muted/lightened hues almost every place.

Bad for: too much green is thought to make people too complacent or too laid back. Inject some red or orange to counteract these feelings.

Yellow

Generally yellow is emotional colour and it is associated with sun and light. Scientific experiments show that people in yellow environment are  more optimistic and cheerful. But yellow is also colour of fear and anxiety, especially when it is overused. To use yellow or not highly depends on user preferences.
Buttery shades are easier to live with long term than bright, sunflower yellow. The range of yellows is vast and some lend themselves more readily to decorating schemes than others. Yellows also frequently prompt more opinionated feelings than other colors. People who like it, really like it and people who do not, tend to dislike it intensely.

Good for: kitchens, dining rooms or north-facing rooms, schools.

Bad for: a bedroom in its bright hues, places occupied by people with mental diseases. Yellow is thought to enhance feelings of emotional distress.

Purple

Purple embodies the balance of red simulation and blue calm. This dichotomy can cause unrest or uneasiness unless the undertone is clearly defined at which point the purple takes on the characteristics of its undertone.
Historically, purple is the colour of kings. It may arguably be the most opulent of colours, and often connotes mystery or spirituality. Purples run the range of the red-purple such as eggplant to the blue-purples of a summer sky at sunset. Saturated purple is a dense, dark colour that can provide a potent punch of color with great impact. As a tint, purple tends to lavender and is one of the daintier colours favored by many young girls. In certain shades, it can become a subtle, but very flexible neutral. In general, purple is not good as main hue in places with dynamic activities.

Good for: living rooms, bathtubs areas, bedrooms, spots for relaxation, beauty saloons.
Bad for: kitchens, working places (where concentration is needed), places wit food when used in its cooler hues. Tip: introduce a livelier colour for mental stimulation such as green or blue.

Discussion

The psychology of colour and how colour affects human behaviour is now a serious course of study at universities. Hospital rooms, classrooms, fast food restaurants and offices are painted in colours to influence the behaviour and mood of the people who use these spaces. Even the products on the shelves of your local supermarket have been packaged in colours carefully chosen to attract your attention and encourage you to buy. Therefore the psychological effect of colours has a great importance and it should be reviewed in details when designing an interior.

Back in the history, these effects hold true in all cultures and for all ages. In Islamic culture for instance, green and gold are the colors of paradise. Speaking of those who will enter paradise the Qur’an states, “ornaments shall be given to them therein of bracelets of gold, and they shall wear green robes of fine silk and thick silk brocade interwoven with gold (18:31)” and they will be “Reclining on green cushions and beautiful carpets (55:76).” These colors were chosen for their religious significance and have been associated with worship since ancient times.

For centuries Hindus practicing yoga have associated color with power centers, known as chakras, in our bodies. From the base of the spine to the crown of the head, these centers correlate to the spectrum and, in some cases, the qualities associated with them closely relate to the list of associations given previously. Red, at the base (survival); orange, at the sacrum (creativity); yellow, at the solar plexus (joy); green, at the heart (harmony); blue, at the throat (communication); indigo, at the forehead (intuition) and violet, at the crown (enlightenment).

In my opinion, people always have been looking for hidden meaning in the colours and they always have had one that has been changing during the centuries. In other words, there is no unification of the meaning of each colour. There is rather a social conception of that meaning which would help us to better understand  the clients and to choose colours  with awareness when designing

Munsell System of Colour Notation

© 2009 Mariyana Gerdzhikova

There are, more or less, six billion people in the world and each and every one of them has different name or explanation of one exact colour. In other words, they will never understand each other speaking of a colour, unless there is unification or just a simple formula, instead of a name for the colours. The same conclusion has made Albert H. Munsell nearly a century ago.

Artist by profession, Professor Munsell wanted to create a “rational way to describe colour” that would use decimal notation instead of colour names (which he felt were “foolish” and “misleading”), which he could use to teach his students about colour. He first started work on the system in 1898 and published it in full form in “A Color Notation” in 1905.

Despite the fact that they were quite a few other scientists trying to place all colours in a three dimensional colour solid of one form or another, none of them succeed to do that. But how did Munsell succeed then? There is only one difference between the Munsell colour system and the rest ones – the first is based on a firm experimental scientific basis. Whereas the rest of the systems remained either purely theoretical or encountered practical problems in accommodating all colors.
Due to his experiments, the American artist was the first to separate hue, value, and chroma into perceptually uniform and independent dimensions, and was the first to systematically illustrate the colours in three dimensional space.

The Munsell colour system as known nowadays consists of three dimensions as folows:

•    HUE (“The quality by which we distinguish one color from another, as a red from a yellow, a green, a blue or a purple.,” explained Albert Munsell)
•    VALUE (“The quality by which we distinguish a light color from a dark one.”)
•    CHROMA (the purity of a colour in a relationship with white, gray, and black)
Hue.

The hues are represented in a circle which follows the natural colour order- R, Y-R,Y, Y-G, G, B-G, B, B-P, P, R-P (except of the Orange, presented as Red-Yellow). Each of the primary (R, Y, B), secondary (R-Y, G, P) and tertiary (Y-R, Y-G, B-G, B-P, R-P) colours is separated in ten increments and is given a number from 1 to 10 for each different hue of that particular colour. The primary, secondary and tertiary hues have number 5 in front of the colour letter. The rest of the hues are identified by changing the number 5. For example, 5R is pure red, 4R is the next hue closer to R-P, e.g. 4R is more purple but 6R is closer to R-Y, e.g. 6R is more yellow. Now, the scope of the Munsell system has 100 hues (10 primary, secondary and tertiary and 10 different hues for each of them).

When a new hue is found, despite the already stated numbers of the hues, we use decimals in the notation- 4.2 P-R, 6,7 B-P, ect.

Value.

The circle with hues is placed around a cylinder divided from 0 for Black to 10 for White and 1-9 are variations for Grey. This cylinder represent the Value of the colours and is identified by number from 0 to 10 followed by an oblique stroke 2/, 3/ etc. When the circle with hues moves up and down around this cylinder, each of the hue gets mixed with black, white or different greys. The lighter the grey, the lighter the hue is and vice versa. That is how the light and dark colours are formed.

Chroma.

The quantity of black, white or grey from the value cylinder mixed with one hue determines the chroma or purity of colours. The more black, white or grey, the lower the chroma is and vice versa. The dimension of chroma is perpendicular graduation to the value cylinder, starting from the greyest hue of a colour (closest to the value cylinder) until it reaches the highest chroma of hue (when no grey, black or white added). The chroma is presented with an oblique stroke and number after it: /1, /2, /3 etc. As we can see, the chroma does not have a specified limit. Thus, if a brighter hue is found, it is added on the same row with the following number.

Having these three dimensions in mind, and how they are notated, we can precisely identify what the colour is for any given colour formula. For instance, the formula 7Y-G 8/5 would be light and more yellowish lime green.

As we saw, the Munsell system has an irregular form opposite to the rest of the systems tried to place all colours on a three dimensional solid. In the same time, it is the only one that developed further and even outstands its contemporary colour models. The reason is that Mr. Munsell first realizes that not all the hues reach their full chroma at the same level of value, neither all the hues have the same level of chroma. These two confirm that it is impossible to use a solid to place all the colours on.  Therefore Munsell leaves the three dimensional solid as a solution and tries to classify the colours as the human eye perceives them with their tree dimensions. His own words are a confirmation of the aforementioned:

Desire to fit a chosen contour, such as the pyramid, cone, cylinder or cube, coupled with a lack of proper tests, has led to many distorted statements of color relations, and it becomes evident, when physical measurement of pigment values and chromas is studied, that no regular contour will serve.
—Albert H. Munsell, “A Pigment Color System and Notation”

The result is an open colour system giving the possibility of new hues to be added. Moreover Munsell’s formula is short and simple to use. These qualities are the key to its flexibility.

Being such a flexible colour system, many institutions around the world adopted its base to develop their own colour systems. Some of these institutions are American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to define skin and hair colors for forensic pathology, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for matching soil colors, British Standards Institution, The German Standard Colour system and the Japanese Industrial Standard for Colour breweries for matching beer colors and many others.

Eventually, the Munsell Colour System became a unification code for colours and has been used in many other areas apart from the interior design: education, geology, industrial product development, archaeology, environmental studies, food production, government standards and safety.

Sources:
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/light/u12l2e.html
http://www.applepainter.com/Chap04/
http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color7.html#MUNSELL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munsell_color_system