I really enjoyed an opportunity to work with color on the Bezold effect. I realized that working with color was more challenging than working with black and white. I was so used to working with black and white that I missed it a little and was overwhelmed by the color at first. I began searching color palettes for the perfect combination of colors. I wanted to go for something that feels warm, but still has cool tones. I wanted the picture to bring the viewer comfort like a blanket or a quilt. I also wanted to relate the theme to my color bridge. My color bridges’ theme was space. I had planets and stars in a galaxy. I wanted to give my pattern a galaxy theme. I looked for star patterns and I found one I liked.
Here are my inspirations. I looked at star tiles on the internet and in my surroundings and I liked these the best.
I wanted something geometric, but also not too perfect like a quilt or a blanket. I wanted my shapes to be seemingly geometric, but if one looks closely, they are not. I chose the rhombus because it looks like a diamond. Diamonds reminded me of my color bridge because of the light in space. I used 16 shapes to make the stars. I also used two rectangles in the background for the blues.
I chose orange because it is a warm color. I wanted my oranges to be in a gradient from cold to warm. I included a true, saturated orange in the design as well. The orange and the red are analogous colors. The blue and the orange are complementary colors. I chose a muted orange to contrast the saturated blue. I also chose a pale orange for my light color. For my dark color, I chose a navy blue.
I chose to make my rectangles uneven in the background to expose the imperfection of the pattern and to inspire the viewer to looks deeper and see the imperfections of the pattern. I thought since the stars and the galaxy are imperfect, the pattern should be also.
The overlapping rhombuses look like a swirl in the middle. Like one of the sun’s fire holes.
The dark navy blue top represents the sun setting and the night coming in while the day is ending.
above a
below b
I chose to change the red rhombuses in the corner. In the original design there is an orange rhombus on the left of the bottom left corner and a dark red rhombus on the right side. Then in the top right corner there is a dark red rhombus on the top left hand corner and an orange rhombus on the right. For the Bezold B, I changed the top right handed red/orange colors to match the bottom red/orange colors. I wanted to make it so subtle.
I like how the colors change depending on what background they are on. The red looks more orange when it is surrounded by orange, but the red looks red when it is isolated on the bottom left and right of the pattern. The orange also changes depending upon which blue it is on. On the navy blue, the orange stands out more, but on the saturated blue, the bright orange blends in more. I like how the colors can look lighter or darker depending on their surroundings
The hardest part of this project was using colors that fit all the criteria. I did not want to use many different colors, so I decided to use different shades. I wanted the viewer to focus on the design and not get lost in the colors.
My favorite part of the project was being able to use colors to create a mood and feeling for the viewer through color. I also enjoyed the challenge of using color that had to fit all the criteria of saturation, complementary, analogous, and etc. It was challenging, but I really like the way it turned out.
Minimalism was important to me, I did not want to design to be too complicated and detailed to a point where the viewer could not make out what the design was when I started to make it smaller.
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I feel more confident about my knowledge of colors and how they can be manipulated.
