Working with Color

With the work space increasingly defined by movable partitions and panels, the careful selection of the colors of these and other office elements, such as wall and floorcoverings, can contribute significantly to an aesthetically pleasing and more productive workplace.

As homebuyers' taste for color continues to grow, homebuilders' opportunity to boost reputations grows, too. Today's consumers are more aware of color, viewing it as a personal signature that defines their unique taste and style.

The choice of color used in schools can either enhance or impair learning, morale and behaviors. While color trends for schools have come and gone, studies have shown that color affects a student's attention span and perception of time and can reduce absenteeism and vandalism.

Trends, not fads, can help direct successful color selection in the hospitality industry. Interior design is an integral component in defining the brand of an establishment that conveys non-verbal messages about the facility — including its mood or ambience and its concept.

The designer's challenge is bringing order to the myriad colors available through an understanding of the psychological and physical ways to manipulate colors intelligently.

People are sensitive to color and color preferences are becoming a factor in the quality-of-life quotient. It has been shown that within a total environment the ideal is to include a variety of hues representing different degrees of brightness, saturation and temperature.