Style:Color: Difference between revisions

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* People don't like anything new, and they don't like anything old. But they eventually will like anything if it contains some familiar aspects but is different enough to be recognizable.
* People don't like anything new, and they don't like anything old. But they eventually will like anything if it contains some familiar aspects but is different enough to be recognizable.
* Colour is branding. The name of the site may imply colour. For example, in IRC and forums members of the community wished the site to be green because Soylent Green was part of their preconception of what must go with "Soylent". We have not changed colour at the moment mainly because no major style changes are planned until the site moves beyond alpha (new features are being implemented every few days), the name is finalized and enough human resources are available to implement a reskin.
* Colour is branding. The name of the site may imply colour. For example, in IRC and forums members of the community wished the site to be green because Soylent Green was part of their preconception of what must go with "Soylent". We have not changed colour at the moment mainly because no major style changes are planned until the site moves beyond alpha (new features are being implemented every few days), the name is finalized and enough human resources are available to implement a reskin.
== Colour Quantity ==
== Colour Quantity ==
* Because the main emphasis of this project is text, colour needs to be used sparingly and only to emphasise content.
* Because the main emphasis of this project is text, colour needs to be used sparingly and only to emphasise content.
* In the current near-original layout of the site, red is the chosen colour for now, but there is a great deal of it, to the point that it is distracting and a bit off-putting.  
* In the current near-original layout of the site, red is the chosen colour for now, but there is a great deal of it, to the point that it is distracting and a bit off-putting.  
* Notice that the high saturation of red changes the perception of the neutral grey of the rest of the page to be a warm grey. In chillax.soylentnews.org, a fully saturated royal blue is in use, which turns the neutral grey perception to be a cool grey. Neither of these versions has optimal colour balance, nor has any consideration been given to complementary colours and how they may offset imbalances.
== Colour Quality ===
 
* Notice that the high saturation of red changes the perception of the neutral grey of the rest of the page to be a warm grey. In chillax.soylentnews.org, a fully saturated royal blue is in use, which turns the neutral grey perception to be a cool grey. Neither of these versions has optimal colour balance, nor has any consideration been given to complementary colours and how they may offset imbalances. Complementary colour can also help with uncallibrated or low colour gamut displays where the hue of a site can vary wildly.
 
* The choice of colour should take into account people with disabilities regarding colour recognition. As such, this issue can be avoided more or less by not having two colours of similar saturation and brightness juxtaposed and having consistent layout of elements that have a certain colour so that if not recognized by other means, their location can be predicted. Traffic lights follow this principle (Red is always at the top, and Green at the bottom).
Comments about the site color from the [http://forums.soylentnews.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=53 forums]:
<hr>
'''Cloying''': So far there seems to be a lot of red flying about. The logo, the initial slash code site.
 
I would much prefer green, a Slashdot similar green. Please say it will be green!
 
Green is more peaceful, the color of science in quizzes (well often), obviously soylent green, but perhaps more importantly the colour of Slashdot. I think familiarity will really help everyone feel at home. Or is there a problem using green?
<hr>
'''Category''': Green is the obvious choice IMO, from the name alone.
<hr>
'''Blackmoore''': I like green myself. is everything currently in red; in an attempt to avoid conflict with dice? or just because were mad as hell?
<hr>
'''Twike''': I also like green, and I think it's red because that's the slashcode default(I think I saw that mentioned earlier on one of the other threads, but I'm not going to look it up now, I'm still getting caught back up).
<hr>
'''carguy''': I'm cool with any defaults for now, red is certainly usable. Seems like there are bigger fish to fry.
<hr>
'''Cactus''': That's all we have for now. There was going to be a bit of a test earlier, but moderation was broken. They are regrouping and fixin that, and will let us know what's up as soon as they can.
<hr>
'''mattie_p''': Seems to me that the most recognized soylent is green, and might be trademarked or copyrighted. Another color could be better.
<hr>
'''Cactus''': Oh, but ''this'' is SoylentVerde. Totally unrelated.
<hr>
'''mattie_p''': <blockquote>Cactus wrote: <br />Oh, but this is SoylentVerde. Totally unrelated.</blockquote>Oh, well that is completely different. Carry on, then.
<hr>
'''Istaera''': I think it has to be a different colour to slashdot in order to avoid copying them, copyright, etc.
 
That said, green is the obvious choice for something with Soylent in the name, so perhaps a different green would work well, perhaps a greener green (lighter? yellower?).
<hr>
'''Gaaark''': <blockquote>mattie_p wrote: <br />Seems to me that the most recognized soylent is green, and might be trademarked or copyrighted. </blockquote>Another color could be better.But soylent red/any/other/colour isn't people. Wonder if there is an off-green? :D
<hr>
'''WizardFusion''': Blue maybe. :D
<hr>
'''unitron''': I'm partial to the blue going on over at pipedot.org
<hr>
'''unitron''': Apparently the blue at pipedot is now considerably more green than when I first noticed it.
 
At least on my monitor.
<hr>
'''bryan''': <blockquote>Apparently the blue at pipedot is now considerably more green than when I first noticed it.</blockquote>I've been using the same blue (#506890) [http://beicker.org/ on] [http://beicker.com/ most] [https://update.dynatouch.com/ of] [http://zwin.org/ my] [https://zenbi.net/ webpages] for over 15 years.
<hr>
'''unitron''': Well, everything else around here is breaking down, I suppose my monitor might as well be one of them.
 
Can you describe how that blue looks to you?
 
Does it have a whole lot more green in it than the blue here on the phpBB version of Soylent?
<hr>
'''it doesn't come easy''': <blockquote>unitron wrote:<br />Can you describe how that blue looks to you</blockquote>Whoa, our first philosophical question. I've often wondered how colors look to other people. Someday, maybe we'll be able to see the world from another's point of view...then maybe we'll be able to answer that question (as well as others).
<hr>
'''WizardFusion''': <blockquote>unitron wrote:<br />Can you describe how that blue looks to you?</blockquote>To me, on my screen, its blue, leaning towards purple.
<hr>
'''unitron''': <blockquote>WizardFusion wrote:
 
    <blockquote>unitron wrote:<br />Can you describe how that blue looks to you?</blockquote>
 
 
To me, on my screen, its blue, leaning towards purple.</blockquote>No green?
<hr>
'''WizardFusion''': <blockquote>unitron wrote:
 
    <blockquote>WizardFusion wrote:
 
        <blockquote>unitron wrote:<br />Can you describe how that blue looks to you?</blockquote>
 
 
    To me, on my screen, its blue, leaning towards purple.</blockquote>
 
 
No green?</blockquote>We are talking about http://pipedot.org/ right.? there is no green in the site theme what-so-ever. <br />
None, zip, nil, nada :)
 
You need a new monitor/glasses/eyes
<hr>
'''unitron''': If not all of the above.
 
Does this page (forums.soylentnews.org phpBB) look blue overall?
<hr>
'''WizardFusion''': <blockquote>unitron wrote:<br />If not all of the above.
Does this page (forums.soylentnews.org phpBB) look blue overall?</blockquote>Mostly,
The large header is blue, the "section" panels are blueish.
I would describe them as dark light-blue, or dirty light-blue
 
Still no green tho :)
<hr>
'''unitron''': <blockquote>WizardFusion wrote:
        <blockquote>unitron wrote:<br />If not all of the above.
        Does this page (forums.soylentnews.org phpBB) look blue overall?</blockquote>
    Mostly,
    The large header is blue, the "section" panels are blueish.
    I would describe them as dark light-blue, or dirty light-blue
 
    Still no green tho :)</blockquote>
That's exactly how this page looks for me in Chrome on XP, but in the tab right next to it pipedot's blue has so much green it might be more accurate to call it green-blue than blue-green.
 
But a few days ago it was semi-light blue with no green and the faintest whisper of red.
<hr>
'''WizardFusion''': Are you partially colour-blind? <br /> Can you try with a different monitor?
 
[[Category:User experience]]
[[Category:Archived forum threads]]

Revision as of 23:40, 8 April 2014

(This page is being reformatted to reflect the wiki's documentation purpose.)

Introduction

De gustibus non dispudandum est. Colour theory is a complex and advanced topic, but some things can quickly be understood about it:

  • The perception of color depends on the medium it is presented and the context in which it is presented.
  • Perception itself is highly 'subjective', however recent neuroscientific discoveries have given explanations on why color, contrast and shadow are perceived the way they are
  • People's tastes for colour are influenced by many subconscious factors:
    • Genetic makeup
    • Previous exposure and association with colour
    • Contextual presentation of colour with either positive or negative subconscious signals and juxtaposition with other visual features
    • Fashion
    • We could take ANY colour at all, even omg-ponies-pink, and make it awesome, due to the above factors.
  • People don't like anything new, and they don't like anything old. But they eventually will like anything if it contains some familiar aspects but is different enough to be recognizable.
  • Colour is branding. The name of the site may imply colour. For example, in IRC and forums members of the community wished the site to be green because Soylent Green was part of their preconception of what must go with "Soylent". We have not changed colour at the moment mainly because no major style changes are planned until the site moves beyond alpha (new features are being implemented every few days), the name is finalized and enough human resources are available to implement a reskin.

Colour Quantity

  • Because the main emphasis of this project is text, colour needs to be used sparingly and only to emphasise content.
  • In the current near-original layout of the site, red is the chosen colour for now, but there is a great deal of it, to the point that it is distracting and a bit off-putting.

Colour Quality =

  • Notice that the high saturation of red changes the perception of the neutral grey of the rest of the page to be a warm grey. In chillax.soylentnews.org, a fully saturated royal blue is in use, which turns the neutral grey perception to be a cool grey. Neither of these versions has optimal colour balance, nor has any consideration been given to complementary colours and how they may offset imbalances. Complementary colour can also help with uncallibrated or low colour gamut displays where the hue of a site can vary wildly.
  • The choice of colour should take into account people with disabilities regarding colour recognition. As such, this issue can be avoided more or less by not having two colours of similar saturation and brightness juxtaposed and having consistent layout of elements that have a certain colour so that if not recognized by other means, their location can be predicted. Traffic lights follow this principle (Red is always at the top, and Green at the bottom).