As a Designer it is important to understand how the changing light conditions and the neighbouring elements of any one visual item in an overall composition is influenced by the entire optic array of what is being perceived and processed. Colours change and adapt to the lighting in the real world, our eyes are imperfect absolute measures and take into consideration what the overall image is. But our eyes are not Designed to be Photometers for capturing absolute measures of light, otherwise we would be slow processors of our visual perceptions. Instead our eyes are inextricably linked to our visual cortex which imposes an unconscious image-processing on this visual stimulus that allows us to deal instead with the "big picture".
That makes us rapid thinkers, but also leaves us with these
evolutionary traits that tie what we see to what we think.
Understanding the way people see is an important precursor to Designing what people want and need to see. In the Module: Gestalt theory we explore further how the physical stimulus in the world is manipulated by the mind into what we expect to see or, in other words, how we order the potential chaos arriving via our senses.
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If this module has piqued your curiosity in colour as a science, here are some good launching-points for further enquiry;