headstuff

i find colour interesting. that’s hardly a revelation from a graphic designer. maybe i should say i find it frustrating too.

most of what we design at electric angel is printed via a litho process, sometime on digital machines if it’s a short run. a few years back digital machines would never match litho colours, recently the quality has improved so it’s not too much of an issue.

but getting the right colour on litho is still a bit of an art. in short, most full colour printing is made up from 4 colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. and although this is commonly referred to as ‘full colour’ printing, the colours that can be created from these are limited. blues can tricky, good oranges near impossible.

most designers work to pantone process guides - an internationally recognised colour matching system. the theory is pick a colour, tell your printer the mix or reference and the end result is a perfect match. except that all printers calibrate their presses to their personal preference and they may not actually match the pantone process books. damn.

there is an a alternative - spot colours. but… in my experience a spot colour sometimes struggles to get the depth or flat appearance that full colour printing provides, especially on rougher surfaces.

but that’s technical stuff. what about how we actually perceive colour? let’s got back to orange. the nearest orange you can get with full colour litho is almost brown. but you can trick people - put it with the right blue and it looks more orange. and avoid putting it with a yellow or red unless you want it to look the colour of monkey poo.

so i’m always on the look out for a nugget of info about using colours and so i’ve just ordered ‘blue sky thoughts: colour consciousness and reality‘ by jamie carnis. the book suggests that colour isn’t just about wavelengths of light bouncing off surfaces, but actually a previously unrecognised entity in the universe. ok. can’t wait to use this one in a discussion at the printers…

went up to mima at the weekend to catch the bauhaus exhibition. middlesborough has had a bad press of late due to kirstie and phil, but before i get sidetracked on ms allsopp’s intriguing skirt lengths and mr spencer’s slightly tortured brand of sexual chemistry, i wanna talk about the mima factor.

i don’t think you can overstate mima’s contribution to middlesborough city centre - it’s a good gallery with a decent and surprisingly affordable cafe (gotta have a good cafe to make a gallery really work these days) but more than that it’s a fairly imposing piece of contemporary architecture with lots of space around. nice paddling pool/fountain too. never underestimate the importance of space in making a building look good. i wonder if they flattened lots of buildings to create it?

anyway, truth is middlesborough is far more pleasant than i was led to believe and that mima plays a massive role in creating that impression. middlesborough have got it so right with mima.

when i moved here there was talk of ‘tate scarborough’. this weekend’s visit reminded me of that idea: a big brave kind of cultural place - with brave creation of space - in scarborough would totally change some perceptions of our town. and make it a better place.

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