The Use of Color in Design Communications
Surfing the web for blog ideas I came across an interesting web site about using color in construction documents (www.colorforconstruction.com). Although it focuses on construction documents the information presented is relevant for any graphical communication. Here are some highlights on the benefits of the use of color. These were taken from the Xerox Corporation web site.
Color reduces search time by as much as 80%.
Color reduces errors by 80%.
Information can be located 70% faster if it’s
in color.
Document sorting improves by 15% when highlight
color is used.
Highlight color improves search time by 39%
compared to using different fonts.
Color increases comprehension by as much
as 73%.
Color increases learning and retention by 78%.
Sources
Studies
Loyola College, Maryland, U.S.A.,
by Ellen Hoadley, Ph.D.,
Laurette Simmons, Ph.D.,
and Faith Gilroy, Ph.D.
Case & Company,
Management Consultants
Bureau of Advertising, Color
in Newspaper Advertising
Maritz Motivation, Inc.,
Southern Illinois
Sounds great so why isn’t color more widely used in large format documents? The most common objection is cost. While it is more expensive for color prints the cost has been coming down due to reductions in the cost of color printers and supplies. You also must consider the cost of printing documents is almost always less than 1% of the total project cost and how much can be saved by reducing errors and the greater efficiencies gained by the use of color. A harder objection is how people with color blindness will be affected by the use of color. Not being color blind it’s hard for me give an intelligent response however since color is already in use in many aspects of the work place there might be ways to adapt. Please send any comments that may enlighten us on this.
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