Slideshow presented at the AIC Congress at the Sage in Gateshead in July 2013. Presentation accompanied a paper accepted to the conference based on work produced for my MA Graphic Design Major Project, which was a visual investigation into the relationship between colour and language.

1. Colourful
Language
AIC CONGRESS 2013
ELEANOR MACLURE
July 2013

2. A gentle reminder of the connection between
the words we use and the colours we see
Say What
You See

3. Introduction

4. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Say What You See is part of a larger
investigation called Colourful Language,
a visual research project that uses
design methodologies to explore
different aspects of the relationship
between colour and language.
Introduction

5. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

6. Research
Question

7. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Research Question
How We Talk about Colour
Exploring the way we use language
to describe and define colours.

8. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Research Question
1. The Names of Colours: Analysis of the body of words
used to describe colour, how they can be categorised, their
origins, their meanings.
2. The Names of Colours: how do they visually relate to each
other. For example how does red relate to pink, maroon or
terracotta? How do these colour terms relate to each other
in turn?
3. The Names of Colours: The consistency of their
application, interpretation, definition and understanding.
For example, the variation in how colour terms can be used
to label colours and how varying colours can be identified
using the same term.

9. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Research Question
1. The Names of Colours: Analysis of the body of words
used to describe colour, how they can be categorised, their
origins, their meanings.
2. The Names of Colours: how do they visually relate to each
other. For example how does red relate to pink, maroon or
terracotta? How do these colour terms relate to each other
in turn?
3. The Names of Colours: The consistency of their
application, interpretation, definition and understanding.
For example, the variation in how colour terms can be used
to label colours and how varying colours can be identified
using the same term.

10. Research
Methodology

11. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Research Methodology
A range of methodologies were used
to address different aspects of the
research question. These developed
into sub-projects which were used
to explore both the subject and the
effectiveness of the process.

12. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Research Methodology
Research methods included:
• Interviews
• Digital image manipulation
• Typologising collected material
• Information graphics
• Analysing existing bodies of text
• Generative systems
• Photography
• Survey

13. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Research Methodology
Many colour terms developed from
the world around us. The project
developed as a reminder of the
connection between the words
we use the colours we see and
the objects they come from.

14. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Research Methodology
Research process involved:
• Development of long list
• Editing process to create a shortlist
• Terms not taken from commercial sources
• Sourcing of objects
• Photographs taken in natural daylight
• Neutral background
• Minimal amount of re-touching to crop images
and remove imperfections from background

15. Output

16. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Output
Say What You See

17. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Output

18. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Output

19. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Output

20. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

21. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Cream

22. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

23. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Oatmeal

24. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

25. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Champagne

26. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

27. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Lemon

28. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

29. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Mustard

30. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

31. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Amber

32. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

33. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Orange

34. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

35. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Peach

36. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

37. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Salmon

38. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

39. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Terracotta

40. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

41. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Raspberry

42. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

43. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Fuchsia

44. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

45. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Plum

46. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

47. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Aubergine

48. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

49. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Lavender

50. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

51. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Violet

52. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

53. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Slate

54. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

55. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Turquoise

56. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

57. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Jade

58. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

59. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Aquamarine

60. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

61. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Avocado

62. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

63. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Lime

64. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

65. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Olive

66. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

67. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Chestnut

68. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

69. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Chocolate

70. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

71. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Charcoal

72. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

73. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Mushroom

74. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See

75. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Oyster

76. Evaluation

77. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Evaluation
• Successful output, viewers found visually engaging
• Criteria for selecting objects was not rigorous
• These limitations could be addressed over a
longer timescale
• Different reactions to the images
• Some were more difficult to identify than others
because of viewers knowledge
• Generated a greater degree of engagement
than expected

78. Conclusion

79. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Conclusion
• Can be viewed as a stand alone project or as
part of wider investigation
• Aim was not to present the objects as the best
example of the colour in question
• Act as a visual reminder of the relationship
between the colour and colour term and
between the colour term and the object

80. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Conclusion
Possible developments of the project include:
• Gathering more objects to photograph
• Testing viewers ability to identify the objects
in the images
• Using the images as stimuli for a study on
colour naming using images of objects

81. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Conclusion
Existing real world applications:
• Print sample for FE Burman printers
• Show colour reproduction quality of
HP Indigo printer
• Sample for GF Smith paper
• Show colour reproduction quality of
Mohawk Everyday paper stock

82. Bibliography

83. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE AIC 2013Say What You See
Bibliography
• A full bibliography for the project is available on my
blog at: eleanormaclure.wordpress.com/bibliography
• All of the outputs produced for the project are hosted
on Issuu and can be viewed online at:
http://www.issuu.com/eleanorbydesign
• PDFs of the documents are also available to download
from my blog at: eleanormaclure.wordpress.com/
outcomes/

84. Colourful
Language
Eleanor Maclure July 2013
www.eleanormaclure.co.uk
eleanormaclure.wordpress.com
issuu.com/eleanorbydesign
eleanorbydesign@hotmail.com
@eleanorbydesign