Color Memory October 29, 2009, by Chris Pelicano in Design
In a previous post I mentioned "color memory" as a quality that many experienced graphic designers and artists possess. I would like to elaborate on what I mean by that.
Color memory is essentially the ability to do with colors what a police line-up asks you to do with faces ... to distinguish one shade of red, for instance, from among many shades of red, using only your memory of having seen that specific red before. Many artists have this ability because they routinely work with standardized color wheel values, standardized paint and ink colors, and even standardized video display colors. Such standards are reference points from which experienced designers can distinguish specific color variations. That is why artists can "match" specific colors by sight.
The graphic design process involves the representation of particular colors across a variety of color systems. Video screens display colors use a 3-color light-emitting system (RGB). Desktop printers create colors using 4 toner colors. Commercial printers create specific colors by the juxtaposition of 4 semi-transparent inks (cmyk) arranged in screen patterns composed of tiny overlapping dots. It is part of the graphic designer's training to understand these color systems, their limitations, and the best ways to achieve color consistency when translating specific colors from one system to another.
As a design piece moves through the print-production-cycle from concept to the finished printed piece it is reproduced, at different times, in different color systems. It is created on computer display screens, reviewed as desktop print-outs, reviewed again on computer screens as printer's PDF files or as high-end photo-print proofs, and then finally as 4-color process offset printed pieces.
The graphic designer's color memory, and cross-system color translating ability are of great benefit to clients who need to predict what the finished product will look like while it is under development. Color memory also allows the designer to direct a printer's press operator to make subtle global adjustments when the job is on press ... the last stage of quality control in the print-production-cycle.
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