I haven’t posted anything for a very long time. And I could explain why, but it’s beyond boring.
Anyway, this blog (somehow) still gets a good number of views.
This question will probably change the course of human history, but it has to be asked: Which posts have been viewed the most?
THE 2021 PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR IS A TWO-COLOR COMBINATION.
Need color inspiration for your next infographic? It could be time to use these pandemic-influenced hues. Ultimate Gray (17-5104) and Illuminating (13-0647).
Pantone says:
“Two independent colors that come together to create an aspirational color pairing, conjoining deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the optimistic promise of a sunshine-filled day.”
OK, let’s do it. (And look forward to a time when the pandemic is over.)
Frédérik Ruys (an infographics friend) took this photo at his local sports center in Utrecht, the Netherlands. A multi-use floor can be a visual challenge when it has markings for korfball,* volleyball, badminton, baseball and soccer. Frederik says he can’t properly watch his children play korfball because of a color-vision condition that makes it difficult for him to separate the relevant set of court markings from the others.
(I suspect it could be quite hard work for me too.)
*A non-contact sport, similar to netball and basketball, but with four female and four male players in a team.
Testing Some example images from the well-known Ishihara 38-plate test (which was first published in 1917). The numbers in the circles are repeated at the bottom of this post.
You can take it, and other vision tests, here: https://www.color-blindness.com/color-blindness-tests/
Numbers and variants Around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have a color-vision deficiency of some form. Approximately 300 million people worldwide are affected. So this is clearly a topic that all information designers should consider. Deuteranomaly is the most common type of red/green color deficiency, and is mild. Many people are not even aware they have this condition, unless they take one of the tests. This is the one that affects Frédérik.
Below, a TV test card seen through a color blindness simulator, which can be downloaded here: https://colororacle.org
First, the original image.
Protanopia: Relatively common.
Deuteranopia: Relatively common.
Tritanopia: Rare.
Achromatopsia: Extremely rare.
Eyewear EnChroma makes color-recognition-correcting glasses. I don’t have any information about how effective this technology is, but it’s an area worth investigating. https://enchroma.com
Resources Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop have built-in proofing for protanopia and deuteranopia available under View > Proof Setup > Color Blindness. And there are other online resources, like this: https://bit.ly/3eFML2a
Editor’s note: “Color blindness” could perhaps imply a complete lack of color recognition, so I’ve tried to avoid that term here, although it is still widely-used to describe color deficiency.
(The sample Ishihara test numbers are 12, 8, 5, 2, 26)
This is 2020’s color. We’d better all use it for absolutely everything this year. Here’s the way that Pantone sees it:
“Instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.”
Behind the scenes “The Secret Lives of Colors” contains the fascinating stories behind 75 colors. https://amzn.to/2pOCmNv
Movie colors In “The Colors of Motion,” each line represents the average color of a single frame. https://thecolorsofmotion.com
Black and white VANTABLACK (Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Array)
This coating, made by Surrey NanoSystems, absorbs 99.96 % of visible light. It’s intended for use where stray light needs to be suppressed, like the interior of optical equipment. Below, aluminum foil with an application of Vantablack. So much light is absorbed that three-dimensional surfaces take on a two-dimensional effect. Anish Kapoor has licensed the coating for his exclusive artistic use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vantablack
Artist Stuart Semple takes great exception to Kapoor having sole artistic rights to use Vantablack. He doesn’t accept that a pigment can only be available to one person. To make his point, Semple has produced the “World’s Pinkest Pink,” which anyone can use except Kapoor. Notice that to buy this, you have to state that you’re not Anish Kapoor, and that you will not let Kapoor get hold of this item.
However… Kapoor managed to get some and put a confrontational photo on Instagram. (Editor’s note: I definitely do not condone this behavior by showing the gesture here, and I would not normally show an image like this. However, I work alongside a journalism school, and the full story should be told. Unfortunately, this was a development in the continuing battle over color ownership.)
Now Semple has his own “blackest black” for anyone to use. Black 3.0 is an acrylic paint that absorbs up to 99% of light.
Here it’s applied to a sculpture. https://bit.ly/31RVtnr
Kapoor’s installation, “Descent into Limbo,” is a concrete cube containing an eight-foot-deep (2.5 meter) hole, that’s painted with a light-absorbing black. (It pre-dates Vantablack.) Last year, despite warning signs, a man fell into the hole at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art (which is in Porto, Portugal).
And an even-blacker black has recently come onto the scene. Diemut Strebe’s “The Redemption of Vanity” features a 17-carat yellow diamond (worth $2 million) that has been turned into a black hole by applying a carbon nanotube coating, made by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), that absorbs 99.995% of light. On view at the New York Stock Exchange until November 25 (by appointment).
And BMW displayed their 2020 X6 with a Vantablack finish at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month.
Photograph: BMW
SPECTRALON
The opposite of the ultra-blacks is a fluoropolymer that reflects over 99% of visible light. Used for calibration targets and remote sensing applications. It doesn’t seem to be exclusively licensed to an artist at the moment.
Color charts Back at the dawn of time (when the Earth was still cooling down), graphics people all had these charts, and they needed to have good supplies of the various colors.
I’ve had a recurring nightmare since 1975: It’s midnight, my deadline is the next day, the art supplies store is closed, and my tube of Cerulean Blue gouache is almost empty.
Safety concerns Some paint pigments (like Cobalt Blue and Cadmium Yellow) can potentially present a health risk. It’s a complicated area to figure out, but definitely something to be aware of. This article covers some of the main issues: https://bit.ly/2HzXw7Y
Werner’s Nomenclature of Colors This classic color guide (from 1814) has been brought into the digital age by designer, Nicholas Rougeux. https://www.c82.net/werner/#intro/
Once upon a time, every graphic designer needed to make regular visits to the art store. It was all about ink, paint, overlay film etc. Then along came the computer and everything changed. However, the underlying information design skills haven’t changed at all.
Let’s start the new year with the right color. Once again, Pantone shows us the way forward for our infographic color palette. I’m intending to get “Living Coral” into every project in 2019. And if I happen to get asked by National Geographic to make a graphic about living coral, I will be so ready.
I can never get enough good pencils. These ten examples, and lots of additional must-haves, are available at CW Pencils: https://cwpencils.com
Next time you’re in Manhattan, visit the store at 15 Orchard Street, NY 10002
Palomino Blackwing Volume 33 1/3 (shown above) A fabulous pencil inspired by vinyl records.
CW Pencils Baseball Scoring Made by the General Pencil Company. This season is almost over, but keep score next year with these.
Graphicolor Highlighter/Graphite Double-ended for notating or studying.
Eye Ball “No-smoking” A 3 1/2 inch mini-pencil.
Faber-Castell Grip 2001 Soft-grip dots on a triangular barrel.
Tombow Mono KM-KKS This pencil (from Japan) has a thicker graphite core that’s especially good for calligraphy.
Hester & Cook Majestic Jumbo #2 Love the retro color.
Koh-I-Noor Dry Marker Highlighter Another pencil for notation, editing etc.
Archer Limited Edition Elements A collaboration between Baron Fig and Caroline Weaver, who is the owner of CW Pencils. On the barrel are icons of the six elements used to make the pencil.
Blackwing Pearl A little softer than the legendary 602, which was featured in a previous post, “The ultimate pencil:” https://wp.me/p7LiLW-4a
A post about the CW Pencils store,“Pencil Power:” https://wp.me/p7LiLW-pe
The store has moved since this post (see new address above).
This is my 200th post, so I’m in a reflective mood. For nearly two years, I have held forth, but it’s only one viewpoint.
That’s all. And no more important than anyone else’s. Typeface by Sawdust: http://www.madebysawdust.co.uk
As this is a milestone of such super-high importance to mankind, it’s time to examine the WordPress data. (As of July 22.)
TOTAL VIEWS: 62,340
TOP TEN BY VIEWS I’ve left out these two from the list. Home page:18,598 (Obviously, this could be divided up amongst all the posts.) About me:1,596 (For anyone remotely interested.)
GOING FORWARD I’ve posted twice a week up to now, but I’ll only be posting occasionally in the future. Why? Here’s one reason: I took a look at my ideas page last week. I think it says it all.
Seriously, thank you all for following over the last two years. And for sending ideas and encouraging emails. I really appreciate it.
Everyone had a tape recorder, and presentations were on slides, in a carousel. Jim Golden made these GIFs.
See more of his bygone technology images here: https://goo.gl/JX1pzT
Early cellphones were bulky.
It was the beginning of the end for the conventional telephone.
William Shatner presents the latest in computers in an early 1980s advertisement.
The Commodore VIC 20 was the best selling model of it’s time.
I was lent a Commodore 64 to illustrate it for a magazine. I even tried to use it. End of story. Below, the airbrushed illustration. The overlay which carries the labels is rolled back.
Email was new and mysterious in 1981.
The Macintosh Portable (1989 to 1991) had a fabulous two megabytes of RAM, and a black and white screen. Weighing in at 16 pounds (7.2 kilograms), it was not exactly lightweight. The cost: $7,300 (more than $14,000 in today’s dollars).
