Topic > The context of color in different cultures and in Catholic architecture and Islamic architecture

Color today is a tool of visual communication. It helps us describe what an object or even a concept is like. Today the development of the use of color is very advanced and we have also studied its effects on the physical and psychological world of people, it also has an important place in the world of Marketing, we live in a world that is aware of color. After recognizing different works of art, it can be observed that color has evolved in different ways depending on the historical and cultural context. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Through this essay, color will be analyzed in several chapters; colors in the real world and what they evoke, color in different cultures and finally color in traditional Islamic architecture and color in traditional Catholic Renaissance architecture. Color is one of the first things we use to describe and object to, we still aren't fully aware of what it is. The common meaning in people's minds is that color is a property of material or light. Throughout our history we have tried to describe this phenomenon, with psychological, physical and artistic answers, to the question of the meaning of color, but color has been defined by scientists as the result of a series of events that lead the brain to recognize and to the interpretation of light signals. These signals are perceived by different characteristics that interfere in the interpretation of color; hue, saturation and brightness. In the eye the process of color perception begins when light reaches the eye and enters through the aqueous humor, then the pupil, lens and vitreous humor until it is absorbed by the retina, which is full of cells brain divided into two types, rods that perceive light and darkness, which function as receptors and send information to the brain. The color phenomenon has been studied for years by scientists, artists, musicians and even writers, seeking a better understanding and classification of each of them. Goethe made colored circles with 6 colors to explain the physiological complementary colors, he also produced a color book and produced some poetic compositions on it. Chevreul wrote a book that talked about the harmony and contrasts of colors, where he developed the idea of ​​simultaneous contrasts. Munsell, as an art school teacher, found a method for teaching color, with the right perceptions of hue, value and chroma. Today, color has acquired a complex definition and understanding, day by day there are more theories and the impact that new developments in science, technology and the development of art have given color greater attention. Even in the commerce sector, being very specific, using the right colors to communicate certain messages and sell has evolved. As a conclusion; color and color combinations are very important nowadays for specific uses. Color today has been studied in human behavior and also in animal behavior, some colors improve our blood pressure and have some effects on our body, but since this part the psychological aspect is also important. We begin a relationship with colors from an early age. Rose H. Alschuler and Berta investigated and analyzed the children's drawings: blue represents self-control of emotions, red represents expression and yellow represents dependence. But what is the influence of color on behavior within different branches such as marketing, psychology, sociology? It is true that colors can be interpreted and that is why a part of psychology is dedicated exclusivelyto the study of color, analyzing how we perceive and how we behave in different colors, observing the variation of interpretations behind each culture and society. The psychology of color itself has given rise to new applications of color in everyday use, from marketing to art therapy, where the person associates emotions with different colours. It is proven that with warm colors such as red, orange and yellow, positive reactions can refer to warmth and negative reactions to hostility or anger. Unlike cold colors like green and blue which usually cause feelings of calm or sadness. The sociology of color focuses on the study of colors in society and how they influence one person's perception in relation to another. Marketing is the set of techniques and studies to improve the sale of a product or service. Within the techniques you can find the use of color, through the 5 senses. The color with which the sales technique is applied in emails, brochures, postcards and even in points of sale, can represent the personality of the brand or can influence the person to feel one way or another, change his mood and all this depending on context, culture and previous experiences. Color is proven to directly impact customer experience; A study conducted by the Seoul International Color Expo revealed that 92% of people consider color the most important thing when purchasing a product, while 5% consider touch and 1% consider smell. Another study conducted by XEROX concluded that 92% of people believe that the presence of a color determines the image to be impressed, and 90% think that color can attract new customers. In the world of marketing, the most used and studied colors are white, black, red, blue, green, pink, orange and yellow. The emotions and sensations they transmit are the following: White: Formally white is not a color but the presence of all the frequencies of light. This "color" makes us feel cleanliness, purity, serenity, softness and simplicity, that's why it is used in medicine, fashion, nature. Black: Just as white is the absence of color, nowadays it is used to convey power, sophistication, prestige and even death from a mysterious point of view. Red: is linked to passion and strength, as well as aggression and tension. Blue: Color of intelligence, tranquility, trust and efficiency, as well as a symbol of the sea. Green: represents ecology and transmits hope, well-being and peace. Pink: symbolizes femininity and delicacy. Orange: transmits optimism through enthusiasm and action. Yellow: symbolizes happiness and abundance, as well as envy and betrayal. As previously mentioned, color is applied in different ways depending on the cultural contexts of each place, it is not the same thing to talk about red in Japan or red in an African country. For this reason, a brief comparison of color in some of the main cultures of the world is made. American/Western Culture: American/Western culture is the most influential culture in the world, so since we live under this culture, we are very familiar with the meanings of these colors and how we relate to them. In general, red usually represents anger, courage, danger, desire, energy, eroticism, excitement, warmth, love, passion and radicalism in American culture, so all of these concepts are concepts that have a lot of energy, red is linked to things that are very strong. Orange therefore means "friendly", yellow is more interested in strong emotions but linked more to happiness, or even money, in this culture yellow represents cowardice, energy, fun, happiness, money,peace and repels evil. Green brings luck (linked to clover), growth and nature, just as blue is linked to cold, freedom, intelligence but also to loyalty, rationality and unhappiness. While white refers to paradise, luxury, marriage, purity, truce. And black until death, authority, evil and mourning, but also style and eternity. Japanese culture: Japanese culture today is the result of a historical process that began with Asian immigration in the 19th century. He is known for honor. In the color representation, red symbolizes for this culture anger, danger, desire, excitement, love, passion, repels evil and strength. Orange represents warmth, balance, energy and extravagance. Yellow represents courage, cowardice, deception, paradise, illness, and joy, but also religion, the latter because their religion is Buddhism and yellow is the color of the cloths that the monks use. Green represents good luck and nature, while blue indicates cold, life, loyalty, money, peace and rationality. White symbolizes illness, purity, respect and respite, while black represents misfortune, evil, style and unhappiness. Hindu: Culture in India is made up of religion, food, traditions, languages ​​and artistic expressions that show their values. they are used to dressing in many colors and color is an important element in their food, their holidays and their traditions. Red symbolizes energy, eroticism, cruelty, marriage and passion, which is why it is a common color for a wedding dress. Orange represents courage and desire, yellow represents fun, God, illness, joy, personal power, their god and joy is linked to this color. So green represents compassion, happiness, intuition, religion, life and love, similar to other cultures in nature (life) but different in the meaning of happiness which is often associated with a yellowish color in recent analyzed first. Blue represents art, creativity and gods, white is linked to death, intelligence and peace. And black for evil, penance and anger. Chinese: Chinese culture is the culture that occupies the place in a large piece of Asia and is known for the variety of traditions among its villages, provinces and cities. Their culture is formed by their mythology, philosophy, music and art. In Chinese culture we see the use of red when you want to communicate success, but this color also represents good luck, happiness, marriage and fertility, while orange symbolizes life and family, yellow respect, royalty and health, and green represents growth, life and repels evil. White signifies death, mourning, purity and respite. African: African culture is indeed very mixed with many traditions from many countries and tribes. However, their culture is represented by arts, crafts, dances, music, cuisine, clothing and religion. The most common colors they use are red, green and blue. Red signifies anger and good luck, green represents life, success and represents religion, and blue is used to communicate messages of peace and love. This short analysis offers us interesting proposals on color in each culture, among the conclusions we can underline that red is not perceived in the same way but still means powerful things in China compared to what is perceived in America and Japan, which is more linked to energy, anger, danger and passion while in China it is grouped with fertility, good luck and happiness. On the other hand, the color white is one of the most contrasting, being in American culture something linked to the sky and lust, todifference between Japanese culture which refers more to illness and respect, while Hindu culture refers to death and intelligence. and China to death. Furthermore, green is collectively linked to life or nature. Color in Traditional Islamic Architecture Islamic art has been studied for many decades. There are entire books that study spiritual meaning through their artwork. This is why it is important to understand the relationship between Islamic art and Islamic spirituality. Islamic art is directly related to Islam because it was born precisely as an objective of communicating Islam and representing Islamic revelation. Islamic art is represented in the plastic arts, calligraphy and architecture. There are many elements used in his art such as the use of water, the influence of religion on architecture, symmetry in decoration, the use of plants, calligraphic and geometric motifs. “The earth was set for me as a mosque and a purifier” “To a person of faith in a mosque is like the sun reflecting in water” This was what the Prophet Muhammad said. The sacred architecture of Islam is the mosque, it is designed to represent harmony and peace in the place where God has chosen Muslims to worship. The mosques are decorated with mosaics and calligraphies rich in crystals and reflections that reflect the light of the sky and communicate sensations through color. Colors in Islam and their application within mosques can act as symbols full of meaning. For example, green is the most widespread and used as a symbol of Islam because Muhammad wore a green cloak. This color for them represents hope and peace, which is why it is very common for mosques to have this color, which is also found a lot in the interiors of Muslim homes. Red represents life, charm, fire and blood. That's why carpets often have this color as a base, even if weavers add black patterns. Black in this case symbolizes sadness and pain, although in culture it also represents the color of the devil and morbidity. White symbolizes beauty and the feminine, furthermore the angels are white and so is the cloth surrounding the deceased. Yellow represents sadness, envy and death. Turquoise also symbolizes magic and the depths of the universe. These colors are often used in the decoration of their mosques. Color in the Catholic Church Color has been used in Catholicism since the fourth cycle, it began to be used to differentiate liturgical seasons. Until then the use of 5 colors was systematized: purple, white, red, black and green. In the Catholic church, purple represents the color of Jesus' sovereignty and also sin, because it is the color of lust. In white and gold, daylight, black, mourning. The red color of Christ's blood and suffering on the cross, as well as the holy spirit. Green is the color of growth and blue honors the Virgin Mary. The most commonly used color in Christianity is blue, representing the Virgin Mary, however, why does it represent Mary if it is likely that at that time her clothes were cream colored due to the wool material? The color blue has a very strong meaning in the early Old Testament in the Bible. For the people of Israel, blue signified the commandments of God. Furthermore, we find other references such as: 'they will spread [over the Ark of the Covenant] a cloth made entirely of blue' (4:6), 'And on the table of bread of Presence they will spread a blue cloth' (4:7). In Eastern cultures, blue symbolized immortality and was also used for harmony purposes. However, beyond the Bible, the color blue has a different meaning in the Byzantine era, it represents mystery and divinity, as well as the sky, where paradise is located./