Spring 2014, Issue 4

The power of color in images

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The first image is Obama’s

hope poster. Arguably one of the most

viral propaganda pieces that the United

States has seen thus far.

Depicting Obama in more

contemplative state, almost resembling

a heroic state, which took a subtle jab

at his detractors who claim his to be

strictly socialist. The image also

incorporates use of all three colors of

the American flag, showing a sort of

patriotism throughout the entire piece.

The shading of this piece doe a lot to

convey his message as well, rather than

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it being strictly red (commonly

portrayed with communism), or black

and white. His image also works well

because of the mixing of two polar

opposite colors. As mentioned in color

psychology, “red stimulates a faster

heartbeat and breathing”, while “blue

causes the body to produce calming

chemicals.” (Johnson)

The mastery of color in this

piece in the shading as well shows that

Obama is very calm and peaceful, but

when he needs to be he can also be very

stern, and strict; making sure

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everything that needs to be

accomplished is being accomplished

while keeping a friendly demeanor, and

that is what this image conveys.

Works Cited "Color Psychology." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. Johnson, David. "Color Psychology." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. "Understanding the Meaningof Colors in Color Psychology." Empowered By Color. N.p., n.d.

Web. 16 Jan. 2014.

Rhetorical Analysis

Obama’s hope picture, one of the many on his original 2008 campaign. Often considered one of the most popular propaganda pieces the United States has seen thus far.

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Color Throughout Culture

In many different cultures, colors have many different meanings. Some societies look at colors and interpret their spiritual meaning, while others study the emotional effect that they have on people throughout society. Colors also change how people interact with each other.

Studies have even shown that different colors cause different chemical reactions in the body. There are examples cited earlier in the article, but furthermore colors with shades and tints of yellow cause the brain to be more apt and alert, while colors like Green work to relax the mind at heart and bring people to peace. Houses are often shades of brown because they bring a warm, homey feeling to many people who see them (Color Psychology).

Colors all have a major effect on how people interpret the environment around them. Color is used in advertising to convey these emotions; it’s used in bull riding to anger the bulls, etc. There is no where that color doesn’t exist, nor affect it’s audience in one way or another.

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Color can serve a variety of

purposes in an image. It can serve to

provide emphasis to a certain element

of the page, or it can detract from an

image, not allowing the reader to hone

in on what is actually happening in the

picture. In the example above, the

color serves a purpose to emphasize

the four crayons that are in focus,

however, it also serves to highlight the

non-colored details around those

crayons.

The color is emphasized as

well by the fact that the name of the

color is actually printed out in the

image. This shows that color isn’t

always necessary in an image, however

it adds a level of detail that is nice to

have in a piece of work.

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All in all, color is a very

important aspect in images. It serves

to highlight certain pieces, while

detracts attention from others. It

highlights elements in an image and

conveys a certain emotion to a person

based on what the color is. It is

important to consider one’s target

audience before picking a color,

because colors often have different

meanings in different societies.

Colors serve to convey

numerous different ideals in every

culture. By choosing any color, one is

choosing to convey an idea or

emotion, in addition to whatever is

already seen in plain sight.

Color in images

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