Color Theory in The Book Thief

Death sees colors, before he sees people…

…therefore, you need to know what the colors mean!

Why does the color matter? • Research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.

Couple more examples…

Some other facts about color… •

Color Increases Memory

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Color Engages and Increases participation – Ads in color are read up to 42% more often than the same ads in black and white.

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Color Attracts Attention – Tests indicate that a black and white image may sustain interest for less than two-thirds a second, whereas a colored image may hold the attention for two seconds or more. – People cannot process every object within view at one time. Therefore, color can be used as a tool to emphasize or de-emphasize areas. – A Midwestern insurance company used color to highlight key information on their invoices. As a result, they began receiving customer payments an average of 14 days earlier.

Color and Brand Identity – Color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent – Heinz Color influences brand identity in a variety of ways. Consider the phenomenal success Heinz EZ Squirt Blastin' Green ketchup has had in the marketplace. More than 10 million bottles were sold in the first seven months following its introduction, with Heinz factories working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep up with demand. The result: $23 million in sales attributable to Heinz green ketchup [the highest sales increase in the brand's history]. All because of a simple color change.

– Apple Computer Apple brought color into a marketplace where color had not been seen before. By introducing the colorful iMacs, Apple was the first to say, "It doesn't have to be beige". The iMacs reinvigorated a brand that had suffered $1.8 billion of losses in two years. (And now we have the colorful iPods.)

DETAILS ON THE MAIN COLORS…

RED

• Red is the color that we pay the most attention to. It is the warmest and most energetic color in the spectrum. • We associate it with love, danger, desire, speed, strength, violence, anger, emergency, blood, etc. • Red can evoke a fight or flight response, raise blood pressure and make the heart beat faster.

GREEN •One of the most often cited favorite colors. It represents nature, environment, health, good luck, renewal, youth, spring, fertility, jealousy, envy and misfortune. •It is often worn in operating rooms by surgeons.

White

Black

• What we see when all colors come together in perfect balance. • It represents purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, innocence, youth, birth, winter, good, marriage. • “A white lie”

• The absence of light, and therefore, of color. • It represents power, sexuality, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, fear, evil, unhappiness, depth, sadness, anger, mourning and death. • “Black Market” “Black Monday”

Blue

Purple

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Blue is often considered to be the safest global color. It is also considered a business color because it reflects reliability. It represents peace, tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, cold, technology, and depression. It can slow the pulse rate, lower body temperature, and reduce appetite.

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It represents royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, and mourning. It is considered an exotic color. Is a trendy color targeting creative types.

Yellow

Orange

• It represents joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, philosophy, dishonesty, betrayal, deceit, illness, hazard, spirituality, and inspiration. • A yellow rose is a symbol of friendship, less passionate or threatening than red ones.

• It is combination of red and yellow-and therefore expresses energy and has attention getting purposes. • It represents balance, warmth, enthusiasm, vibrance, flamboyancy, and is demanding of attention.

Your final project for The Book Thief •

You will choose an event in history that interests you. (i.e. holocaust, WWI, JFK’s assassination, Obama’s inauguration, fall of the Berlin wall, 9-11, shooting at Columbine, etc.)

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You will then need to find one quote from that event that represents the event as a whole.

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Next, choose 1 or 2 colors that represent the emotions of that event.

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On a HALF sheet of poster board (or that size) you will create a collage of that event. It can be 2D or 3D. You can include symbols that represent the event, photos, etc. You must include both the positives and negatives of the event, and incorporate the quote in some way.

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You MUST be creative. Neatness and quality will count.

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DUE May 25th. You will do a 1 minute explanation to the class about your project.