Colours and their role in our lives

Don’t forget that the list includes black and white. 

What’s your favourite colour? At least once we would have been posted this question. Isnt it? And I, have had different answers to this question in different phases of life, why in a day too. There need not be a single answer to a question and being so is also not obviously wrong. Let’s chuck out the trends, the pantone colour of the year or other jargon words, can we? Why should we follow markets trends? Each one of us have our individual unique association with each colour, thereby determining our likes and dislikes. Let’s honour and celebrate ourselves by respecting our own likes and dislikes. This shall hold better especially in private spaces. 

While in retail or commercial and such public spaces colours are employed in generic understanding to reap returns in the investment made like branding, impacting psychology to induce hunger, increase shopping spirit, highlighting the products, inviting the people to step into the shop and give the customers their much-deserved amicable shopping experience.  

There are studies showing red colour fosters motor action and green impacts creativity and in general regarding the “psychology” of the main colours, the following ideas have been developed: 

This is only generic and each individual as mentioned earlier might have different emotions associated with colours that differs from the above outlined ones. 

We in Studio AJ Architects believe that market and trends shall provide guidance to our choices but not wholesomely dictate our designs. 

We should be aware of the trends – why?! Cause a certain colour may look more appealing and create the effect that we desire to achieve in our spaces when applied – in a material/ in a texture/in a pattern/ daylighting or under a certain kind of lighting/ in a form or a shape/ in layering with its hues/ contrasting and complementing with other colours in other materials and THIS can be known, in fact only known, by keeping ourselves updated with the market. 

Pertaining to the design field, I would like to say colours do not themselves make a statement. Or rather to be put they make a statement depending on where and how are they used. 

Degree of enticement arising on seeing a rainbow made of clouds and the same colours on an ice cream cake totally depends on the viewer. Both are enjoyable. While the latter can be devoured by more than one sense, it is man-made, can be replicated n number of times. The former brings delight more in the fact that it is a natural occurrence, beyond one’s hands reach and hence the primordial surprise element impacts the viewer at different planes beyond the tactile experience. 

Well! Let’s retrace to the first statement of the blog. What role does colour have to play in our lives? As humans our life is nothing but experiences. In general, we all seek pleasure giving experiences which most* of us achieve through our senses. (*There are yogi’s who are blessed with blissful experiences by shutting off their senses. Until all of the mankind reaches that moksha level senses are there to influence our experiences greatly!)  Among other sensual perceptions colours are something that are predominantly associated with aesthetics (and hence readers this blog in Studio AJ Architects! 😊) 

For us users, to get treated with colours well, we got to treat the colours well! Using colours wisely can enhance an elevation or facade of a building, create interior spaces that would be a perfect canvas to the use it is intended to. 

Especially in retail and restaurant spaces, where interiors are done as an investment to sell products or create the ambience that would call out for the people to visit the shop or encourage returning of the customers it is only imperative to have it designed well. 

I particularly remember reading an interview by a renowned multi brand sanitary ware retail shop owner in Bangalore explaining how redoing his shop interiors with architects boosted up his sale to a great extent. He was the forefront in the city to hire architects to have his retail interiors designed which was followed then greatly by other shop owners. This was in the 90’s if I am not wrong. 

Readers, born as humans we are bound to be amazed by beauty and good aesthetics. It is inherent in every one of us. Tapping it out to our own taste will only serve us good in the long run distinctly in the treatment of spaces with colours.  

On this note kindly visit House of Colours project in Chennai – where we had the opportunity to craft the architecture and interior spaces in a splash of colours !!