Archives February 2023

How Can We Make Design Better for the Colour-Blind?

As a Graphic Designer my life has always been full of colour and I have never thought about colour-blindness before, until I met my partner. I could not completely understand at first how he could understand the colours.

So I started doing a bit of research to get a better understanding of what colour-blindness is and I started thinking more of what colours to use in my designs to make in order to avoid colour blindness pitfalls

Colour blindness is a vision deficiency that affects a large number of people around the world. Whether we know it or not, we as designers have a great impact on their daily lives through the work that we create and put out all around us. That being the case, I believe that we should take a few moments and explore some simple yet effective solutions that could help improve their situation and thus the quality of their lives.

What Is Color? A Brief Definition

Before we can completely understand what color blindness is, we should first take a couple of moments and talk about colour, what it is, and how it behaves.

According to Google, the noun colour is defined as:

“the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light”.

Now, light itself is made out of multiple colours that have different wavelengths, where red is the longest one that humans can see, while violet is the shortest.

We know this since in 1666 Sir Isaac Newton put together a little experiment in which he took a beam of white sunlight and passed it through a glass prism. What he observed must have been incredible at that moment since the prism split the beam into a band of seven composing colors which he called the “spectrum”. The order of these colors from the lower end of the spectrum is violet (V), indigo (I), blue (B), green (G), yellow (Y), orange (O), and red (R)—which we now call ROYGBIV.

How Do Our Eyes “See” Colour?

Depending on its physical properties (light absorption, emission spectra, etc.), an object can individually reflect or absorb these seven colors more or less, giving it the property that we call color.

So when we say we see a specific colour, we actually see the amount of colour reflected by the surface of an object when it’s being hit by a light source. When an object reflects all the wavelengths, we see it as being white; when it absorbs them all, it is black.

What Is Colour Blindness?

We now have a basic idea of what color is, but what is color blindness?

Well, many people think that being color blind means you see the world in black and white, but that’s not actually true.

As the online version of the Medical Dictionary points out, color blindness is:

“an abnormal condition characterized by the inability to clearly distinguish different colors of the spectrum”.

A person that is color blind is usually born with this condition, which is determined by a faulty gene found within the X chromosome.

Colour Blind Awareness states that the condition affects approximately 1 in every 12 men (8%) and 1 in every 200 women around the world.

How Do You Know If You’re Colour Blind?

If you want to make sure that your eyes are functioning correctly, you should always go visit an optometrist.
But the image below will give you a hint to identify if you are colour blind or not.

If you see the number 74 in the image on the right, you’re in the clear.

If you see a 21 (or nothing), then I’ve got some bad news for you: you are red-green color blind.

It is important to understand that colour blindness does not equate seeing in black and white. That is monochromacy, which is extremely rare. In fact, colour blindness typically refers to a reduced ability to distinguish between shades of certain colours — most commonly reds and greens; less commonly, blues and yellows.

These colours tend to blend into one another, resulting in perceptions that may look something like this:

The left version of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe grid has normal coloration; the right version is adjusted to mirror how a red-green color blind person might see it

You’re not colour blind, but you still need to consider a colour blind audience

As a normally sighted person, it’s hard to imagine what my work is going to look like to a colour blind eye. And yet, this can make a tremendous impact.

You wouldn’t want your logo to consist of colours that are clashing or indistinguishable to a colour blind audience, either, would you? Or worse, a logo that is entirely invisible — as with some of the ones below:

These were apparently logos for 1) Bill Gardner, 2) Dennis Murphy, 3) Razoo and 4) Crema Cafe. None of them carries a particularly positive association for a color blind viewer, but 2 and 3 are difficult or even impossible to read!

Conclusion

Whether we realize it or not, colour blindness is a condition that affects a large number of people out there, making their daily lives harder by limiting the things they can see and understand through the filter of color.

Luckily, there are several things that we as designers can do in order to improve the quality of their life, thus making things a little easier one step at a time.

I really hope you, either as a designer or business owner found it useful and opened your eyes to an area of design that is often overlooked.

Need some help with your design? Drop me an email: contact@iris.graphics

What are Pantone colours?

Pantone colours are a widely used colour system when it comes to industrial printing and especially printing on boats, cars, and other objects that want to get more specific colours printed on the surface.

The reason why Pantone colours are called it is that the Pantone colours were made by a company called Pantone, and it was also this company that invented the Pantone Matching System. The Pantone Matching System was made so designers, companies, and other interested parties could be sure that the colour they chose would be the same on all of their platforms. This means that when people refer to a Pantone colour it is the colour that are specified in the Pantone Matching System, so the Pantone system is primarilly made to make it easy for designers to communicate with each other.

How does Pantone colour codes work?

When making a design or print file using Pantone colours to know the code of the Pantone colour you wish to have in your design. The system for printing the ink on paper is referred to using a three- or four-digit number followed by C or U. This refers to colours that can be used on paper which is coated/glossy paper, and U, of course, refers to paper that is uncoated. There are also some Pantone colours which are referred to by the named colours such as the 18 base colours like Pantone Reflex Blue C. 

CMYK vs Pantone colours

Printing agencies will often have the possibility of choosing between using Pantone and CMYK colours, and there are primarily two things they take into consideration. The first one and probably the most important one is how specific the colours can be because CMYK colours can only show 70% of all the colours that are visible to the human eye, where Pantone colours can show a lot more colours and especially bright colours. The second thing is how many colours needs to be printed in the design because CMYK uses 4 base colours to create a wide spectrum of colours and you’ll be able to choose as many of these colours without any additional cost. But with Pantone colours the colours are mixed individually and you would then pay for each colour you choose to have in the design. 

Where are Pantone colours used?

As written at the start Pantone colours are primarilly used for printing on transport vehicles, such as trucks, boats, and etc. It is though also used for printing on packaging, textile and other products which are not plain and easy to print on. This is due to the Pantone colours not being mixed when they are being put on the product, but the colours have been mixed before it touches which makes them more specific. 

Some manufacturers do also use Pantone colours to keep the cost of the printing low by choosing to only print one colour, whereas with CMYK Colours the manufacturers would always be able to print more many colours in the print, so the start-up cost would be higher. 

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Why are business cards important?

In today’s digital era. You might think that business cards are no longer needed. Think again. Business cards are a proven way to market oneself.

And with borders and restrictions easing up, face-to-face is starting to become the new norm. Thus, let’s meet new clients through your business card.

Let’s get into the excellent stuff to help you design the best business card.

Business Card Dimensions

A business card is what it is because of the universal knowledge of its function and size. It’s a strong marketing tool to reach your market.

The standard size for all business cards is 85 × 55 mm. However, there are other types of card dimensions you can choose.

Around eight other business card dimensions can be used for your business:

  • Folded Business Card – 88.9 x 101.6mm or double the size of your business card.
  • Jumbo Square – 88.9 x 88.9 mm
  • Square – 65 x 65 mm
  • Mini Square – 50.8 x 50.8 mm
  • Mini – 70 x 28 mm
  • Slim – 88.9 x 25.4 mm

You can choose which one is the best for you. You’d also need to finalize your design and what other aspects of the business card are needed.

Why are business cards still important?

There are many reasons why business cards are still important pieces of marketing.

  • Your business card will be the first impression many potential customers will have of your brand, your business and of you.
  • Business cards are extremely effective marketing tools. A good business card will rarely get discarded and that means it is still working for you weeks or months after it’s been given and received.
  • Business cards are much more personal than email or online marketing. A handshake and exchange of business cards creates a much greater impact than any online correspondence and that’s great for building lasting business relationships.
  • Business cards show you’re a professional and serious about your business. If someone asks for a card and you can’t produce you’ll look amateurish and unprepared to do business.
  • Good business cards get shown to others and shared between contacts and colleagues. A clever, creative, well-designed and professionally printed business card is a great way to get referrals.
  • Business cards are great value for money marketing. Business cards are effective and easy to produce at little cost compared to other forms or marketing.

What makes a business card effective?

Business cards are versatile and can be used anywhere. Carry them with you wherever you go. You’ll be surprised at how many opportunities you’ll have to give out cards at social as well as business events like trade shows, conferences, meetings and networking events. They’re so small people will always put them in their pocket and keep them for future reference. There really are no rules on how to use business cards. Be as inventive as you can. Business cards are a great way to get remembered.

Ready to get down to business?

When you’re ready to print your new business cards you can get a quote, by contacting us.
When you ask for a quote please let us know if you have special size and/or paper requirements for your business cards. Our print quality is guaranteed.