Seeing Red

Seeing Red

"If you can't make it good, make it big. If you can't make it big, make it red." - an art joke, possibly by Paul Rand

Red is the original color. 

The first color that we humans tend to give a name to is red. 

Red is for beginnings. 

Red is basic.

Red is the longest wavelength of light we can see. 

Below this frequency, we begin to literally feel red, as heat.

“Red is such an interesting color to correlate with emotion, because it's on both ends of the spectrum. On one end you have happiness, falling in love, infatuation with someone, passion, all that. On the other end, you've got obsession, jealousy, danger, fear, anger and frustration.”   -Taylor Swift

Red gets our attention! Like when we are bleeding. Red is primal. Red feels close and physical. Red is decisive, proactive, and assertive. Red says comfort and security, but may also threaten aggression. Red seems to have universal appeal, appearing in every land in flags, costumes and traditions. Red is included in almost every color system, game, and model. It’s not the most visible color, that would be orange, yellow, or bright chartreuse. Red can stand for danger, warning. Red is a traffic stopper. Stop lights are red, and red is used in many road signs. But everyone notices that red is striking.

Red can mean sexy, red can stand for love, as in valentines. Pinks and purples can also be sexy or signify love, but red is more definitive, somehow more serious. 

Pink flowers are nice but red ones leave nothing to the imagination. 

Like sex, red is used extensively in advertising.

Red is an attractive food color, unlike blue, which is pretty much the worst color for food, unless it is used as a plate for contrast to make the food look more orange! 

Women tend more to like a red with more pink; men prefer a red with with more orange, but red is considered culturally acceptable for both to wear. A stereotypical woman may wear a red dress, a man might wear a red sports car or team uniform, but no one wants to be left out of red. 

Red and blue are the two most popular colors, with red being more emotional and blue being more cerebral. We currently call democratic majority states blue, and republican states red. Interestingly, brain scans show that liberals form their political opinions with their rational thinking mind, whereas conservatives are more emotionally influenced. Blue for cool calm decisions, red for hot feelings. But no matter what your political leanings may be, unless you are colorblind, we all respond to red.

You can use red light for illumination at night if you don’t want to lose your night vision because it won’t cause the pupils of your eyes to constrict as much as full spectrum light. But if you want to reduce your light exposure in the evening so your body won’t shut down its production of melatonin, red is not the actual best frequency to use, because red has a bit of blue.

The opposite of blue, orange light, is better.

I have noticed that red flowers tend to bloom in the heat of the summer, rather than at the edges of the blooming season, the spring or fall, when we see more yellow or purple flowers blooming.

Use red for feeling grounded, safe, confident, and strong. Make sure you want to get attention, because you will.

“More than any other color, red is loaded for action” -Robert Gen