Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Cunningham, Katie. Accessibility Handbook. Sebastopol: O’Reilly Media, 2012. Print.

The Accessibility Handbook by Katie Cunningham is a practical guideline on designing for those individuals that have disabilities. Chapter two specifically discusses visual accessibility, in which color deficiency plays a particular role. Cunningham suggests elements such as fonts, colors, and page layouts to better understand those with the listed disabilities. In particular, Cunnigham discusses the optimization of images and color schemes for the colorblind. This source will help myself and others identify the true needs of accessibility in this day and age, and how it can easily be incorporated for those with vision deficiency needs during their design process.

Garth, Thomas. “Visual Sensitivity to Color: A Comparative Study of Four Tests.” American Journal of Psychology. 56.04 (1943): 583-591. Web. 1 Feb. 2013. <http://0-www.jstor.org.library.scad.edu/stable/1417357>.

The study Visual Sensitivity to Color: A Comparative Study of Four Tests by Thomas Garth was created to measure color sensitivity amongst individuals that have trichromatic vision or better known as “regular” vision and those that are colorblind. Two of the tests used in this research are well known pseudo-isochromatic tests used in diagnosing colorblindness, while the other two are still in experimental stages. This study reveals the effectiveness of these tests, which allows us to better understand color deficiency as a whole. To better understand colorblindness a person must understand the testing process, and how/when an individual is considered “colorblind.”

Gorn, Gerald, Amitava Chattopadhyay, Tracey Yi, and Darren Dahl. “Effects of Color As an Executional Cue in Advertising: They.” Management Science. 43.10 (1997): 1387-1400. Print.

In advertisements, color plays a significant role in decision-making. This study reveals that in the design of print advertisements, color decisions in the past have been based in terms of gut feelings, experiences, or personal taste rather than science. Several studies were conducted in which the authors propose that a change in hue, chroma, and value improve consumer responses. An important goal for a designer is to select colors in order to maximize attention, which would hopefully lead to brand recognition. However, color arousal is subjective in itself, as there is little that can be classified as a solid fact. This fact fails to lead designers in the right direction by not having a well-developed framework to guide them through the color making choices that best promote brand recognition. It has become a trial and error process, with intuition rather than data determining its choice.

Meyers-Levy, Joan, and Laura Peracchio. “Understanding the Effects of Color: How the Correspondence between Available and Required Resources Affects Attitudes.” Journal of Consumer Research. 22.02 (1995): 121-138. Web. 1 Feb. 2013. <http://0-www.jstor.org.library.scad.edu/stable/2489807>.

Meyers-Levy and Peraccchio examine the persuasiveness of black and white, color, and highlighted color advertisements in the article Understanding the Effects of Color: How the Correspondence between Available and Required Resources Affects Attitudes. The study discusses the reasons why designers choose a certain color process and its effectiveness to the eye. Though colorblind individuals do not loose all aspects of color, the study reiterates the importance of how a story is told in color. This article pertains to the need of understanding colorblindness in order to make better design decisions.

Philip, B. “A Comparison of Color-Blind Tests.” American Journal of Psychology. 51.03 (1938): 482-488. Web. 1 Feb. 2013. <http://0-www.jstor.org.library.scad.edu/stable/1416147>.

The study, A Comparison of Color-Blind Tests, was conducted in order to detect the efficiency in color-blind testing. It is relevant in order to better understand the subject at hand, and how one determines the success in what we consider a colorblind test. In addition to understanding the colorblind test, we also need to consider the fact that many individuals do not know they are colorblind, as they have yet to be tested. The need to be tested for colorblindness is not an everyday issue. Understanding the above elements will help clarify the need in later writings.

Sherin, Aaris. Design Elements, Color Fundamentals: A Graphic Style Manual for Understanding How Color Affects Design. Beverly: Rockport Publishing, 2012. Print.

Color is an integral part of any design solution. It can help a designer elicit the correct responses through its understanding of meaning and cultural relevance. The book Design Elements, Color Fundamentals: A Graphic Style Manual for Understanding How Color Affects Design does exactly what the title says, it covers every aspect of color and its importance. Sherin specifically addresses color and psychology, mood and symbolism, culture and space, in chapter three: meaning and emotion. This becomes a relevant topic to colorblindness, as all these theories become irrelevant within certain individuals. Understanding these color fundamentals are vital in our design process.

“What sort of problems does colorblindness cause artists and art students?.” The Colorblind Artist. Blogger.com, 28 07 2008. Web. Web. 30 Jan. 2013. <http://colorblindartist.blogspot.it/>.

The Colorblind Artist, allows me as well as others to have first hand experience with a colorblind artist and his conversations about art. This is a two-way conversation, in which the colorblind artist will post a question, and allow others to submit feedback. Some of the blog posts include how colorblindness is tested, what sort of everyday problems do colorblind individuals encounter, how do colorblind artists use color theory to make design decisions, as well as case studies, etc.

Wrenn, Eddie. “The incredible images that show how a colour-blind person sees the world (and why it might explain Van Gogh’s genius).” Mail Online. (2012): n. page. Web. 2 Feb. 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2194293/How-insight-Van-Goghs-vision-shape-understanding-colour-blindness–change-view-Masters-work.html

The online newspaper article The incredible images that show how a colour-blind person sees the world (and why it might explain Van Gogh’s genius) discusses how a colorblind individual would see an image in comparison to what we consider “normal” vision. This is supported through several examples in which Wrenn examines photographs and paintings through several sets of eyes. In addition, Wrenn studies Van Gogh and the long time assumptions that he may have been colorblind. His paintings are analyzed through simulator tools, in which they remain the same. These examples can help further clarify the topic of color deficiency in later writings.