Monday, March 30, 2009

Lit Review

Color is one of the major ways to influence the mood of a space. When selecting a color to paint an office, the color’s reflectance values, the amount of light a surface reflects, should be taken into consideration, according to Sandra L. Ragan’s book, Interior Color by Design: A design tool for architects, interior designers, and facility managers (Ragan 33). High reflectance leads to brighter spaces and low reflectance leads to darker spaces. If the office does not have a sufficient amount of natural light coming in from windows, it is important to choose a color with a high reflectance value such as white or beige. As John Pile outlines in his book, Color in Interior Design, artificial lighting becomes increasingly common in office spaces, therefore, the use of color is used to help create a positive atmosphere (Pile 171).

Ravi Mehta and Rui Zhu recently conducted a study focusing on the effect of color on cognitive task performance. The 600 participants performed tasks on computers with words or images displayed against red, blue or neutral colored backgrounds. The results revealed that both red and blue enhance performances, but in different ways. Red increases performance for detailed orientated tasks and blue increases performance for creative tasks (Ravi 1).

Red not only increases performance but is also considered the most dynamic of all colors (Ragan 37). Red is a strong color, often associated with power so could be strategically used in offices of corporate leaders.

But are these findings limited? To what extent can these findings on the psychological effects of color by applied to different cultures? Especially in an environment such as an office building where people from all over with different backgrounds are thrown together it is important to make sure that design elements are going to be able to positively affect everyone.

These questions were answered in a study conducted by Ralph B. Hupka, Zbigniew Zaleski, Jurgen Otto, Lucy Reidl and Nadia V. Tarabrina. They collected data from Germany, Mexico, Poland, Russia and the United States to ensure that subjects would differ in politico-economic systems, language, history and literature (Hupka 4). Regardless of language and culture, people associate similar adjectives with the same colors. In addition, the same colors are considered to be strong or weak (Osgood, 1960). This study confirms that color can elicit strong feelings and are important to take into consideration when designing the interior of non residential buildings, particularly offices.

Another study conducted by Canan Ceylan, Jan Dul and Serpil Aytac also examines how other aspects of an office environment besides color can stimulate creativity. Managers of large manufacturing companies were asked to rate both the creativity potential, as well as the physical aspects of 25 different office environments. The results reveal that office interior design influence the creativity potential. In order to establish high creativity potential, it is important for offices to have lower complexity, more plants, bright lighting conditions, windows and cooler colors (Ceylan 1). This study is congruent with Mehta and Zhu’s findings because blue falls into the cool color category.

In addition to color, another way design can positively influence the office environment is by the specific materials used for the walls, floors or furniture. Psychologists Bradley G. Ridoutt, Roderick D. Ball and Shaun K. Killerby discovered that wood in the interior office environment has an effect on interpersonal perception. The effect of wood on interpersonal perception was assessed through the use of photo-questionnaires. Three men and three women were super-imposed onto three images of offices with varying amounts of wood in the design. Participants in this study were asked to describe their first impressions when viewing these photos. Both open-ended and structured questions were used to reveal information on five main attributes including professionalism, success, honesty, caring and creativity. Ultimately, researchers discovered that offices using wood interiors led to a more positive first impression.

First impressions are important and how an office is designed tells visitors a lot about its occupant. In addition to the use of wood in offices to establish a more positive perception of the occupant, there are additional design qualities that have been observed that impact and influence how occupants are perceived. In his study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, David E. Campbell observed the presence or absence of living things, the presence or absence of aesthetic objects, tidiness and the effect of desk placement (Morrow 646). Favorable visitor reactions and attributions were recorded in response to the presence of both living things, such as plants, as well as aesthetic objects, such as posters or wall decorations. Clutter was found to have a significant negative impact on visitors’ response. There was a positive correlation between clutter in the office and negative feelings associated with the office occupant. Campbell concluded that the impact of desk placement is recognizable only in more austere offices (Morrow 626).

Implications of my research...

When it comes to decorating, most people put a lot of thought into choosing the color and design of their bedroom, bathroom or living room. It is understandable that people would want to feel comfortable in the space they live in every day. But what about the nonresidential buildings people spend hours of their life in every day? Depending on ones’ career, people can end up spending more time awake and alert in their office than they do in their home. If people spend time and energy on decorating their homes, shouldn’t the same time and consideration be spent on their office? After reviewing studies that examine the psychological effects of color and design, the answer is undeniably yes. Décor has the ability to elicit emotions and moods so by choosing the appropriate color scheme and design, it has been found to have positive effects on not only comfort, but also success in the work place.

Whether you are a CEO in a spacious private office or a secretary in a cubicle, knowing the possible psychological effects of color and design can be used to their advantage. If changing the color of you walls can help someone be more focused or creative, why not try it? The amount of zeros on a paycheck does not determine how people respond to certain color or design. Interior design is universal and important to not only remain educated on, but also implement it. There is science embedded within interior design and once deciphered and analyzed, can have a positive impact on ones’ business.

Monday, March 23, 2009

The White House Is Getting a Makeover

Barack Obama has shared his and Michelle’s plans to “open up the White House and remind people this is the people’s house.” He said they wanted to host jazz musicians, chamber music recitals and poetry readings, “so that once again we appreciate this incredible tapestry that’s America.”

The last major make over the White House underwent was nearly 50 years ago when Jacqueline Kennedy transformed the outdated monument into a beautiful masterpiece. She even went to Congress to pass legislation to make the White House a museum and hired a curator.

The Obama’s hiring Los Angeles decorator Michael Smith is definitely a statement that the White House is going to change. Good bye stuffy antique furniture and ancient tapestries…

Michelle Obama shares that "Laura Bush has been a wonderful steward of The White House and created a beautiful residence for her family. I look forward to adding our own touch to the East Wing and creating a living space where our family feels comfortable, happy and settled. Michael shares my vision for creating a family friendly feel to our new home and incorporating some new perspectives from some of America's greatest artists and designers."

Smith studied interior design at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. He has his own home furnishings store in California and has had his own design firm since l990. He is known for his family-focused clientele and approach and is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Otis College of Art and Design .

“I am delighted to work with the Obamas as they bring their own energy and style to the residence at The White House," said decorator Michael Smith. "The family's casual style, their interest in bringing 20th Century American artists to the forefront and utilizing affordable brands and products will serve as our guiding principles as we make the residence feel like their home."

Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Some questions....

As I continue to study the psychological effect of color, I have formed some questions about the subject that I would like to share...

- What are the benefits for studying the psychological effects of color?
- Is the result worth the amount of effort exerted to not only study the psychological effect color, but also implement it?
- What are the implications of studying the psychological effects of color?

- Will studying the psychological effects of color result in any change? Can it apply to everyone?
- Is there is enough evidence to support that the study of the psychological effects of color is worth the time, money and energy?
- Is the study of the psychological effects of color growing?
- What has changed about the study of the psychological effects of color?

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Pageflake Tour

Wouldn’t it be nice to have useful information about interior design from all over the Internet, neatly compiled in one location? Well lucky for you, I am about to make your life much easier...

I recently created a page on pageflakes to help organize all the information I have collected about interior design. The first thing you will notice on my pageflake is this blog, conveniently located at the top right corner. To the right of that window is a list of RSS feeds.

I personally have a dangerous addiction to interior design blogs. Once I start, I find it hard to stop. I might want to quickly check what has been recently added to a blog, but before I know it, it is two hours later and I have over 15 windows open on my poor little laptop. These RSS feeds have eliminated the insanity I once endured, not to mention the hours wasted, trying to remain updated on the many blogs I like to follow.

These feeds that I have compiled are not only popular, but also extremely informative with a lot to offer to its readers. Whether you are remodeling a kitchen, or want to spruce up the look of your dining room chairs, these blogs undoubtedly have the ability inspire the interior designer in you.

Going in order from top to bottom on my pageflake, the blogs I like to read are Material Girls, So Haute, Design Sponge, Remodelista, Bloesem, decor8, Eddie Ross, Habitually Chic, Absolutely Beautiful Things, Superuse, Apartment Therapy, and The Design Blog. This collection of RSS feeds is appealing because of the different perspectives they have to offer. Some blogs, like Material Girls, is written collaboratively by a group of people, while other blogs, like Eddie Ross, are written by individuals. Another unique aspect of this particular RSS feed is that the blogs are being written all over the country. From Los Angeles to New York and everywhere in between, different design aesthetics are easily accessible at the click of a mouse.

Thanks to this list of RSS feeds, I stumbled upon an intriguing post from Material Girls titled, Mixing Science With Design. This post motivated me to uncover more information on the psychological impact of color. The information I discovered can be found in the CiteLine window located under the heading, “zotero bilbliography”. These sources include other studies similar to the one discussed on Material Girls, as well as books and articles from Science journals and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. One book in particular that I have gained a lot of information from is John Pile’s book, Color in Interior Design. There is an entire chapter on the psychological impact of color, with a section that breaks down the feelings that certain colors elicit.

Under my bibliography are my social bookmarking soulmate’s bookmarks. I found my social bookmarking soulmate, GardenCityMovement, on the popular social booking site, delicious. GardenCityMovement is constantly introducing me to new and interesting sites such as the site about recycling called SuperUse.

More sites can be found in the window located under GardenCityMovement’s bookmarks. These are my personal bookmarks saved on my diigo account tagged with “interiordesign”. Most recently, I have been bookmarking sites about the new interior designer hired to decorate the White House, Michael Smith. One of my bookmarks is a clip from the Today Show that discusses the White House’s recent décor and Michael Smith’s background. I found it on the RSS feed for the blog, So Haute.

The remaining resources that can be found on my pageflake are the universal news search and the universal blog search. Both flakes share the latest developments on interior design.

Hopefully my pageflake will not only save you time, but will also inspire you.