Keywords

ASMR - autonomous sensory meridian response: a physical sensation in the body triggered by a sensory or cognitive stimulus

Colorimetry - the science of physical colour perception

Colour synaesthesia - a neurological phenomenon affecting around 4% of the population, whereby a non-coloured trigger such as a smell or word involuntarily and consistently prompts a colour experience

Neuroaesthetics - the study of how our brains process aesthetic experiences

Neurodiversity - variations in cognition with diagnostic labels

Perceptual diversity - variations in perception based on personal experience

Neuroaesthetics / Colour’s Invisible Influence

We’re only just beginning to understand some of the incredible ways our brains receive and respond to the visual world. The term ‘neuroaesthetics’ didn’t exist until 1999 when neuroscientist Semir Zeki used it to describe the neural processing of art and beauty. Yet, today, neuroaesthetics is an exciting cross-disciplinary field teeming with paradigm-shifting insights for designers. And colour, too often an afterthought in design processes, has been proven by neuroaesthetic researchers to be integral to human cognition, with far greater influence over our thoughts, feelings and behaviours than we ever imagined.

Using functional magnetic response imaging (MRI), researchers have been able to track the neural pathways of colour for some time, revealing regions of the brain that light up when we choose between different shades. But new findings from the University of Sussex suggest our deep-rooted colour associations and preferences also colour our broader decision-making processes and value judgements. In short, whatever we are consciously thinking about, somewhere deep in our limbic system, we are also considering colour.

The implications are huge. What if the house of our dreams had an icky-coloured front door? Would we see past it? Could a colour we love make us feel falsely secure with a dangerous situation or person? For the designer, neuroaesthetics means colour can no longer be overlooked: its power to enhance or diminish any project is too great. Tuning into colour means entering a world of non-verbal communication governed by memory, emotion and rewards. By taking time to discover our clients' and audiences' neuroaesthetic preferences and needs, we can create experiences that provide them with sensory support or provocation as the context demands.

Over the past few years, this potential has been eloquently demonstrated in experimental creative spaces. Google’s A Space for Being at Milan Furniture Fair in 2019 monitored fluctuations in heart rate, breathing and temperature as participants moved through distinct immersive environments. The installation confirmed not only that our responses to colour, form, sound and scent are highly individualised, but that our physiology and cognition are frequently at odds: colours we think of as relaxing, for example, may actually agitate our vitals; similarly, we may be soothed by shades we have been culturally or socially conditioned to neglect.

When people feel physically isolated, digitally compartmentalised, or politically polarised, experiences that celebrate individuality and help us to discover our unique preferences and frequencies can be powerful. This may partly explain the phenomenal rise of ASMR, which James Taylor-Foster, curator of Weird Sensation Feels Good at the Design Museum in London, suggests answers our need for intimacy. All over the world, millions of experiencers are learning about their personal sensory triggers via media created by a new wave of digital designers - often finding pleasure, relaxation, and even healing in the process.

But how do we design for the individual on a mass scale? Professor Anil Seth, the author of Being You and a founder of The Perception Census, the largest scientific study on perceptual diversity to date, doesn’t think we always have to.

Perceptual Diversity / Seeing Things Differently

Do you see what I see? The research question behind The Perception Census is what we ask when new visual data doesn’t fit our expectations, or when we ponder the universality of our experiences: is your ‘green’ the same as my ‘green’? ‘Perceptual diversity’ refers to this world of subtle, subjective variations in how we see, based on a lifetime of unique experiences.

When it comes to colour, ‘seeing’ is a complex matter. Most scientists agree that colour doesn’t even exist ‘out there’, but is the mind’s creative response to light. So it makes sense that different eyes and brains conjure different shades. We may ‘know’ that the walls of our home are ‘light blue’, having painted them ourselves, but in a certain light, they might appear grey and, in another, almost green. This much can be explained by colorimetry, the science of colour perception. What perceptual diversity does is allow for other layers of data: the paint’s name, for example (if it was called ‘slippery blue-grey-green’ would we have bought it?), memories (were we drawn to this shade because it reminds us of the sea where we grew up?), and associations (did the concept ‘light blue’ make us feel a bit lighter?).

Most of the time, our different ways of seeing are disguised by the inability of language to capture such nuance, but for people with synaesthesia - wherein one sensory experience involuntarily and consistently prompts another - seeing things differently is a way of life. For a long time, there was scepticism when people said they could taste shapes or hear colours, but functional brain imaging showing simultaneous activation of multiple sensory areas has proven what synaesthetes knew all along: subjective points of view are not only valid but enriching.

Emma Bestley, a founder of paint company YesColours, describes herself as ‘one of the lucky few’ to have grapheme-colour synaesthesia, meaning her brain merges her senses so that she always sees colour and emotions in words, numbers and even days of the week. To Emma, Mondays are red, infused with intense ‘let’s get things done’ energy. Tuesdays are ‘a jarring bright cyan blue’ that she never wears or has in her home, and Fridays are ‘fresh green and positive’. Emma believes that talking about neuroaesthetics and sharing colour memories and experiences is leading us to become less trend-led, and more confident in our personal colour preferences, so that we can create, and feel empowered by, our own ‘life palette’.

A Neuroaesthetic Approach / Designing for Diversity

Neuroaesthetics research has provided designers with scientific proof that ‘design feeling’ is just as important as ‘design thinking’ and that colour is integral to both. Interpreting design briefs through the lens of colour is a powerful way to see things as others do, so that we can provide richer experiences - whether the context invites exploration, surprise and challenge, or demands more profound empathy and holistic support.

Neuroaesthetic insights may mean design becomes more nuanced to personal preferences, but that doesn't mean we can’t all find ways to connect. On the contrary, designing for perceptual diversity can be a creative response to homogenisation that opens our minds to different perspectives, sparking fresh ideas and initiating conversations that bring people together.

1. Explore different facets

Layer colour with other sensory experiences to reveal different facets of a brand or product. G . F Smith’s Portal: A Journey Through Colour, for Hull’s Freedom Festival 2022, combines colour, form and sound to evoke the experience of synaesthesia. By layering a musical soundscape over three-dimensional blocks of Colorplan paper in monochromatic, warm and cool colour groups, Portal invites very personal responses to classic colour combinations.

2. Consider multisensory experiences

In virtual spaces, colour is a 360º experience, so it's essential to consider colour psychology when designing for digital. Sony’s recent installation, Into Sight, for London Design Festival, used shifting light, colour and sound to transform boundary surfaces into infinite vistas to explore the coexistence of physical and meta realities. For supportive user-oriented environments, try a pared-back palette of orange for soft focus and friendliness that gradients into blue for clarity and concentration.

3. Extend sensory zones

Surrounding ourselves with colours and fragrances that trigger positive memories can boost self-esteem and give us a natural high. Only 6% of synaesthetes connect colour and aroma, but designers can evoke scent via colour, thanks to how our brains link visual and olfactory data. Common experiences mean we tend to anticipate sweet smells from pinks and oranges, salty ones from greys and blues, and fresh scents from greens and yellows, but tools like AI system Kaorium, which translates scent into words, can help us to communicate and design for deeper sensory experiences.

Further reading

Websites:

The Perception Census

Dreamachine

Google, A Space for Being

Sony, Into Sight

The Design Museum, London: Weird Sensation Feels Good

KAORIUM by Scentmatic

References

Chris Racey, Anna Franklin & Chris M. Bird: The Processing of Color Preference in the Brain (2018)

Richard E. Cytowic & David M. Eagleman: Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia, MIT Press (2009)

Sophie Scott: The Brain – 10 Things You Should Know, Orion Publishing (2022)

Anil Seth: Being You – A New Science of Consciousness, Faber & Faber (2020)

Peter Godfrey-Smith: Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life, HarperCollins (2018)

Laura Perryman | Colour Designer and forecaster

Laura is a colour designer and forecaster, with over 18 years of expertise in CMF (Colour, Material, and Finish) design across diverse industries. As the author of The Colour Bible, she delves deep into the material and sensory experiences that colour can evoke and collaborates closely with the design and manufacturing sectors. 

She leads Colour of Saying, a pioneering CMF research agency based in London. Her studio is dedicated to crafting impactful aesthetic experiences while championing responsible and sustainable colour practices. Their offerings range from futures research, bespoke provocation talks and masterclasses to workshops, original colour matching, CMF consultancy, research, and influential editorial publications. 

Sarah Conway | Writer and editor

Sarah Conway is a writer and editor based in Cornwall, UK. She is the founder of Stories of Design, a practice dedicated to supporting story-led brand identities and communications. Sarah’s narrative direction, naming and tone of voice underpin the identities of brands and products all over the world while her belief in design as an agent for change has led to collaborations with cross-industry sustainability pioneers.