Since color meanings vary dramatically from culture to
culture, designers of globally marketed consumer products
are often faced with complex color choices. Case studies
show that products have failed (in the market and in use)
because designers were unaware of culture specific meanings
of colors they selected.
I am developing a computer based tool that assists industrial
designers to make informed cross cultural color choices. Much
of the data that I have gathered until now has come from
ethnographic studies by anthropologists. I am looking for refrences
to any materials that document color meanings in different cultures.
I will need beta testers for the first release of the software
in mid-January 1996. If you are interested in being a beta site,
please drop me a note.
Thanks,
Surya Vanka
Surya Vanka Asst Prof of Industrial Design
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
143 Art & Design Building MC-590
Champaign IL 61820 USA
Phone: +217.333.1796 Fax: +217.244.7688