Week Two: The Color of Light

WHITEHEAD

COLOR TEMPERATURE

All lamps (or light bulbs) emit a color

The color of light emitted affects the design of the space (see whitehead plates 1.15-1.17)

Color temperature is a way to describe the whiteness of a light source

Measured on the Kelvin scale, abbreviated as K

Sources with a high color temperature have a blue-ish color

Sources with a low color temperature have a yellow-ish color

Think of 5000 degrees Kelvin as extremely cold, daylight as freezing, and incandescent light, at 2800 degrees, as hot, even though the number is lower

Incandescent light can make things appear yellower, as it is nearly opposite on the Kelvin scale from daylight

DAYLIGHT

Daylight is a blue-white light, despite all the pictures we drew in kindergarten

“Daylight fluorescent” is designed to be good for rendering color, but is not as good for skin tones

COLOR RENDERING INDEX

CRI—the Color Rendering Index is used to judge how well a light source renders color—compared to how daylight renders color

Daylight gets a 100 percent score, and all others are judged against it—an 85-90 is good

We should choose our colors in the light where they will be viewed