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Colourful
Language
MA Graphic Design
Major project Visual Research
Eleanor Maclure 2012

A visual interpretation of basic colour terms
through the use of Google Image Search
Searching
for the
Rainbow

Searching for the Rainbow Visual Research Presentation
Introduction
The philosopher Wittgenstein famously asked ‘How do I know that this
color is red? —It would be an answer to say: I have learnt English.’ But
how do we know what is red? In today’s digital age perhaps a more
pertinent response would be: ‘Google it’.

For many the internet has become our primary source of information
and knowledge. Inclusive and participatory, as an entity it represents
the culmination of everything that has been posted and uploaded,
with each new contribution slightly altering the shape of the whole. But
how does Google know what is red? Tags, Search Engine Optimisation
and complex algorithms now set the precedence for the information
we receive when we search for something. Search engines are able
to dictate the type of information we consume, influencing our
perceptions of what is important with the ranking of their search results.
Introduction

Process
The use of Google image search as a tool to provide a visual
interpretation of colour terms began as no more than an exercise
in understanding, to enable me to progress with other research, it
was a means to an end. However, repetition of the process began to
reveal both the changing nature of the internet and the similarities
and differences between the colours in the images retrieved by each
search. Although translated through Google’s algorithms, collectively,
the images represent the level of understanding of colour and
colour terms by those posting them, tagging them or writing the
accompanying text.

The methodology for this exercise involved inputting each of the
eleven basic colour terms, defined by Berlin & Kay, into Google
Image Search with the addition of the word ‘colour’. This concession
was an undesirable but necessary consequence of the number of
high profile celebrities with colour terms in their names. I then took
(without exception) the first thirty images from the search results,
as a foundation to work with and analyse using image manipulation
processes. The images were indexed using Colourphon, resulting
in a 9 x 9 grid of colour. They were blurred with a specific and
constant amount of Gaussian blur in Photoshop and finally, also using
Photoshop, the RGB values for the pixels in each image were averaged
to give a solid block of colour.
Process

As a body of work, the project presents a visual representation of
each colour term, mediated by Google, and functions as a snapshot
of colour on the Internet that due to it’s constantly shifting nature, can
never be replicated exactly. It shows not only the variety of responses
to the names of colours but also the level of consensus across the
range of images. It allows the viewer to appreciate how the colours
and images transform and mutate with each of the different processes
applied, as they move from defined forms, into indistinguishable
shapes, to a solid, uniform block of colour. This method is but one of
the many possible ways of exploring the relationship between colour
and language but it one that is truly a reflection of our digital age.
Conclusions

Pink Search Results

Pink Pixelated

Pink Blurred

Pink Colour Averaged

Red Search Results

Red Pixelated

Red Blurred

Red Colour Averaged

Orange Search Results

Orange Pixelated

Orange Blurred

Orange Colour Averaged

Yellow Search Results

Yellow Pixelated

Yellow Blurred

Yellow Colour Averaged

Green Search Results

Green Pixelated

Green Blurred

Green Colour Averaged

Blue Search Results

Blue Pixelated

Blue Blurred

Blue Colour Averaged

Purple Search Results

Purple Pixelated

Purple Blurred

Purple Colour Averaged

Brown Search Results

Brown Pixelated

Brown Blurred

Brown Colour Averaged

Black Search Results

Black Pixelated

Black Blurred

Black Colour Averaged

Grey Search Results

Grey Pixelated

Grey Blurred

Grey Colour Averaged

White Search Results

White Pixelated

White Blurred

White Colour Averaged

Colourful
Language
Eleanor Maclure 2012
http://eleanormaclure.wordpress.com/
http://issuu.com/eleanorbydesign/docs/searching_for_the_rainbow

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Searching for the Rainbow

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