Burdened with the speculating mind of a design architect, it’s hard for me to travel through the built world without constant distraction. Open lots are blank canvas for imaginary projects. Historic buildings beg to be dissected by period and style. And newly constructed buildings demand some kind of analysis. For this reason, when traveling with friends and family, I’m not allowed to drive.
Recently, a handful of new buildings have sprung up in my urban neighborhood in south Minneapolis that keep me thinking long after I park the car and unload the groceries. A new children’s hospital sports shimmering walls of iridescent metal panels in vibrant blues, reds and yellow-greens. A senior housing project down the road is predictably clad in brown brick and beige stucco. In the park, new playground equipment blares out across the verdant green turf in glossy primary colors: red, blue and yellow. And a hip hotel downtown has a lobby lined with inky black walls punctuated by white patent leather furnishings, purple rugs, and crystalline lighting in fuchsia and lavender.
What strikes me is how the chosen color palettes of these diverse building types seem to align so neatly with our preconceptions of the age of the user. Pure, bright colors are for children and adolescents. Gothic black mixed with eye-popping hues for young professionals. Earth tones for the senior set. Compare these architectural colors against the enduring fashion trends for these age groups (or product packaging or website designs), and the correlation builds steam.
Are we, as design professionals, slavishly adhering to cultural stereotypes of color preference based on age, or is there some biological or psychological bias we intuitively obey?
Is this color bias mere happenstance? A conspiracy? To put it in philosophical terms: Are we, as design professionals, slavishly adhering to cultural stereotypes of color preference based on age, or is there some biological or psychological bias we intuitively obey?
For me, the mere thought that our aesthetic predilections are predetermined by our demographic profile is disconcerting. Can it really be true, for example, that only young people are drawn to Jackson Pollock paintings, or that only retirees would buy a Norman Rockwell wall calendar? (I get one free each year from my Realtor. Is he trying to tell me something?)
According to a mounting pile of research on color preference since the 1940s, evidence seems to indicate that members of discrete age groups really do exhibit collective preferences. In a recent (2003) online research project conducted by Joe Hallock, color preferences have been shown to change with age in regard to favorite as well as least favorite color. Not surprisingly, the findings across multiple studies corroborate many of the color choices made in my neighborhood examples.
In general, children prefer warm and bright colors — red, orange, yellow and pink — because they associate these colors with positive feelings and high energy. Conversely, children associate dark colors such as brown, purple and blue with sadness and negative emotions.
The most striking difference between children and adults is the shift from a warm to a cool color bias. Psychologists have known for a long time that the majority of adults choose blue as their favorite color, with green and purple also landing in the top favorite list. Meanwhile, red, the hands-down favorite color for 3-year-olds, quickly drops to the middle of the pack by early adulthood.
Adults also bring more baggage with them, rejecting certain colors based on ingrained social conventions and symbolism. Black suggests mourning and grief, but also mystery and strength. Red is both spirited and alarming — a color you’ll never see on the inside of a hospital.
Clearly, tracking color favorites represents only a limited perspective on the kind of spaces people will be attracted to. My favorite color, for example, is yellow. Yet in my entire house I have only one yellow object (a sofa) that is not a Post-it® note. And while blue is the favorite color of most Americans, its impact has influenced corporate logos much more than residential interiors — a domain where off-white, beige and sage green hold mass appeal.
While color biases by age groups might be scientifically verifiable, I will continue to argue that the effective use of color in architecture and interior design is driven more by context and cultural conventions than by DNA and the vagaries of aging. And though I have yet to receive an invitation to join AARP, I will continue to hang up my Norman Rockwell calendar — as I always do, proudly — in my basement workroom.
What’s your take? Do cultural stereotypes dictate age-related color choices or do color preferences naturally change during the aging process?
Post your reply below.
Phillip Koski, AIA, is an architect and founder of
Koski Architecture, a Minneapolis-based architecture firm with varied expertise in residential, corporate, cultural and urban design projects. Phillip’s fascination with the psychology of perception and the built environment provide constant fodder not only for his own architectural practice, but also as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture, and as a design writer and critic for numerous professional, lifestyle and academic publications.
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Interesting perspective. We use the Dewey Color Palette & their research shows that male babies prefer yellow based reds, female babies prefer blue based reds. That might explain the mid-life crisis male purchasing a red sports car.
Or just simply, red cars appear to travel faster!
Or that they think younger women like red sports cars
Interesting and very true in the sense that people get almost fearful of color as they age, perhaps somewhat due to eyes changing and having a more difficult time in low light situations. It doesn’t really account for an aversion for the clear colors other than it can seem more childish and less likely to be taken seriously, you would think as people age they would be drawn to the higher energy these colors offer.
This is fascinating, but seems to have some truth to it. As a color consultant, I find that many of my clients are older, and are craving color-the deep, rich, warm hues. Many say their color tastes have changed over time as well. Very interesting article! I so enjoy all the articles in STIR!
Age is meaningless when it comes to color preference. I’ve found that a color palette tends to follow people throughout their lives. If one likes soft colors, they don’t change much. Plus I just did a rather bright yellowish (is was a SW color)great room for a woman over 60.
From the opening picture, yellow and a baby, I thought you were going to touch on how as people age their vison casts a yellow tint.
Speaking of a Jackson Pollack painting, there is one at the Cleveland Museum of art which is all dark and drab greens, a hint of golden yellow, white and black. Not young and pretty by any standard.
Decor Girl,
Based on the large amount of research and study in this area, it appears clear cut that age and changes in color preference for larger populations of people are related. Color preferences for any individual, however, is unique to that person. That’s what I love about design – for every project you need a custom solution that rings true to your client.
In my new house which has lots of windows looking out on the woods I painted all walls sort of high lighter yellow. Love it, my husband and I both think it is great specially when the outside landscape in our NE US location is all white snow sprinlled with vertical brown of trees. We are above sixty but did not grow up with traditional beige and blue of New England.
as a certified aging in place specialist, I find the perception of older people wanting subdued color more of a bias by the younger people who are designing their spaces. as the eye ages, it makes appear yellower. for safety reasons it is better to have a large contrast when shifting from one flooring to another (say carpet to vinyl). bright colors are also better for wayfinding. older people cannot distinguish well between pastels or varying tones of brown yet that is what I see time and time again in nursing homes and assisted living places. same goes for the old fashioned color schemes of navy, burgundy and hunter green. designers, leave your biases and perceptions at the door. also, as a side note, bright yellow is thought to increase tremors in Parkinson’s patients. there has been a great deal of research around color….designers need to read it.
I would love to read some of the sources everyone is refering too. Maybe someone could post some! Thanks
Karan,
Well said, and I agree with your sentiment. There is some evidence in the psychological research that color preferences also vary by geography, suggesting that cultural forces impact our perceptions at least as much as biological ones. In western cultures, for example, black is the color and mourning – while in some eastern cultures white is the funereal color. Another topic for another day.
Karan, thanks for your point regarding color contrasts, I had not considered its utility in that manner. I can only hope that others discover this as well.
p.s. I am 60 and I love bright colors. don’t put us into a box.
At the heart of this discussion, I think, is that color is an emotional response issue and therefore is individual. I don’t think it’s nnecessarily age related at all,I do think there’s a definite societal influence though (what will the neighbors think?).
One of the first questions your asked as a child is “what’s your favorite color”, as a child ages that question becomes less important in the face of peers and the institution of education. Then peer influence gets stronger until there really is no preference and choices are left to trend marketing and what a manufacturer tells you is the new “hot color”. In other words, people aren’t individualy choosing those colors, corporations are. One final interesting note, there have been studies done that show color coding interiors can help seniors stay in their homes longer as cognitive challenges become more difficult to deal with. For instance, all hallways are painted a peach color and bathroom doors are painted one color and bedroom doors another. Maybe it’s not “hot” design, but color is really more important than that.
I love this premise. Color preference it seems does change with age in most cases, but I think the retail market also influences preference by what is available as well. If I am going to find something to adorn my sofa, say a pillow, I want it to be in the color I think would look best on my sofa. But, if that color is no where to be found, and all I can find is a complementary color that was not my first choice, then I buy that color. So, CMG (Color Marketing Group) has sometimes more influence on what colors are purchased than ones own color preferences. What color car I buy often is limited by the cars available colors. Is CMG taking this theory into account when they forecast colors?
I think that there is evidence of both age related color bias and ingrained preferences that naturally change over time.
It’s true that our eyes change and we perceive colors differently as we get older as is evident in this excerpt from the June 2008 issue of Long-Term Living:
“Since ‘blue’ light (i.e., short wavelengths) is filtered away by the aging eye, blues look darker and mixtures containing blue tend to go gray. For example, purple (a mixture of red and blue) may gray-out to such an extent that it becomes invisible…
…On the other hand, it is easier for older people to differentiate yellows, oranges, and reds. As a result, highly saturated colors at the warm end of the light spectrum with a high degree of brightness are best for the senior eye.”
The result is a color palette that aids the deteriorating vision of the elderly and creates a safer environment in which objects are easily distinguishable.
As for children’s colors, we design everything for children to give them the optimal learning experience, starting with infant toys which use primary colors as learning tools and ending with the design of spaces that fuel our children’s minds.
Recognizing colors is an important skill. People often use colors to describe things. Many signs are color-coded. Red signs mean stop, street names are on green signs and yellow signs signify to be cautious.
But beyond recognizing what the colors are, we use colors to stimulate emotion and development. Research has shown that children tend to have positive reactions to bright colors and negative reactions to dark colors.
In either case we choose colors that are appropriate for the age group in order to achieve a specific result.
Actually I think it’s at least as much cultural as perceptive. I think people are most comfortable with the color palette they adapted when reaching young adulthood. We know that color goes in cycles and I suspect that the older population prefers colors from earlier cycles.
I agree. Each generation has its acceptable and preferred colors. Those that enjoyed becoming adults in the 1960s are going to have a decidedly different idea of what colors they like than the generation before them, and the same for the generation after them. Familiarity, memories of the best years, peer preferences, all are unique to each generation and have colors that are significant to them. All the 60 ish responders that like bright colors, you have probably always liked those colors and will continue to in some shade and form for the rest of your lives.
Thanks for this thought provoking and enjoyable article. I’m a semi-retired designer,aged 66, who has been a fan of yellow for most of my life. Having lived in the grey Northwest for over 20 years makes yellow more attractive as it gives an interior a sunny aspect regardless of weather.
Though many sophisticated, well known Northwest designers and architects use mostly very neutral colors with one wall of muted earth tone or metallic finish, it is too somber for most of my clients. I have used a muted, apricot tinged yellow for myself and many clients of all ages, and they always love it and get compliments. I have generally found, with few exceptions, that younger clients like a strong color in different rooms, whereas older clients like one warm neutral throughout.
As for kids, their tastes change quickly from primary colors for the youngest, to girls loving pink, lavender and soft lime green, to teenagers wanting burgundy or deep blue or Tiffany’s aqua/blue with a bright accent. The popularity of the fifties as being retro for young adults has brought back the trend of one or two bright colors with a more neutral background. I would bet that most who grew up in the fifties may like these colors, but would not want to live with them.
I am also a 66 year old semi-retired interior designer. I have worked with “kids as clients” or partners in creating special places for them and I know most toddlers gravitate to the primary colors. Maybe because their brains are not developed enough to like or understand the more complex(mixed)colors. With teens it might come down to trend & peer pressure. I also work with 60 yr olds and up on aging-in-place. The higher end clients like the “current” colors, but want ones that will last for years. Some of the seniors with failing eyesight see colors with a yellowish tint and tend to like softer colors. I just painted our new master bedroom addition in a deep sunflower yellow walls, white wood trim and will accent in cobalt blue, and a bit of fuchsia, lime & orange. Husband (67)loves it as much as I do. Maybe we are looking for excitement or our youth!
Jolayne,
This is the kind of response I was hoping to hear – that despite biological statistics for a broad population of people, we are all individuals and not prone to behave as categorical stereotypes. While I plan to keep the Norman Rockwell in the workshop, I also hope to have bright primary, Bauhaus colors in my house to thrill me throughout my 80s and 90s and beyond (knock on wood!).
I believe that colorists fail to apply the changing membership to a demographic. Twenty years ago, the retirement homes were welcoming members that lived through WWII…now they are welcoming those that lived through Vietnam. Baby boomers are not the same client as those that danced to big band.
Pre-teens now are more sophisticated than the boomers were at that age. Barbie Pink is not always applicable.
I think color response is primarily very individual and is contoured but not changed by social and marketing influences.
I don’t presume anything when I first meet a client. I get to know them before recommending anything.
This is a very interesting observation on Mr. Koski’s age related color schemes. I guess it also has to do on the region of the country. Here in Arizona, I have clients in their 70′s and 80′s who relish bright colors and can’t live without them. And I have found younger people in the 20′s to be uber conservative, going to the beige and brown family.
So this is entirely a personal objective. And, by the way, I do color consulting as a primary business.
Yolanda,
I wonder if some of your younger clientele is influenced by dictum of DIY television programs that emphasize neutral tones to boost resale values? My last visit to a tile showroom was filled with young professionals perusing aisle after aisle of beige, cream, and taupe finishes for their bathrooms and kitchens, with only about 10 percent of the showroom dedicated to tiles with saturated colors and the occasional paler hues of red, orange, and blue. To my great regret (I’m looking for back-splash tile for my own kitchen renovation) I found no yellow!
I truly enjoyed reading this article. As a full time Architectural Color Consultant, I enjoy the differences between each client and I don’t find people to be all that “predictable”. I frequently find that people have a tendency to lean towards colors that make a statement about where they are in their lives. Are they feeling free and carefree, then their color selections might be a little more adventuresome. If they are tired and worn down.. they might lean toward colors that are quieter and safer. Sometimes these colors go along with the light-hearted being younger and gutsier.. but I love when I find an older client who wants to live life to the fullest and go “all out”. I love meeting and getting to know people and selecting colors that represent who they are!
Speaking of color and age, just an observation that often when I get behind someone driving below the speed limit they are in a champagne colored car. You know that champagny-light-tan color. Whenever I pull around them they are always elderly. I have come to associate that color of car as something only an older person would buy.
There are lots of things I liked as a child that I don’t like anymore! Primary colors are just one. People grow in lots of directions as they age. At 18 I hated wine… at 50 I can discuss the subtleties of any given glass, and yes, I now love that merlot color much better than bright red!
I find that people that grew up in more conservative environments are actually dying to try bolder colors and styles, when they are older. I also find the color change described in the article non existent with my Asian clients, where strong reds are de rigueur. Also In 20 years of Caribbean travel I have never seen a dull or muddied color. Perhaps its our heavy English esthetic, or cultural prejudice that only the less sophisticated use bright (garish) colors. I think you could do a thesis on this one Phillip.
I agree with Amy – I think sometimes feel a need to be a little more adventurous..also, I think location makes a difference as well. Certainly colors that make sense in Florida look downright bad in upstate NY where I live.
This is a very interesting theory, and I’ve seen some evidence for it.
I’ve also seen people’s color preferences change with circumstances in their lives. For example, one client who had always hated blues suddenly found herself craving them, and didn’t understand why. After learning that she had recently lost both parents to death while in the middle of a nasty divorce, it was obvious why to me – because of the calming nature of blue vs the greens she had always previously favored.
Sarah, thanks for that about the warm hues and aging eyes. I learned about this years ago while in design school, and have recently been thinking about it and wondering where to find the documentation.
Infants, by the way, actually see black and white better than they do colors.
I’ve also read theories that color preferences track with socioeconomic status, with people at the lower end of the spectrum liking saturated primary colors and people at the higher end preferring muted and tertiary hues. Perhaps this goes along with the theory of color preferences changing with age, as socioeconomic status often improves as we get older.
I also believe the color preference has something cultural about it. In Western region of India which is mostly dry and arid, women wear traditionally bright yellows, reds and purple clothing whereas their homes are plastered white with hand drawn red decorative motifs. Mexico is same way, whereas Northern Europe is tans, beige and maybe a sprinkling of Brick red or dark brown.
Color preference is ingrained in us from the time we are little all based on adult influences.This is not always a blessing.
Color that surrounds us should enhance us. Skin tone does influence this discussion ,thus being cultural stereotypes. Skin tones change and shade/tints need to change. BUT, we do not have to repeat history and use that tread color of 40+ years ago for our assisted living developments. They say as we age we regress so maybe we would be more open minded to new palettes as a child with a new idea. Lets be more creative. We only live once.
As an artist and psychologist, respectively, I find that we gravitate, repeatedly, to colors that are associated with experiences (positive or negative) in our past. They make us emotionally and mentally comfortable. I find myself looking for new color combinations to put on canvas. I instinctively reach for the same colors from my palette and when it gets that repetitive…I know it is time to change so my paintings don’t get stale or static to the viewer. For me, red is relaxing. Everybody does not react [to a specific color] the same way. Color has different symbollic meaning to each of us. Each of us see color differently.
I must admit that I might be considered a senior, (66) and have been involved in design forever.
I love color, and of course, have my favorites as do most. I feel that, yes, CMG thrusts specific colors into the fore front, wanted or not. The CMG time line of color change has eccelerated over the past years, driven by, I feel more market thrust than true public desire or interest. Stir in ethnic preferences, geographical influences, styles from traditional to contemporary wethus see a wide range of color possabilities for a wide range of reasons.(But not necessarily available in current market goods)
I, perhaps again because of my age, and having studied way back when, feel that the colors used today are shocking and many combinations are atrocious, especially when used in large areas, and don’t feel that I could live with some of them for any length of time. I like to use soothing colors for the main colors and coordinate from room to room for a spacious feeling environment. Add color in specific areas, patterns and points of interest, which can be easily changed when desired. The balance of colors is important.
It’s my opinion that the youth of today will not know good taste because they see no pattern and color coordination, especially with todays clothing styles. I wish colors were workable from clothing line to clothing line. Used to be that way but hasn’t been for years.
Thanks for letting me let off steam. I have felt color frustration for years.
I am an interior designer whose passion it is to bring life color an some fun inot senior living enviroments. Talk about a challenge it seesm this industry thinks once you turn 70 you lose all taste and sense of style and perfer mauve and wing back chairs. Thanks for the discussion it gives me hope. If you get a chance check out my site I would love some feedback.
I definitely think that there are many color misconceptions. To place color sterotypes on one age group or another is to say that everyone in that group is the same. Not so. Everyone realizes that our population is aging, however, the over 55 set are not mentally or emoitionally aging like previous generations. Knowing that they are not interested in being conservative but would rather explore more modern colors and styles.