Re: thoughts on color

["Amy G. Peacock" <apeacock -at- WOLFENET -dot- COM>]

On Tue, 29 Dec 1998, Gil Yaker wrote:

> What do you think about the use of color in informational documents?
>
>  It seems that these days many large offices have a color laser
> printer or high-quality inkjet printer.

Ah...wish I had one! :)


So people feel compelled sometimes to throw
> color into their documents with seemingly little discretion. Maybe I'm just
> hyper-sensitive, but most of the time these documents are quite irksome.
>

Color, like alot of other things, can be overdone. Too much of it and
it loses the 'presence' that it should have.

<snip>
>
 Other people, who read the same color documents, express that they like the
> color. I attribute this to the attention-grabbing value of high-quality
> color. So how important is that? Just because someone is drawn to a color
> document, even if the information is conveyed just as effectively as black
> and white, should we use color when it's not necessary?

I think that some are just more interested in color. I find color very
attractive - it often pulls me in for a closer look.

I do use it sparingly in my docs. I have several kinds of boxes with
little icon-sized graphics in them: they are for notes, tips and
warnings. That's the only place I've felt the need to give the user an
additional visual cue. Black and white, with shading, seems to work
most of the time. Color IS information - just a little different than
black and white.


Amy Peacock
techwriter & jewelrymaker
Snohomish, Washington
apeacock -at- wolfenet -dot- com

"How do I set my laser printer to stun?"
-----------------------------------------
   35 days until Imbolc


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