What do colors tell us in politics? Color scientist Axel Buether explains what the CDU’s black is all about and whether red-green-yellow are a good match.
You are one of the few recognized color scientists. Now asked in general – what meaning do colors have for people?
Axel Buether: Colors are primarily there to guide our behavior, we hang on to them like invisible strings and behave exactly as the messages of the colors tell us.
Colors are signals for us humans, to which we react without being able to consciously influence them?
Buether: Exactly. We are only aware of one percent of the message that colors communicate to us. We don’t even notice the absolute majority and the effect on our behavior. This starts when we go shopping, when we choose our clothes, when we judge people and, of course, when we judge politicians’ messages on election posters.
How do we react – to the color red, for example?
Buether: This is where I differ from all other color scientists, because I also evaluate it scientifically – for example, by including the biological reasons for color vision. Sixty percent of our brain is occupied with processing color information, so there must be something to the colors. A lot is stored in the brain under the characteristic red, namely everything that we experience in connection with red.
And that would be?
Buether: There is no simple definition, for example that red always means love. We often have contradictory associations. With red, for example: attractiveness. Red makes people more attractive, they look more emotional, more passionate. But it can also be a pubic red. Then, of course, it has a different meaning. Red also serves as the color of power. Especially in the animal kingdom, it is very noticeable that leadership is signaled via red. We also find this in people, something like the red of cardinals or emperors, kings and princes. And today we walk the red carpet and so on. Finally, you can identify the dangerous: Fight, anger, danger, deterrence. If someone turns angry red, that is the last warning before they explode.
Read the full interview in the feature section of the Augsburger Allgemeine
