Visual Merchandising Display - Fairchild Books

The display person should be especially concerned
with the mixing of colored light on solid, pigmented surfaces.
This is usually accomplished with colored filters
and gels. A red filter placed over a white light on a white
or light neutral surface will turn that surface red. The red
filter absorbs all the blue and green light waves present in
the white light that is going through the red filter; only the
red wavelengths will pass through to the painted surface. A
blue filter will absorb the red and green wavelengths, producing
a blue light on the white painted area.
Tables 4.1 and 4.2 show the effects of different colors of
light on various pigment colors. There are, however, many
colored glass filters and plastic gelatins on the market, as well
as shades and tints of these colors, that subtly can add to the
intensity of a color or gently neutralize some of its intensity.
There are all sorts of pinks and blush tones available to
warm up skin tones or suggest a sunset. There are ambers
that go down to pale straw and strained sunlight. A “daylite”
filter is a clear, light blue that will fill in an area with the suggestion
of a spring day or will chill shredded Styrofoam with
icy blue shadows. The green gels go from the pastel yellowgreens
to the deep, atmospheric blue-greens, or cyans.
In most cases, lighter tints are used on displays
to enrich the color presentation without appreciably
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Primary Colored Lights
Figure 4.10 Mixing colored light.
P a r t 1 : G e t t i n G S ta r t e d — V i S u a l M e r c h a n d i S i n G a n d d i S P l ay B a S i c S
changing the actual color. Strong, deep colors are used to
create atmosphere—the dramatic side or back lighting; for
example, the mood lighting of a window or ledge display.
Deeper-colored lights are mainly reserved for modeling
and shaping the merchandise by adding color to the
shadows and folds as well as by reflecting color from one
surface to another.
Table 4.1 this chart shows the effects of colored lights on primary and secondary colored
pigments. For example, a green colored light on a red fabric or on a red painted
surface will turn the red into a muddy brown, whereas a red light on a green
surface will make the green appear dark gray.
Primary Colored Pigments Secondary Colored Pigments
Red Blue Yellow Green Orange Violet
Red Brilliant red Brown-purple Almost white Dark gray Pale orange Rich wine
Blue Violet Bright blue Green Turquoise Gray-brown Blue-violet
GReen Brown Turquoise Yellow-green Bright green Old gold Dark gray-green
Secondary Colored Lights
AmBeR Orange-red Dark gray Pale yellow Gray-green Bright orange Brown
CYAn Gray-brown Blue-green Light green Blue-green Brown Deep cold blue
mAGentA Lake or cerise Ultramarine Orange Blue-violet Bright red Red-violet