The truth behind blue

What’s your favorite color? According to a recent New York Times article, there’s a 50 percent chance your answer is “blue.” That may be why, while only one in six Americans is blue-eyed, nearly one in two think that blue is the prettiest eye color. At Buster Creative, we’re always fascinated to learn new things about the power of color. So what is it about the world’s fascination with blue? Take a look at the surprising findings below.

• While red conveys aggressiveness and urgency, blue emotes calmness and open-endedness.
• Blue pigments have played a significant role in how we perceive virtue, authority, divinityand social class.
• In some cultures, blue objects were considered as valuable as gold.
• According to French Fauvist painter Raul Dufy, blue is the truest of colors because “it will always stay blue” even if it’s brightened or dimmed. “Blue is the only color which maintains its own character in allits tones… whereas yellow is blackened in its shades, and fades away when lightened; red when darkened becomesbrown, and diluted with white is no longer red, but another color – pink.”
• Nearly 50% of tinted contact lenses sold are blue.
• Wondering why bluejeans are so popular? “For Americans, bluejeans have a special connotation because of their association with the Old West and rugged individualism,??? says Steven Bleicher, author of Contemporary Color: Theory and Use. “Because the indigo dye fades during washing, everyone’s blue becomes uniquely different… They’re your bluejeans.???
• A recent study at the Cleveland Clinic reported that young patients are more relaxed around nurses who are wearing blue scrubs than those wearing any other color.
• A study in Japan found that subjects playing a video game exercise while sitting next to a blue partition reported feeling less tired and claustrophobic, and displayed a more regular heart beat pattern, than those who sat next to red or yellow partitions.
• Blue is an appetite suppressant. One reason for this may be that, with the exception of blueberries, there are not many naturally blue foods in nature. Our early ancestors stayed away from blue foods like rotten meat, which has a blueish tinge. “A blue glow makes food look very unappetizing,” says Steven Bleicher, author of Contemporary Color: Theory and Use. “If you’re on a diet, my advice is, take the white bulb out of the refrigerator and put in a blue one instead.”

Looking for more blue? Feast your eyes on some these blue-tiful print pieces designed by Buster Creative!

Pictured above, left to right: The Visual Pak Companies print ad, Blisters sell sheet, Animal Health fluid volume calculator wheel.