Exploring how culture & technology influence Colour Trends in Mapping - Jennifer Johnston (CCA 2021
Exploring how culture and technology influence the colour trends in mapping Presenter: Jennifer Johnston Colour palettes in map design has changed over the years, reflecting the culture and society in which they were created and the technology of the time. The difficulty of procuring natural dyes during early times resulted in colour being reserved for purely decorative illustrations, with the maps themselves left colourless. As dyes became easier to acquire and more reliable, colours started creeping into the coastlines, boundaries and landmasses. The early colour palette of red, blue, green and yellow natural dyes applied in watercolour were moved aside for the synthetic colourants of modern mapping; cyan, magenta, yellow and blue ink. The bold colours used in maps from the 1960s-1970s came from an emboldened society. The colours used correlate to those trending in art and music of that time. Pen, ink and photochemical technology created bright and bold maps. Today maps are trending towards a muted colour palette with varying levels of transparencies. Could this change in colour be a result of maps being viewed and produced on screens? Has society become less emboldened? Similar trends towards muted colours schemes can be seen in other areas of art and design. Looking forward how will the decline in our natural world affect our changing palettes? Synthetic colours are dependant on the existence of plants, animals, minerals and most importantly petroleum from fossil fuels. https://cca-acc.org/conferences/2021-cca-conference
Exploring how culture and technology influence the colour trends in mapping Presenter: Jennifer Johnston Colour palettes in map design has changed over the years, reflecting the culture and society in which they were created and the technology of the time. The difficulty of procuring natural dyes during early times resulted in colour being reserved for purely decorative illustrations, with the maps themselves left colourless. As dyes became easier to acquire and more reliable, colours started creeping into the coastlines, boundaries and landmasses. The early colour palette of red, blue, green and yellow natural dyes applied in watercolour were moved aside for the synthetic colourants of modern mapping; cyan, magenta, yellow and blue ink. The bold colours used in maps from the 1960s-1970s came from an emboldened society. The colours used correlate to those trending in art and music of that time. Pen, ink and photochemical technology created bright and bold maps. Today maps are trending towards a muted colour palette with varying levels of transparencies. Could this change in colour be a result of maps being viewed and produced on screens? Has society become less emboldened? Similar trends towards muted colours schemes can be seen in other areas of art and design. Looking forward how will the decline in our natural world affect our changing palettes? Synthetic colours are dependant on the existence of plants, animals, minerals and most importantly petroleum from fossil fuels. https://cca-acc.org/conferences/2021-cca-conference