color : word association

cymbolism.com has an interesting project going on. Through the voting process of visitors to their site, they are documenting color associations that we may have with certain words.  It is an interesting concept, as the connection between language and visual language (i.e. shape color etc) is one that generations of visual artists and creators have been investigating. 

in their own words...

"

Color is the ultimate tool a designer has at his or her disposal to communicate feeling and mood.  Cymbolism is a new website that attempts to quantify the association between colors and words, making it simple for designers to choose the best colors for the desired emotional effect.

"

some connections are more self explanatory than others.  For instance, the word "devil" not surprisingly is predominantly associated with the color red. proving that the judeo-christian influence over millennia of fire and brimstone have done their magic.

Others, like the word, "contemporary" are a bit more spread out, and seem to lack any all-encompassing color associations.

As designers that are heavily directed by the purpose of design - the transference of information, these kind of efforts to codify and document colors with information is an interesting process.