The Affective Feelings of Colored Fonts

Transcription

1 The Affective Feelings of Colored Fonts Shao-Yang Pai, Wen-Yuan Lee Department of Industrial Design, Tatung University, Taiwan Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of colors and fonts upon affective feelings. Two experiments were carried out. Experiment 1 used the fonts in black color, which was printed on a white paper. The affective feelings of fonts were revealed by displaying the classification of fonts on an affective space, which was constructed by two underlying affective factors. Experiment 2 used color-font combinations to see how colors influenced the affective feelings of fonts. The results showed that warm-cool was determined by colors only. The feelings of friendly-serious and heavy-light were mainly affected by colors. The complex-simple, beautiful-ugly and like-dislike feelings were found to be affected by fonts. The soft-hard, active-passive, luxury-plain and causal-regular feelings were influenced by both colors and fonts. Keywords: Font, Typeface, Color, Design, Affective Feeling 1. Introduction Fonts are extensively used in various design works such as products, graphics and packages that we can see in our daily life. The fonts were used for delivering the information; meanwhile, the appearance of typeface determines how a design work looks like, especially for graphic designs or packages. However, in nowadays, there are more than 100 types of fonts in a PC, and thousands of fonts on the internet that we can download free. Font selection is no longer a problem for design. But how to choose a suitable typeface for design becomes critical. Considering the affective feeling of design, this study conducted two experiments to see how typefaces and colors influence affective feelings. 2. Experimental Plan Two experiments were carried out. The outline of two experiments is given in Table 1. Experiment 1 investigated the influence of font shapes upon affective feelings. On the ground of the results from Experiment 1, six representative fonts were furthermore used to explore the influence of color-font combinations upon affective feeling. Thirty-one and thirty-two observers with normal color vision took part in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Table 1: Outline of two experiments in this study. Experiment Judgements made by each observer Display Media 1. Font shapes 47 fonts 8 scales = 376 judgements Prints on A4 2. Font-color combinations 6 fonts 12 colors 10 scales = 720 judgements Viewing cabinet Extremely Quite Slightly Neutral Slightly Quite Extremely Figure 1: A seven-step categorical judgement for use in the experiments Affective scale Eight affective scales were used in Experiment 1, including friendly-serious, complex-simple, soft-hard, beautiful-ugly, luxury-plain, active-passive, casual-regular and like-dislike. For Experiment 2, warm-cool and heavy-light were involved, because these two affective scales were seen as the essential scale for color affective feelings. A 7-step categorical judgment method was used for data collection in the two experiments, as shown in Figure Font selection In Experiment 1, the 47 fonts were selected to cover four basic classifications of font (serif, sans serif, script, and other), as given in Table 2. Note that these fonts were usually free installed in the Window Vista. On the ground of the results obtained from Experiment 1 (see section 3. Results), six

2 representative fonts were used in Experiment 2. They were Arial (Ar), Century Gothic (Ce), Comic Sans MS (Co), Modern No. 20 (Mo), Rockwell (Ro) and Viner Hand ITC (Vi). Note that the short name for each font is shown in parentheses. The size of selected font used in the experiment was 20pt. Table 2: The 47 Fonts used in Experiment 1. Table 3: The twelve colors used in Experiment 2. L* a* b* C* ab h ab Black(Bk) Grey(Gy) Red(R) Green(G) Yellow(Y) Blue(Bl) Brown(Br) Orange(O) Pink(Pk) Purple(P) Cyan(Cy) Olive(Ol) white paper (a) (b) Figure 2: The 12 used colors in CIELAB (a) a*-b* diagram and (b) L*-C* diagram Color selection In Experiment 2, the 12 colors were selected to cover Berlin and Kay s basic color terms (black, grey, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, pink, orange, and purple) together with cyan and olive color to give a better coverage in the color space. (Note that the white color is the paper color.) Each color was selected within the color range of the basic colors according to Lin et al s study. These colors were printed on the coated paper. They were measured by a GretagMacbeth ColorEye XTH

3 spectrophotometer. The CIELAB values were calculated under CIE D65 and 1964 standard colorimetric observers, as shown in Table 3 and Figure Experiment process Each observer was presented with the black and colored fonts in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. These fonts were against white paper and illuminated by a D65 simulator with a luminance level of 218cd/m 2. The viewing distance was about 45cm from each observer s eyes to the fonts with a 0/45 illumination/viewing geometry. In the experiment, the fonts were judged using a 7-step scale (see Figure 1) in relation to the affective scales by each observer. Chinese language was used during the experiment. The sentence of The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog was used, because this sentence includes all the 26 letters. The drawback of this sentence is short of numbers and marks. Hence, this sentence, number and marks were combined together. Additionally, the sentence in capital was also used in the experiment. Figure 3 shows the refined sentence, the samples could be close to the reality. Figure 3: The experimental sample for Experiments 1 and Observer accuracy To see how well the individual observer agrees with mean results, RMS (Root Mean Square) was used to examine the observer accuracy. The RMS equation is given below: 2 ( X i Yi ) RMS n where X i and Y i are the observer s judgements and mean results for each sample i, respectively; n is the number of sample. For RMS of 0, it represents the individual observer s judgements agree perfectly with the mean results. The observer accuracy of Experiments 1 and 2 were illustrated in Figure 4. (a) (b) Figure 4: Observer accuracy of (a) Experiment 1 and (b) Experiment 2.

4 (a) (b) Figure 5: Observer accuracy plotted against affective value for (a) Experiment 1 and (b) Experiment 2. It was found that the observer accuracy ranges from 0.5 to 1.5 RMS. Six and three observers were found to exceed 1.5 RMS in Experiment 1 and 2, respectively. It pointed out these observers judgements can not agree well with the mean results. Hence, these observers were excluded in the following analysis. To see the relationship between the mean results and observer accuracy, each mean value was plotted against its RMS value, as shown in Figure 5. It can be seen that a normal distribution appears in Figure 5 (a) and (b), where mean results closer to Category 4 have higher RMS values. Those closer to Category 1 and 7 have smaller RMS values. This indicates that the better agreements for the mean results are close to the two ends. This implies that the mean results obtained from Experiments 1 and 2 can reveal the tendency toward affective feelings. 4. Results To see the relationship between fonts and affective feelings, the principle component analysis was used. It was found that the factor loading for each factor were very close on the soft-hard and casual-regular scales, indicating these two scales lost the reliability of the indicator. Hence, these two scales were excluded and the principle component analysis was used again. The results showed that two factors are identified, accounting for 91.8% of the total variance. The first factor, accounting for 50.3% of the total variance, is highly correlated with the scales of complex-simple, luxury-plain, casual-regular, and active-passive. The second factor, accounting for 41.5% of the total variance, consisted of friendly-serious, beautiful-ugly and like-dislike. Furthermore, the factor scores for each font were used to be the coordinate for placing the font in the affective space that was constructed by two factors. Additionally, the hierarchical cluster analysis was used to group the fonts. The results showed that the 47 fonts can be classified into four groups. Figure 6 illustrates the position of 47 fonts on the affective space and their classification according to cluster analysis. Group 1: the affective feelings for this group were dislike, ugly and Serious. The members of this group include Rockwell, Impact, Times New Roman and etc. Group 2: this group has passive, simple and plain feelings as well as like, beautiful and friendly feelings. Such fonts include Arial, Century Gothic, Gill Sans MT and etc. Group 3: the fonts in this group tend to have like, beautiful and friendly feelings. These fonts also can deliver active, complex and luxury feelings. Such fonts include Segoe Print, Comic Sans MS, Bauhaus 93 and etc. Group 4: this group tends to active, complex and luxury feelings. Such fonts include Viner Hand ITC, Brush Script MT, Luicida Handwriting and etc.

5 Figure 6: The 47 Fonts placed on the affective space and their classification. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) Figure 7: The affective feeling profiles for 10 affective scales.

6 To explore the influence of font and color upon affective feeling, the affective profile for each font was illustrated, as shown in Figure 7. The vertical and horizontal axis represents the affective value and color categories, respectively. Each line represents one font. Additionally, the color categories are arranged along the mean value of six fonts. In Figure 7, the influence of fonts can be seen whether the six lines are close or not. If the six lines are close to each other, it means the font effect on affective feeling is insignificant. If not, the font has impact on the affective feelings. Meanwhile, the influence of color can be revealed by raising tendency. In Figure 7, it can be clear seen that the warm-cool was determined by colors only. Except warm-cool, the influence of fonts and colors seems to have different level impact on the other scales. Here, the further analysis was needed. To study how colors and fonts influence the affective feelings, the 72 font-color combinations were ranked along ten affective scales, as illustrated in Figure 8. Friendly Complex Soft Beautiful Luxury Active Casual Like Warm Heavy 1 Pk Co Bl Vi Pk Co Gy Ce O Vi R Vi R Vi Cy Ce Y Co Bk Ro 2 Pk Ce P Vi Pk Vi G Ce R Vi Y Vi G Vi Gy Ce Pk Co Bk Mo 3 Pk Ar G Vi Pk Ce Cy Ce P Vi Bl Vi Y Vi G Ce Pk Ce Bk Ar 4 Y Co Br Vi Pk Ar Pk Ce Y Vi G Vi Br Vi Pk Ar O Vi Bk Co 5 Y Ce R Vi Y Co Y Ce Pk Vi O Vi P Vi Pk Co O Ce Br Ro 6 Pk Ro Y Vi Y Ce Pk Co Ol Vi P Vi Bl Vi Y Ce O Ro Bl Ro 7 Pk Vi Bk Vi Y Vi R Ce Bl Vi Br Vi Pk Vi Bl Ar R Ce Bl Mo 8 Y Ar Ol Vi Pk Ro Cy Ar G Vi Pk Vi O Vi Cy Ar O Ar R Ro 9 Cy Ce Cy Vi O Co O Ce Bk Vi Gy Vi Bk Vi Pk Ce Pk Ar Br Co 10 O Ce O Vi Ol Co Bk Ce Cy Vi Ol Vi Cy Vi R Ce Y Ro Br Ar 11 G Ce Gy Vi Cy Co Pk Ar Br Vi Bk Vi Ol Vi Cy Ro R Co Br Mo 12 Ol Ce Pk Vi Ol Ce P Ce P Ro Y Co Gy Vi Gy Ar Pk Ro R Co 13 Y Vi P Mo O Ce Cy Ro Gy Vi Cy Vi Y Co G Ar O Co Bl Ar 14 Cy Ar R Mo Pk Mo Gy Ar P Mo Y Ce Ol Co O Ce R Ar P Ro 15 O Ar Ol Mo O Vi Pk Ro R Ro R Co Pk Co P Ce Y Ce Bk Ce 16 Pk Mo G Mo Gy Co Y Ar P Ce Y Ro Cy Co Bk Ce R Vi Br Ce 17 Cy Co O Mo Y Ar Bl Ce P Co Y Ar Pk Ro Bl Ce Y Ar Bk Vi 18 O Co R Ro Cy Ce R Ar R Co Pk Co Y Ce Y Co Y Mo Bl Co 55 G Mo Ol Ro G Mo Ol Co Bk Co Gy Co Bl Ar Br Co Gy Co Y Co 56 Gy Ce Br Ar Bl Ar P Mo Y Ce Cy Ro Bk Co O Mo Cy Ro Y Ar 57 Ol Mo G Ar Gy Ce R Mo Bl Co Bl Ro Cy Ro P Mo Gy Mo Gy Ce 58 Br Vi Pk Ce G Ro G Mo Pk Mo Bl Mo Br Ce Ol Co Bl Ce Cy Ce 59 Gy Mo Bl Ce P Mo Br Co G Ro Br Mo Bl Mo G Mo Bk Co Gy Ro 60 Bk Vi Gy Co Ol Mo O Vi Bk Ro G Ro Bk Ce Y Vi Bk Vi Gy Mo 61 Bk Co Bk Mo Br Ce R Vi Ol Ro Gy Ar Gy Ro O Vi Bl Ro Gy Co 62 R Ro Gy Ro Cy Mo Cy Vi Br Ce Bk Ce Br Mo Bl Vi Gy Ce Y Vi 63 Cy Mo Cy Ar R Mo O Mo Br Ar Bl Ar G Ro Bk Vi Bk Ar Gy Vi 64 Bk Ar Br Ro Bk Ar Gy Vi Gy Ar Br Ar Br Ar G Vi Bk Ce Gy Ar 65 Bk Ce Pk Co R Ro Bl Vi G Ce Br Ce Gy Ce R Mo Bl Ar Ol Ce 66 Br Ce Bk Ro Bk Ce Br Mo Gy Co Bk Ar Ol Ro Cy Vi Bl Co Y Ce 67 Bl Ro G Ce Br Mo Ol Vi Bk Mo Gy Mo Gy Mo Br Vi Bl Vi Pk Ro 68 Br Ro Gy Ar Bl Ro G Vi Bk Ce Gy Ce Bl Ro Br Mo Bk Ro Pk Ar 69 Br Mo Bk Ce Br Ro P Vi Br Ro Br Ro Bk Ar Gy Vi Cy Vi Pk Co 70 Bl Mo G Ro Bl Mo Bk Vi Gy Ro Gy Ro Bk Ro P Vi Cy Mo Pk Mo 71 Bk Ro Bk Ar Bk Ro Br Vi Bk Ar Bk Ro Br Ro Ol Mo Bk Mo Pk Vi 72 Bk Mo Gy Ce Bk Mo Ol Mo Gy Ce Bk Mo Bk Mo Ol Vi Bl Mo Pk Ce Serious Simple Hard Ugly Plain Passive Regular Dislike Cool Light Figure 8: The Color-Font combinations are ranked along affective scales. From Figure 8, it is reasonable to make some findings as given below. 1. As said earlier, the warm-cool was determined by colors only. The orange, pink and yellow colors were warmer than blue, black and cyan colors. 2. The friendly-serious and heavy-light feelings were fount to be mainly affected by colors. For friendly-serious feeling, the pink and yellow colors were more friendly than those in black, brown and blue colors. For heavy-light, the black and brown colors were heavier than pink and grey colors.

7 3. The complex-simple, beautiful-ugly and like-dislike feelings seemed to be affected by fonts. For complex-simple, the Viner Hand ITC font was found to be more complex than the other fonts. For beautiful-ugly and like-dislike feelings, the Century Gothic and Arial fonts were more beautiful and be-liked than the Viner Hand ITC and Modern No. 20 fonts. 4. The soft-hard, active-passive, luxury-plain and causal-regular feelings were found to be affect by both colors and fonts. (1) For soft-hard feeling, The color effect seemed to be more influential than font effect. Pink and yellow colors were more soft than black, blue and brown colors. Additionally, the font of Comic Sans MS was softer than Modern No. 20. (2) For active-passive, the chromatic colors were more active than achromatic colors. Meanwhile, the Viner Hand ITC font was more active than Modern No. 20 and Rockwell fonts. (3) For luxury-plain and causal-regular, the colors having lower chroma tended to plain and regular feelings. Meanwhile, the font Viner Hand ITC was found to be luxury and causal feelings. 5. Conclusion and Discussion In this study, the affective feelings for color-font combinations were studied. The influences of colors and fonts were found to be difference from scale to scale. For example, the colors determined the warm-cool, friendly-serious and heavy-light feelings. The fonts affected the complex-simple, beautiful-ugly and like-dislike feelings. The soft-hard, active-passive, luxury-plain and causal-regular feelings were affected by both colors and fonts. However, we could know in the results of this study that the particular font may ignore its color on the particular feeling, such as the font of Viner Hand ITC on luxury-plain and active-passive feelings. This indicated that the influences of colors and fonts were not independent. To see if the effects of color and font are independent, the future studies are suggested to involve more fonts and colors. Reference Berlin, B., & Kay, P. (1969). Basic Colour Tern: Their Universality and Evolution. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Doyle, J. R., & Bottomley, P. A. (2006). Dressed for the Occasion: Font-Product Congruity in the Perception of Logotype. JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY, pp Faria, A. C., & Oliveira, J. (2006). Measuring Aesthetic Distance between Document Templates and Instances. DocEng 06, (pp ). Amsterdam. GUMP, J. E. (2001). The Readability of Typefaces and the Subsequent Mood or Emotion Created in the Reader. Journal of Education for Business, pp Kobayashi, S. (1981). The aim and method of color image scale. Color research and Application, volume 6, pp Lee, W.-Y., Luo, R. M., & Ou, L.-C. (2009). Assessing the Affective Feelings of Two- and Three-Dimensional Objects. Color Research and Application, Volume 34, pp Ou, L.-C., Luo, M. R., Woodcock, A., & Wright, A. (2004). A Study of colour emotion and colour preference part I:colour Emotion for single colours. Colour Research and Application, volume 29, pp Sato, T., Kajiwara, K., Hoshino, H., & Nakamura, T. (2000). Quantitative Evaluation and Categorising of Human Emotion Induced by Colour. Advances in colour science and Technology, volume 3, pp. 1-7.