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Color is life; for a world without color appears to us as dead… Colors are the children of light, and light is their mother

Johannes Itten 

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Longitudinal section through the center of the optic nerve. The human eye design is far from an idealistic creation that would be modelled by a higher being. Its current state is rather a pragmatic chain of small adjustments over all the previous designs and their flaws. A complex outcome of gradual improvements throughout the human evolution.

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By copying and advancing the principles left from the previous generation of masters, European artists learned the ideas of contour, texture, light and shade.

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In 1710, Jacob Christoph Le Blon [painter from Frankfurt 1667 – 1741 ] successfully applied a three-color printing method. His vast research and practical executions were improved upon in modern color printing, media, interior and industrial design.

The number of people educated in colors and their possible implications grew at a rapid pace. This attracted many researchers to the field and saw the beginning of scientific developments that later visually shaped our future.

Parallel advancements in chemistry gradually allowed us to control the hue of colors by printing the paint in three layers, thus making it more efficient.

The three layer printing was very easy to recreate and so its potential remained unnoticed for a very short time. The idea was that Cyan, Magenta and Yellow [CMY] were used as the primary pigments, which were pressed over a Black key plate [K] to control the shade of what was printed.

The whole sequence [CMYK] opened a wide window of opportunities for the press mass-production to begin. This method remained dominant throughout the flood of printed content.

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In 1704, the essence of this incredible research was published in Newton’s book “Opticks”. A piece of work defining the key principles in our model of light. Newton later became the inspiration for a series of further scientific advancements in the field of colors that led to numerous breakthroughs in physics, chemistry, engineering and physiology.

With the coming of the digital era and the ambition of people to move forward, many new answers were found in Newton’s theories. Most notable would be the creation of the additive color system. An achievement holding its impact even to this day.

It became the foundation of our colored screens, which by themselves became a personal and industry standard. With the use of Red, Green and Blue [RGB] rays, a screen pixel was formed.

This allowed us to gain full control over the visualization of colors and lay the foundations for our digital lifestyle.

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How digital colors came to be? A brief look into the history of CMYK and RGB color models.

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Depending on the chemical structure of all surfaces (all the unique materials said surfaces can be made of), light is reflected in its own unique way. Our eyes, on the other hand, are constantly picking up any changes in the reflected light, coming from the objects we focus our attention on.

Our brain can then processes the information collected by the eyes and it all culminates with a coherent image of our surroundings. Or what we call, to see.

The design of the human eye is far from what its idealistic reputation suggests, as if created from a higher being. It is a rather pragmatic chain of small adjustments to all its previous versions. A complex outcome of gradual improvements spread throughout the many years of human evolution.

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