Digital BW, The Print

In a message dated 12/3/06 10:46:59 AM, stephengledhill@... writes:


> I wonder
> whether that 'grounding' in our formative years in B&W media experiences
> sets us older folks apart in some way from those who are younger for
> whom colour has been really been the norm in all of the media.  I doubt
> it - but I do wonder.
> 

In competitive architectural presentations, color was more or less mandatory 
on the West Coast of the US years earlier than it was on the East Coast. You 
could chalk this up to being less conservative, more exposed to modern media, 
and a number of other concepts, but whatever the reason, we reached a point 
where we just couldn't trust that a black and white presentation, even a lovely 
one, could grab the attention of potential clients the way that color could. 
Emotion was often thrown about as a factor, color added 'emotion' to 
presentations. Certainly architects were raised in a black and white tradition... but 
their clients may well have changed from that generation to the 
color-media-saturated generation(s) that followed; and that may have happened sooner on the 
West Coast, where younger people were in positions of power, than the East, where 
the previous generation continued to run things for longer.

But here we are many years later talking about the emotive nature of B&W. I 
find that the color versions of some of my AC/DC capable images are much more 
emotive, and grab people instantly; where as the black and white version 
appeals to a much more cerebral, contemplative audience, or even the same person 
later, after more time.


C. David Tobie
Product Technology Manager
ColorVision Business Unit
Datacolor Inc.
CDTobie@...
www.colorvision.com


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