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coloraday

ARCHIVE
2010

apr days
• color &
theory widgets and apps

mar days
• red:
a portrait of a artist rothko

feb days
• talking
heads as figure/ground

jan days
• tanja's
black light dance party

ARCHIVE
2009

dec days
• tootsie roll pop wrappers colors & flavors

nov days
• stephen vitiello's four color sound

oct days
• atmospheric perspective

sept days
• a rainbow
of antioxidants
colors

aug days
• floor stain colorants

jul days
• minimal colors

jun days
• wildflowers cataloged by color

may days
• tennis court colors

apr days
• morandi's neutral colors

mar days
• grid colorists

feb days
• black as
film noir

jan days
• flood of toxic minerals used in paints

ARCHIVE
2008

dec days
• comple-mentary
colors

nov days
• kettle korn
packaging color change

oct days
• green fluorescent protein

sept days
• red palms - not green

aug days
• blue tunes

jul days
• “blue” - textile museum

jun days
• “fiesta- ware”
colorants

may days
• “blue alchemy” hive gallery

apr days
• “sennelier” selecting
watercolours for travel

talking heads as figure/ground

whether politically left or right, a standard color formula for tv newscast shows is foreground (figure): mostly dark blues and background (ground): mostly mid-blues.

sample to left: the simpsons newscast show almost follows the color code. there are exceptions: see samples below bill moyer's journal and democracy now. in these sets, warmer tones are added to the typically all cool colored backgrounds.

in 1962 the tv broadcast is still without color – no frills studio. most likely murrow's shirt is a light blue - not white - to minimize the glare of high contrast values. very little was done to set-off the foreground from the background.

sample to left: on sept 16, 1962, edward r. murrow hosts thirteen/wnet's inaugural broadcast

in the united states, the english version (London and washington d.c.) of
al jazeera can be viewed on the internet and satellite tv.

sample to left: al jazeera english news broadcast: figure: dark blue suit with light blue shirt and ground:
three values of blue-greens – fully saturated and 2 tints.

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samples on left: amy goodman's democracy now broadcast facilities. click to see rollover cool-red tvs.

the new york city democracy now studio recently (winter of 2009) moved from the chinatown firehouse to the chelsea district at 207 w. 25th St.

the new studio set has a deeper space with richer blues. in both the firehouse and chelsea studios, stacks of red tv screens, not always in view, are on the left.

sample on left: working with amy goodman is co-host juan gonzales.

in this 2007 broadcast, from the firehouse facility, the red tv screens are on view. not in view, off to the right, is the standard blue background.

the red democracy now logo is most likely the inspiration for the tones of red tv monitors (fully saturated, tint, tones and shades of red)

sample on left: bill moyers, on his pbs program bill moyer's journal. in the background colors blend from orange (warm) through neutrals (mixture of blue and orange) to blue tones (cool). in the foreground, moyers is wearing a neutral (gray-brown) toned suit. He often wears classic dark blues suits.

sadly, april 2010 will mark the end of his stellar progressive journal program.

sample on left: the daily show with jon stewart. not all cool hues, the set takes on some of jon's histrionics by using acerbic violets and hot magenta and reds.

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sample on left: gwen ifill, senior correspondent, The News Hour (PBS), is framed by a blend of sharp cool blues and warmer blue-greens.

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sample on left: larry king on the larry king live cnn. flickering lights stay mostly in the blue range with accents of warm pastel hues.

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sample on left: sara palin on fox news. the blue could not be more acrid.

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