One of the more fascinating fields of study to me personally, outside of map design and the optimization of graphics, are the impacts of color choices that people make related to psychology and environmental issues. It is another one of those “little things” that people do that can have an absolutely enormous impact on the world around us.
Tonight, I happened to stumble across a web site called Color Matters. That web site deals with a wide, WIDE variety of issues related to color usage. However, they also have a bit of content on that site related to “The Effects of Color on Ecology and Usability.” In a nutshell, lighter colors have a greater albedo (they reflect more light), while darker colors absorb more light….and since light IS energy, the more light that is absorbed by an object, the more energy it absorbs (and the warmer it gets). Pretty cool, huh?! Doesn’t it make you wonder though why many of our roofs are black, our roads are black, our cars are black, etc.? 
Unoptimized 162×40 pixel .gif logo – 1,668 bytes
Optimized 162×40 pixel .png logo – 590 bytes
Unoptimized 318×168 pixel .gif graphic – 15,074 bytes
Optimized 318×168 pixel .png graphic – 11,151 bytes
Those particular graphics (above) leave room for aesthetic improvements, and can also easily be reduced in file size by roughly 30 percent. However, that’s not as important as the message the site is trying to convey. Color matters…literally! It impacts our attitudes and perceptions, as well as our environment and our wallets. Please try and remember that fact when making your own decisions about color in the future.
