The Language of Colour: An introduction

The Language of Colour provides a fresh and innovative approach to the study of colour from the co-author of the best-selling textbook, Reading Images. Moving on from the meanings of single colours, Theo van Leeuwen develops the theory that many different features shape the way we attach meaning to the colours we see in front of us, and the idea that colour schemes are more important than individual colours. Chapter topics include: a brief history of the meanings of colour the relationship between language and colour names within a cultural context corporate uses of colour the meaning of colour in everyday life. Spanning a wide range of examples from graphic design to the visual arts, this title presents a cutting-edge and engaging overview of the use of colour in a wide variety of situations and cultural and historical contexts. Incorporating both contemporary and traditional theory and supplemented by questions and ideas for projects at the end of every chapter, The Language of Colour is the ideal textbook for students of multimodality and language and communication within applied linguistics, communication studies, art and design and cultural studies. Theo van Leeuwen is Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is author of An Introduction to Social Semiotics (2005), Reading Images (second edition, 2006) with Gunther Kress, and The Language of New Media Design (2008) with Radan Martinec, all published by Routledge. Linguistics/Communication Studies/Media Studies/Art and Communication

Table of Contents:
Selected Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Colour Meanings 3. Colour Systems 4. Colour Names 5. A Parametric Theory of Colour 6. Colour in Art and Architecture 7. Colour in Contemporary Life

About the Author :
Theo van Leeuwen is Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is author of An Introduction to Social Semiotics (2005), Reading Images (second edition, 2006) with Gunther Kress, and The Language of New Media Design (2008) with Radan Martinec, all published by Routledge.

Review :
"Theo van Leeuwen is one of the master teachers of visual communication, and his new book, The Language of Colour, goes beyond the usual sources in history and psychology to propose a social semiotics of color, providing concrete examples and exercises to dazzle the eye and the mind." Kevin G. Barnhurst, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA "Now more than ever colour is playing a central role in everyday communication, and, with this book, at long last, we have a systematic method for analyzing how people use colour for cultural expression and social communication. The framework presented here takes us beyond traditional approaches that simplistically map colour to meaning to a perspective that helps us to understand the socially situated and material aspects of colour as a semiotic mode. This book will be of great interest to students in a variety of disciplines from design to discourse analysis as well as anyone else interested in the ways we make meaning in our increasingly ‘technicolour’ world." Rodney Jones, City University of Hong Kong