How colour effects memory

I plan to design my 'present' mask in multiple bright colours, colours specifically relating to the city of culture logo. I also plan to add the colour blue, to relate to the river Foyle below the Peace Bridge. 

I have researched how colour affects ones memory and I concluded that it is quite important. In the paper 'The Influence of Colour on Memory Performance: A Review' is states that

"There appears to be a basis for associating colour and its significant effect on memory abilities. In other words, colour has the potential to increase chances of environmental stimuli to be encoded, stored, and retrieved successfully."

UK City of Culture is basically a brand, a brand that many people in Derry now recognize. Colour recognition is very important to brand identity.

"the top fast-food restaurants in the world to be associated and branded with vivid colour. For example, McDonalds used yellow and red colour in the logo, while Kentucky Fried Chicken is remembered with red and white colour combinations. Colour therefore played a very important role in influencing consumers psychologically, which is characterized by emotional attachment, attention, memory, and attitude that later increase the likelihood of buying behaviour."

In conclusion colour has a great affect on memory and by incorporating the colour of the City of Culture Logo the viewer will associate my 'present' mask with culture and peace, and all the positive memories those bring.

References:

-Adawiah Dzulkifli M, Faiz Mustafar M 2013 'The Influence of Colour on Memory Performance: A Review' 

- Elvidge S 2012 'The Effect of Colour on Memory'

Final design line drawing- 'Future'

Future sketches

Final design line drawing- 'Past'

Nearing final design for 'Past' mask

'Past' mask sketches

 Past, present and future

I began to focus my idea more and came up with the 'Past, Present,Future' concept. It would be a series of 3 masks each representing a time period in Derry. The 'Past' mask would represent the troubles and it's violent nature. The 'Present' mask would represent Derry's strong cultural heritage, peace and the sense of celebration. The 'Future' mask would have a more abstract concept. Obviously you can't have memories of the future but i would like the mask to make the viewer reflect on where Derry is going next, is it positive or negative? I will also incorporate aspects of the digital age into that design.


This is a series of sketches relating to the 'Past' mask concept.

Early 3D models of masks

Memory masks- Initial sketches

My next idea was to produce a series of 'memory masks', masks that integrated the cultural landmarks of Derry into their design. These masks would hopefully make the viewer reflect on Derry's cultural heritage and the year of culture.

Top:Peace Bridge  Bottom: Free Derry Wall

Free Derry Wall

Atlantic Driftwood

Initial sketches (plus 3D models)

 Initial idea 

My initial idea was to produce a series of small sculptures based off of landmarks around the Derry area. I would use the cubism theme from my mood boards to produce abstract re-interpretations of the landmarks. Colour would be a big factor in these. I planned to colour each faceted face a different colour. I had read a few articles on how colour and memory are directly linked and how one assists the others.

Peace bridge

Free Derry Wall

 Early 3D models:

 I constructed the basic shape of the Free Derry Wall then began to extrude different shaped polygons to achieve the cubism effect.

I experimented with colour and it seemed that the model with the multiple colours worked most effectively and brought out the shape more.
I decided not to pursue the landmark idea as i thought it was too broad, so I thought about how i could focus my idea.

Mood boards