Hole in Your Eyeball
That black circle in your eye is not a dot.
It’s a hole in your eyeball.
Your pupils are black like a keyhole is black when the room beyond has no light. When you “look into someone’s eyes,” you are literally looking … into their eyes. Into a hole.
(Guess what causes redeye in a photo. Take your time. Hint: it’s a little gross.)
That hole contracts super fast with bright light or color — in less than a second.
It dilates open in dimmer light or color, to see better. But the dilating takes much longer: 30 seconds to several minutes.
So, now you know …
… why we can walk out in the sun and not go blind,
… why it takes time to see in a dark room,
… and why we must consider the color and brightness of everything in an exhibition of objects.
If you want visitors to see details on a dark object, but you put it on a light background in a light room, their pupils will contract fast — and then not dilate fast enough to ever see those details.
Here’s the thing:
Color and lighting isn’t about decorating. It’s about making sure visitors can see what you see. Literally.
Warmly,
Jonathan
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MtM Word of the Day:
Final production art (FPA). Digital files used by a production company to actually print the visuals for an exhibition. Some call this "final digital art," or "FDA." (And in pre-digital times, this was called "mechanicals" or "camera-ready art.")
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Going to the sold-out MAAM Building Museums this week?
I’m in St. Louis and I’ll be part of the first keynote this morning. Come watch! And if you’re here, drop me a line, I’d love to meet up IRL.
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Final Deadline!
Have you worked on a great exhibition or experience design project recently? The SEGD Global Design Awards final deadline is next week, on March 15. “Since 1987, the SEGD Global Design Awards have set the standard of excellence for experiential design, honoring work that connects people to place.” (And I’m not just saying that because I’m the Jury Chair this year.)
(Yeah, there are of a lot of footers in MtM emails these days. Don’t worry, it won’t last forever.)
