The 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 inside their eyes. (Guess what redeye in a photo comes from.)

That hole constricts with bright light or color — in less than a second.

It dilates open in darker light or color, to see better. But dilating takes longer: 30 seconds to several minutes.

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 — and they won’t 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