Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica

2020, Vol. XXIX, N°2, 622-627 622

DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.287

APPLICATION OF AESTHETIC PSYCHOLOGY IN THE COLOUR MATCHING

OF ART DESIGN

Shenghe Cheng

Abstract
Colour matching is an important step of art design. Good colour matching makes the audience relaxed
and happy. This paper mainly studies the application of aesthetic psychology in the colour matching of art
design for interior decoration. First, the author analysed the influencing factors of aesthetic psychology. Then,
the colour matching of interior decoration was investigated for audiences with different aesthetic psychologies.
The audiences were of different ages, genders and occupations. Finally, several suggestions were proposed for
colour matching of interior decoration based on aesthetic psychology. The results show that the colour
matching of interior decoration should unify subjective and objective feelings, use abstract and dynamic
colours, and coordinate the colour composition. The research findings greatly promote the colour matching
for the design of art works.
Key words: Art Design, Colour Matching, Aesthetic Psychology, Interior Decoration.
Received: 07-03-19 | Accepted: 25-10-19

INTRODUCTION Jing studied the colour matching of indoor home

Colour is a powerful artistic expression tool decoration art (Davis, 2007); Yan Chao pointed
out in his Indoor Colour Design that colour is the
and one of the important artistic languages for
most effective means to influence people's
emotional expression (Granger, 1955). Colour
emotions and create a space atmosphere
matching art is a main part of art design. Since
ancient times, aesthetic colour has been a (Thomas & Schlutsmeyer, 2004); Jeanne Kopacz
conducted research on colour in various aspects
common element constantly pursued by people.
such as colour psychology, colour theory and
Colour itself has no emotions, and observers
attach emotions to colour through their own experiment (Haines & Davies, 1904); Sun
Xiaohua believes that colour can improve
aesthetic consciousness, psychological
people's mental health and change their living
association and other factors (Deng, Hui, &
environment, and reasonable colour matching
Hutchinson, 2010). Different colour combinations
can bring different emotional feelings to people, can promote positive emotions (Seckler, Opwis, &
Tuch, 2015); Jiang Shubin analysed the
and make the space environment produces
application of colour emotion in commercial
different visual effects, thereby creating a
diverse atmosphere. space design (Graf & Landwehr, 2017); Zhang
Through reading relevant references at home Yongmei studied the formation and
characteristics of Chinese colour aesthetic
and abroad, it’s found that there have been
psychology (Irwin, 2011).
abundant research results on colour, colour
matching and colour aesthetic psychology. Fu In view of the above, taking the interior
decoration art as the research object, this paper
aims to study the application of aesthetic
Nanjing University, Nanjing 210000, China.
E-Mail: 45448011@qq.com
psychology in the colour matching of art design.
It first introduces the concept of aesthetic
psychology, and briefly analyses its influencing

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2020, Vol. XXIX, N°2, 622-627 DE CLÍNICA PSICOLÓGICA
 623
factors and the emotional expression of colour.
Then, a case analysis was conducted for the
colour matching of interior decoration, by taking
the aesthetic psychology of different ages,
genders and occupations as examples. Finally, it
proposed some suggestions about the colour
matching of interior decoration from the
perspective of aesthetic psychology.
RELEVANT THEORETICAL BASIS
Aesthetic psychology
The science of aesthetic psychology is the
interdisciplinary subject of psychology,
aesthetics and other related disciplines. It
studies the subjective reflection of human
beings on the beauty of objective things (Gear,
1986). Aesthetic psychology is a pleasant
psychological experience and psychological
change process, but not a single “stimulus-
response” process. It’s a collection of
perception, imagination, understanding, and
emotion which interact with each other to form
a pleasant aesthetic experience (Feldman, 1987).
Influencing factors of aesthetic psychology
The aesthetic psychology process of humans
is very complicated. Influenced by various
internal and external factors, the aesthetic
psychology of different people also varies. This
paper mainly analyses the influencing factors of
aesthetic psychology from three aspects:
gender, age and education level.
Figure 1. Differences in colour aesthetic
preferences between different genders
30 %
25
20
15
10
5
0 warm colours through human psychological
Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple Pink Black
Gender
Because of the different physiological
structures, males and females have certain
differences in aesthetic psychology and
personality traits. In terms of personality traits,
SHENGHE CHENG
females are generally gentle and biased towards
image thinking, while males are rigid and prone
to abstract thinking. Therefore, females focus
more on appearance, males on performance and
value. Figure 1 shows the results of survey on the
differences in colour aesthetic preferences
between different genders.
It can be seen from the figure that there is a
big difference in colour aesthetic between males
and females, and the largest differences are
reflected in the colours of red, pink and black.
Age
People's cognitive ability to the surrounding
things grows with age, and similarly, their
aesthetic psychology also varies. This is
especially true for colour aesthetics, e.g.,
children and teenagers like the radiant colours
such as red, orange, green, etc.; the young
people mostly like green, yellow and pink, which
represent youth, vitality, and sunshine; the older
tend to the colours of black, blue, and purple
representing modesty, courtesy, and elegance .
Education level
Education can change people's concept,
thinking and temperament. So, with different
education levels, the individual's aesthetic
ability and aesthetic psychology are also very
different. For instance, individuals with low
education level often aesthetically evaluate the
surface of things, but not deeply understand and
appreciate its connotation, while the individuals
with high education level have deeper and more
diversified aesthetic requirements, and enjoy
more abundant aesthetic psychological
experience.
Male
Female
Emotional expressions of colours
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and
purple are the seven coloured rays of white light
that are produced by the triple prisms after two
refractions. According to the seven basic colours,
a hue circle is then created, as shown in Figure 2.
There are no changes of temperatures in colour
itself, but the colour is divided into cool and
White Others
illusion. The warm colours look protruded,
bringing a feeling of close distance, and easily
catching the eye; the cool colour gives a sense of
far-distance and unnoticeableness, so that it can
make the space more spacious indoors.
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 APPLICATION OF AESTHETIC PSYCHOLOGY IN THE COLOUR MATCHING OF ART DESIGN
624

Figure 2. Hue circle Figure 3. The colour matching effect in the

interior decoration of children's room

Colour is a physical phenomenon of nature. It

has no emotions in itself, but can change
people's emotions through the visual
stimulation. When seeing the colour, the
observer will produce different psychological Unlike children, the elderly is less interested
emotions through subjective psychological in new things, and prefer a relatively calm,
association, e.g., yellow is recognized as a colour atmospheric decoration effect, so the interior
reflecting friendliness, kindness, happiness, and decoration mainly use the soft colours, and
warmness, but if used improperly, it will be too doesn’t need excessive trivial ornaments, as
dazzling. shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 shows the picture of
the colour matching design in the interior
decoration of the elderly’s room.
APPLICATION OF AESTHETIC PSYCHOLOGY IN
COLOUR MATCHING OF ART DESIGN Figure 4. The colour matching design in the
interior decoration of the elderly’s room
Colour matching of interior decoration
under different aesthetic psychology
Colour matching of interior decoration for
different ages
Colour can stimulate people's first vision.
Under different ages, the aesthetic psychology
and colour preference also vary. Therefore,
during the colour matching of interior
decoration, the colour preference at different
ages should be considered.
In the decoration of Children's rooms, the
colour matching should consider children's
characters of innocence and fantasy. Thus, the
pure and contrasting colours such as blue and
green should be used to highlight children's joy Colour matching of interior decoration for
and innocence, while apple colour and pink etc. different genders
are the girls’ favourite. In addition, in order to Females usually like to dress up the bedroom
not affect children's sleep and future aesthetic in light pink or other warm colours; the floor
appreciation, the disorganized colour matching mats are usually fresh and elegant blue, and the
should be avoided when designing. Also, the chandelier is more colourful. Figure 5 shows the
colours of bright red and purple should be colour matching effect of interior decoration for
blended with yellow and green to better females. Males prefer the bed room decorated
highlight the joyful atmosphere of the whole with light blue; the colour of the mat is mainly
hue. Figure 3 shows the picture of the colour black, white, grey or other plain stripes, and the
matching effect in the interior decoration of chandeliers mostly use the fresh, elegant and
children's room. simple colours. Figure 6 shows the colour
matching effect of interior decoration for males.

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 625 SHENGHE CHENG

Figure 5. The colour matching effect of colour is mainly gold, which is full of luxury and
interior decoration for females elegance.

Figure 7. The colour matching effect of the

living room for public servants

Figure 6. The colour matching effect of

interior decoration for males

Figure 8. The colour matching effect of the

living room for one businessman

Colour matching of interior decoration for

different professional
Public servants enjoy a sense of order and
awe. Black and white colour matching can give
people strong visual conflicts and emotional Suggestions on the colour matching of
conflicts, creating a strong visual world. Grey is interior decoration from the perspective of
the intermediate colour between black and
aesthetic psychology
white, full of the space sense. Black, white and
Subjective-objective unity
grey convey the sense of rationality, The design of interior colour matching must
professionalism and concentration to the
first consider the aesthetic needs, family style,
people. Therefore, the public servants prefer the
life rules and other factors of different
colour matching of black, white and grey. Figure
occupants, trying to make them feel relaxed and
7 shows the colour matching effect of the living comfortable and realize the spiritual enjoyment
room for public servants.
of colour aesthetics. According to the survey,
The businessmen have different aesthetic
different people have different aesthetic needs
psychology because of their own business views for colour, e.g., a newly married couple prefers
and values. Therefore, when making colour the passionate colour such as red, and the
matching of interior decoration, their personal
relatively quiet people like the fresh and cool
character and preferences should be fully
colours.
considered, displaying their aesthetic tendency
and life taste. Figure 8 shows the colour
Colour abstraction
matching effect of the living room for one
(1) Overall harmony and unity
businessman. It can be seen that the whole
In the interior design, the colour purity and

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 APPLICATION OF AESTHETIC PSYCHOLOGY IN THE COLOUR MATCHING OF ART DESIGN
brightness contrast are the key to colour
matching. Too much colour will make people feel
messy and uncomfortable, and the over-contrast
might make them feel bored. Therefore, colour
matching should pay attention to the overall
harmony, creating a more poetic and artistic
atmosphere for people.
(2) Human emotions about colour
People have different perceptions of
different colours. The dim living space gives
people a feeling of depression and drowsiness.
So, most people do not like this kind of living
environment. Green and orange can adjust and
relax the mood, and blue-green can alleviate the
fatigue caused by heavy exercise.
Colour dynamics
(1) Meeting the functional requirements of
indoor space
Because of the widespread existence of
aesthetics in People's pursuit of life, different
spatial structures also show a certain degree of
difference in colour matching. Reasonable
colour matching can make the whole space full
of agility, and change people's emotions, while
the hazy or weak colour can make the dark space
comfortable, and the high-brightness colour
matching can brighten the indoor space.
(2) Conforming to the spatial layout
In order to realize the effective colour tone
conversion between the indoor subject and the
object and the change of the indoor space
environment, it’s necessary to perform the
effectiveness analysis of the corresponding
spatial background structure before the
effective colour matching of the indoor
environment, so as to be in line with the human
aesthetic psychology.
(3) Incorporating the nature into the interior
colour design
The design of the interior space should
consider the colour harmony with the space
environment, such as animals, plants and other
related decorations. Effectively matching the
natural environment with the free artistic
conception can achieve the harmony between
the interior decoration and colour matching.
Colour composition
The people have different perception of
colour and colour preferences, and they also
have their own standards and opinions on the
colour art. Therefore, firstly the colour
preference of the occupants into considered
2020, Vol. XXIX, N°2, 622-627
626
should be taken, and the pre-mastering and pre-
matching should be carried out so as to fully
understand the occupants’ preferences, and well
coordinate the colour composition.
CONCLUSIONS
Colour matching art is an important part of
art design. This paper attempts to study the
application of aesthetic psychology in colour
matching of art design. The specific conclusions
are as follows:
The influencing factors of aesthetic
psychology were analysed from three aspects:
gender, age and education level.
Taking the aesthetic psychology of different
ages, genders and occupations as an example,
the case analysis was conducted for the colour
matching of interior decoration.
From the perspective of aesthetic
psychology, the colour matching of interior
decoration should fully consider the subjective-
objective unity, colour abstraction, colour
dynamics, and colour composition.
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