Physiological Color Cont. 4

Orange- Orange is between the two primary colors yellow and red on the color wheel; two loud, highly chromatic colors. Orange is interesting, bright, and evokes a response similar to its attention getting and cautionary cousins red and yellow. In the game evaluated, orange shows up only a handful of times, and when it does it is for the purpose of furthering the plot or action. In the image above, orange is used in the game for a type of plant behind the fashioning of a deadly virus (Relevancy: stopping the virus is the purpose of the game). The color, set against its low chroma surroundings, pops out visually, and draws the player's attention. The limited occurrence of this color in the game assures that when it is seen, it is visually striking and stimulating. When the color is shown at critical storyline points in the game, the game gets progressively harder; eventually the sight of orange or the orange plant itself, prepares the player for changes in the games difficulty. The color's close proximity to red and yellow allows the color to be used as a physiological device to build tension for the gamer. Of further note, detrimental events, such as explosions in the game are orange as well.

Orange also appears upon the video game's cover (shown above), blended in with the colors red and yellow. The image reads well due to the shift from red to orange to yellow, and embodies all three physiological reactions for marketing. The red stops you in the store and raises your heartbeat, the yellow prepares the consumer/game player for action, and the orange subtly builds up tension. If you mentally edit out the text on the cover, you'll note that half of the image is strictly color, the other half contains content. Even the text itself contains color, primarily red and orange. Bright physiologically stimulating colors can speak louder than words.