the colour blue

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Helen

Campbell, formerly DG Interpretation of

the European Commission.

And today I'm going to talk to you about

the color blue.

Now, if you visit me in my home in

Brussels, you will certainly notice that

I'm very fond of the color blue.

In fact, a friend of mine referred to my

apartment as luchat blue.

The walls are in a subtle shade of blue

gray.

The furnishings all have blue in them.

The paintings on my wall are bound to

feature blue somewhere. It is most

assuredly my favorite color.

But it seems that I'm not the only

person who favors blue.

In quite a lot of surveys on people's

preferences for colors,

blue comes out on top.

If people want to change the color of

their eyes, so buy contact lenses of a

different color, 60% of them will opt to

take blue contact lenses.

Research shows as well interestingly

that blue does have a real effect on us

and a a unique and special effect. It

has that effect as well on artists.

Ra Dufi a French for painter always said

that blue was the only real true color.

Blue was the color with strength of

character.

Blue always stays blue as well in all

tones. Whether you're talking about uh

sky blue, mid blue, royal blue, or dark

blue, it's always blue.

Compare that with the color red. Very

dark red turns brown. Pal red turns

pink.

Yellow blackens with age and fades in

the light. But blue, blue always is

blue.

Now scientists have looked further at

the implications of color and

particularly the color blue. What is

special about it?

Its optical purity perhaps or its

complexity

and some researchers have been studying

the history of blue pigments in human

culture.

the role that they have played, their

significance,

how they have affected our notions of

virtue, of divinity, of authority,

and even of social class. Believe it or

not,

blue pigment has always played a big

role in human development, says a

leading expert, a professor at the

University of Zurich, who informs us

that for some cultures, blue has been

treated like gold.

Well, for most researchers and

especially psychologists, the color blue

um evokes calm. It is a calming color

altogether

compared with red which is a color of

action and aggression.

If you look at a computer screen which

is blue, you are likely to feel calmer

than looking at any other color. And by

the way, if you're preparing a

PowerPoint presentation, I advise you to

make sure you have a blue background.

People will look more carefully at your

presentation.

They will also remember better what you

present and therefore that is altogether

to be advised.

But just a minute, we talk also about

having the blues. So blue is clearly

associated also with sadness.

Where did that come from? Well, the

answer is nobody actually knows.

Some scientists have said that the color

of the human body when it is reduced has

a reduced flow of oxygen turns a bluish

shade. That might be a reason for this.

Blue apparently suppresses the appetite

as well.

Uh we avoid certain foods for example

meat if it has a bluish tinge to it

because it won't be fresh. The same

applies to artich jokes.

If they have a slightly blue hue to

them, they are not fresh and so you

should avoid them.

One expert also pointed out that if you

want to lose weight, you're on a diet,

you should put a blue light bulb in your

refrigerator because the food will look

very unappetizing and therefore you

won't eat so much of it. That is just a

little piece of advice.

What about the actual creation of the

color itself, the pigment? How is it

created? Well, there are lots of

chemical ways of course of producing

different hues of blue. And there are

some wonderful examples, much better

examples of blue in nature, in its

natural form.

For example, there is the blue produced

by some species of crabs and also

beetles

and some birds show wonderful plumage of

blue. The blue jay, for instance, and

the kingisher are two very obvious

examples.

So, blue is a color that attracts us.

It isn't just a pretty color, though. As

we can see, blue has a lot of different

associations,

psychological associations,

and the use of the color blue or its

appearance in nature seems to bear that

out as well. So, it may be that my

attachment to the color blue is my wish

perhaps to go back into nature. At any

rate, if you do come to visit me, you

are almost certainly going to note that

there is in every corner of my apartment

something blue. Thank you.

Okay.