Figure 1
MA Applied Imagination Project 4
This project began with a simple observation: colour is gradually disappearing from the environments we live in. Urban spaces, offices, and everyday settings are increasingly dominated by neutral, desaturated tones. This shift made me more aware of something I had already understood but had not fully examined; colour is deeply socially and culturally coded, and we constantly use it to communicate, both consciously and unconsciously.
Figure 2
Over time, I began to observe just how common these codes are and how much they shape the way we interpret ourselves and others. Colour becomes a kind of language. It signals identity, values, and belonging, often before any verbal interaction takes place. At the same time, these codes can also become limiting. They can influence how we present ourselves, how we are perceived, and how freely we are able to express who we are. In this sense, colour does not only enable expression, but can also constrain it.
This led me to question what happens when colour is reduced or removed. If colour is one of the ways we externalise parts of ourselves, then its absence raises questions about what becomes less visible, or more difficult to communicate. I became particularly interested in how this connects to internal psychological structures, and how aspects of the self might be suppressed, redirected, or expressed differently under these conditions. This condition can also be understood through the lens of chromophobia, as defined by David Batchelor, where colour is historically marginalised and associated with excess, while neutrality is positioned as controlled and rational (Batchelor, 2000).
Figure 3
The theoretical grounding of the project draws on Carl Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious and archetypes (Jung, 1968). Jung’s framework suggests that we are not purely individual in how we perceive and express ourselves, but are shaped by shared patterns such as the Persona, the Shadow, the Anima/Animus, and the Self. These structures influence what we show, what we hide, and how we relate to others.
In this project, colour serves as a medium through which these archetypal dimensions can be expressed. When colour is present, it can act as a channel for emotion, contradiction, and complexity. When it is reduced, there is a tendency to privilege more controlled and socially acceptable expressions of identity. This raises the question of how the less visible aspects of the self continue to exist and manifest, even when they are not directly expressed. At the same time, we are living in a moment of constant, instantaneous communication. We are more connected than ever, yet this does not necessarily result in deeper understanding. Instead, communication often becomes faster and more surface-level. When expressive tools such as colour are limited, and when internal complexity is less visibly articulated, it becomes easier to misinterpret others and harder to form nuanced connections. This has direct implications for how belonging is experienced.
Another important layer of the project is the recognition that many of these influences are not immediately visible. Cultural codes, environmental conditions, and psychological structures all operate as systems that shape our perception and behaviour without always being consciously acknowledged. These “invisible agents” carry a certain weight, affecting how we feel, think, and interact in everyday life.
Figure 4
The aim of this project is therefore not to remove these systems, but to make them more visible. By investigating how colour functions within both cultural and psychological frameworks, and by exploring what happens in its absence, I aim to create a greater awareness of how much our experiences are shaped by factors we do not always recognise. Ultimately, the project seeks to open up a space for more conscious self-expression and for more empathetic and less reductive ways of understanding others.
Furthermore, it hopes to reintroduce colour into everyday life, both within urban environments and in the ways we choose to present ourselves. Increasing the presence of colour in public spaces and in personal expression has the potential to support a more open and expressive social atmosphere. Ideally, this would contribute to a community in which both the visible colours around us and the more internal, psychological “colours” of individuals are able to emerge more freely, and are met with greater empathy, understanding, and acceptance.
Reference List
Batchelor, D. (2000) Chromophobia. London: Reaktion Books. Available at: https://archive.org/details/chromophobia00batc_0 (Accessed: 20 April 2026).
Jung, C.G. (1968) The archetypes and the collective unconscious. 2nd edn. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Available at: https://ia801406.us.archive.org/9/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.185498/2015.185498.The-Archetypes-And-Collective-Unconscious_text.pdf (Accessed: 20 April 2026).
List of Figures
Figure 1. Vintage Everyday (2014) Wonderful color photographs of street life. Available at: https://www.vintag.es/2014/12/wonderful-color-photographs-of-street.html (Accessed: 20 April 2026).
Figure 2. Sleeman, C. (2021) A little greyer and a bit more rectangular? Available at: https://pec.ac.uk/blog_entries/a-little-greyer/ (Accessed: 20 April 2026).
Figure 3. Scienceverse (2025) The real reason our world is fading to gray. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06EbKlkB-64 (Accessed: 20 April 2026).
Figure 4. McCandless, D., Doughty-White, P. and Wdowski, A. (2010) Colours in cultures. Available at: https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/colours-in-cultures/ (Accessed: 20 April 2026).
Additional Reading
Jain, S. and Nayak, A.V. (2023) ‘Impact of color on human behavior: Case – interior space’, International Journal of Emerging Research in Engineering, Science, and Management, 2(1), pp. 33–37. https://doi.org/10.58482/ijeresm.v2i1.6
Jungian Center for the Spiritual Sciences (n.d.) Jung on family constellations and the alchemy of colors. Available at: https://jungiancenter.org/jung-on-family-constellations-and-the-alchemy-of-colors/ (Accessed: 20 April 2026).
Lin, C., Mottaghi, S. and Shams, L. (2023) The effects of color and saturation on the enjoyment of real-life images. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10867063/pdf/13423_2023_Article_2357.pdf (Accessed: 20 April 2026).
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