How a lack of contrast can destroy the value of color and change the intended message.
by Dylan
I once was offered a position with the Tennessee Drug Interdiction Task Force. I didn’t accept the position, but did maintain some professional connection with leadership on the task force as a client.
The Drug Interdiction Task Force was primarily engaged in finding and destroying marijuana grow operations at that time. In Tennessee there were a number of large-scale multi-acre grow operations that were very organized, well defended, and well funded. The task force involved multiple law enforcement agencies supported by helicopters and troops from the National Guard raiding grow ops. All very exciting.
The secondary function was education, public relations, and user/addiction assistance resources. There were school events, advertisements, intervention resources, and literature. Among other campaigns, the task force distributed vehicle stickers so that soccer moms could advertise their opposition to the distribution of pot (most of which was going north to Chicago and Detroit and such places).
The sticker was simple – an easily recognized “NO SMOKING” symbol with the cigarette replaced by a green marijuana leaf in the red circle and slash. To make it more artistic, the designer they hired added some muted green and red in the background. (When I find my copy I’ll post a photo.)
The sticker became a huge success! People were calling and requesting stickers. The stickers showed up an cars all over the state and beyond. The stickers were printed in the thousands, then tens of thousands, and still people wanted more.
The task force was elated.
But a funny thing was happening. When soccer moms put them on their mini-vans, they soon scraped them off. When police arrested young guys for possession, they found the stickers on their windows. In fact, it soon became apparent that everywhere the stickers were found, marijuana, or at least an attitude in favor of marijuana, was found too.
It almost seemed that the sticker had become a tongue-in-cheek symbol of marijuana use.
But why? The reason was easy to see if you simply stepped back 10 feet from a car with the sticker on it; the slightly shaded, not very bright reds and greens of similar value (lightness or darkness of the color) blended together and all you saw was a marijuana leaf.
Because they hired a designer who did not fully understand how to work with color, or to make sure a design worked at a distance, the Tennessee Drug Interdiction Task Force spent thousands of dollars advertising for their competition.
Be sure when looking for a designer, you choose someone who has a the knowledge and experience to use color in a way that promotes your business, not your competition.
Bounty's Child 