Code Black

Let’s talk about the colour BLACK.


According to Michel Pastoureau in his book Noir – Histoire d’une couleur, black was one of the first colours discovered to be used in art. The Lascaux Cave in France features paleolithic drawings of animals from 18,000 years ago. Using charcoal, black pigments made from burning bones and ground manganese oxide.


Black is the absence of colour. Like gray and white, it is not by definition a colour, but a hue or shade.


Mysterious and typically associated with the unknown or the negative, it also represents strength, power, and authority. It is also a formal, elegant, and prestigious colour that can evoke the strongest emotions and too much can be overwhelming to the viewer or the brand.


Black is also associated with grief, mourning, death, sadness and fear. Simultaneously, it is serious yet professional and conventional. Slick, sexy, sophisticated and confident, it can affect the mind and body dependent on the observer. Bold and powerful, it can be used to deliver messages of grandeur, or vast emptiness. The colour black may represent both the positive and the negative. As the opposite of white, movies, books, print media, and television typically depict the good guy in white and the bad guy in black. In more recent times, the good guy is shown in black to create mystery around the character’s identity.


Additional words that represent different shades, tints, and values of the color black: ebony, jet, ink, lampblack, coal, soot, charcoal, raven, midnight, obsidian, onyx, sable.


When it comes to black in design and branding, black is absolutely powerful, bold, cutting edge and luxurious. It stands out among lighter backgrounds, so really “pops” for the viewer. It is also an easy transition when using various mediums, which adds efficiency.


Amongst the most famous brands that use black as their main branding colour is Apple, Nike, Sony and Chanel.

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