Understanding new colors in urban environments: Deciphering colors as semiotic resources

Abstract

Since the start of the new millennium, more diverse color expressions have appeared in the design of urban environments, especially in global cities. In this article, the notion of “new colors” refers to the emergence of saturated colors and new ways of using them in urban environments globally. With the impact of globalization and the disengagement of color from local materials, existing color approaches seem to be insufficient to explain the dynamic changes in color design. To understand the emerging “new colors”, this article proposes viewing environmental color as a social semiotic resource. Adapted from Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen's social semiotic model of color, a model is developed to identify and explain “grammars of color” in environmental color design. With a particular focus on urban and landscape designs completed between 2000 and 2019, five main color practices of saturated colors were identified: branding and communication, urban interventions, sports and recreation, traffic environments, and historical and post-industrial sites. The analysis of these main color practices and semiotic resources suggests that the saturated color's role in social communication is emphasized in the urban space nowadays. Furthermore, the emergence of saturated colors and the growth of new expressions of color in the urban environment may be driven by the needs and interests of different sociocultural groups.