Colorgenics

December 14, 2001 10:54 AM

Colorgenics forms a profile based on your choice of colors from a given color spectrum. Accurate? I thought so. So how much does mood affect how you respond to colors, and how much do colors affect your mood?
posted by mikhail (29 comments total)

It strikes me as akin to horoscopes--the results are entirely accurate, and those that are are vague enough to apply to most people.

From my results: You want to "love" and to be loved.

Who doesn't?
posted by jpoulos at 11:02 AM on December 14, 2001

wow; the profile it generated for me was pretty accurate. nice link -- thanks mikhail.
posted by moz at 11:03 AM on December 14, 2001

I didn't notice this the first time: "Now...you can obtain a personal reading from one of our approved, colorgenics psychics."

There you go.
posted by jpoulos at 11:04 AM on December 14, 2001

Nailed my current mood - irritable and introverted. Groovy link.
posted by kokogiak at 11:05 AM on December 14, 2001

ditto jpoulos, i need and need to be needed ?
i think any of it can apply to anyone.
posted by sadie01221975 at 11:06 AM on December 14, 2001

You enjoy the original, the ingenious and the subtle, and you strive to ally yourself with others of similar tastes.

You would like to be respected and valued for yourself and this can only be achieved from a close and harmonious relationship.

Dude, they are so fucked up. In truth, I only enjoy the unoriginal, the mundane and the obvious. I strive to ally myself with hated enemies whose views are anathema.

Also, I despise being respected and valued; I prefer to be spat upon daily, and to that end, I contrive to subvert every relationship into one of mutual despair.
posted by Skot at 11:15 AM on December 14, 2001

Mine:

"You will breathe oxygen today. At some point, you will feel the need to ingest protein. You are sensitive, and spend too much time online."

Wow.
posted by ebarker at 11:16 AM on December 14, 2001

I meant to say "the results aren't entirely accurate in my first post.
posted by jpoulos at 11:17 AM on December 14, 2001

Wow. Dead-on. Perhaps I'm overreading the thing, but it seems remarkable.

I'm currently trying to get out of a lease in the house I'm renting, so I can move to another house. I've literally spent all day yesterday and today on the phone with all the various parties working on this crap.

Colorgenics: You are totally dissatisfied with your present situation. Matters are not going right for you and you are seeking a means of escape.

The rest of it was pretty believable too. I'm not big on psychic phenomena or tea-leaf reading or whatever, but I am more or less willing to believe that the order of people's choice of colors could reflect the mood they're in. I mean, a lot of visual design is based on manipulating that principle. So it's not so far-fetched.

It would be interesting to put this on a scientific footing by actually asking people to do the selection, and then fill out a questionaire about their mood and life situation. See if there seems to be a correlation. Also, I imagine any correlation would be different for different cultures -- i.e. Westerners would probably associate white with purity and red with anger, where Asians may associate white with death and red with good luck. This would seem likely to influence their choice of colors given a particular mood.
posted by rusty at 11:21 AM on December 14, 2001

Well while I'm sure it does make vague references, especially considering a general consensus of normality and hapiness, mine was pretty specific.

And although I certainly don't discount the 'sham' factor here, there is alot of research that goes into color theory and such, so I was also trying to find out what the prevailing view of that sort of thing is.
posted by mikhail at 11:26 AM on December 14, 2001

Rusty: are you, say, in a healthy relationship with a significant other? Do you like your job? If either of those is true, and the test came back with "you are pleased with your current situation", wouldn't that work too?
posted by jpoulos at 11:26 AM on December 14, 2001

jpoulos: My relationship situation is good, yes. My job situation... well, I like my job, but at the moment I'm very dissatisfied with how that's going.

But what I was keying on is that those are background things. If it had said I was very pleased with my current situation, I would have had to reach some for the idea that in general, in a broad, six-month-view sort of way, I am very pleased. In immediate terms, right this minute, I am not pleased with anything.

Anyway, I'm completely aware that it's really easy to read whatever you want into this. It's not some kind of magic oracle, and even if it were magic, it's still "predicting the present" as all those late night psychic hotline commercials do. I.e.:

Madame Cleo: "Well, boy, right now you're mad at your landlords because they won't let you out of a lease, and you're really anxious to move into that other house thatcha like so much."

Me: "Wow, Madame Cleo. That's just fucking amazing. Why don't you tell me something I didn't already know you useless charlatan."

Anyway. Whatever I believe, what do you think about the last part of the comment -- the plausibility of color choices reflecting mood? That, to me, is the interesting bit.
posted by rusty at 11:43 AM on December 14, 2001

Uh...colorgenic rip-off artists.
New Agey-speak and soothing music do not a new concept make.
Being the official site, I'm amazed they don't have an image of the cards, but here's another site with color blocks. They're darker than they should be, but you get the idea.
posted by Su at 11:45 AM on December 14, 2001

Being the official site, I'm amazed they don't have an image of the cards, ...

Being the official site, I'm also amazed that more thought didn't go into it's design and color choices. heh
posted by mikhail at 11:55 AM on December 14, 2001

I also found it quite accurate, and not because the statements were general, feel-good platitudes. In fact, there were several negative statements in mine that reflected my current attitude. Example: "You are being subjected to considerable pressures and you would like nothing better than to escape from them, but you tend to lack the necessary strength of purpose to succeed in this. " If that wasn't true, I might be ticked. But you have no idea how true that happens to be for me right now.
posted by pardonyou? at 12:02 PM on December 14, 2001

The result I got was pretty accurate, although there were a few things that didn't seem to fit.

Then I went back and clicked on the colors in straight line order from upper left to lower right. The result I got was ... pretty accurate, although there were a few things that didn't seem to fit.

Ah, well ... it'd make a nice party game, though.
posted by Chanther at 12:02 PM on December 14, 2001

You are a demanding ego-centric...

Who isn't?
posted by hellinskira at 12:21 PM on December 14, 2001

Heh. Let's pick all the dark colours first...

You are lazy... Many people will consider you egotistical and full of your own self importance...

You feel that you have a right to do anything that you wish without being condemned for your beliefs... You honestly believe that the situation is not of your making - it is not your fault... Would you perhaps not agree that this situation could be regarded as unrealistic self justification?

Your reaction is such that you feel that everyone is against you ... But you still seem to refuse to listen to reason. You are hostile, bitter and indignant.

Man, they're not afraid of going for the throat, are they?
posted by gd779 at 12:27 PM on December 14, 2001

There was a test like this I took in College that asked you a few simple questions. 10 or so and then gave you a psych profile. The program actually gave you the same profile regardless of the reponses you gave. Over 95% of people say the profile matched them.
posted by jeblis at 1:19 PM on December 14, 2001

I took the "test" three times. each time it told me something different. each time I was the same person.

I love it when other people try to tell me who I am and what I do/will do. ...I'm a little more independent and idividualized than that. I'm glad not everyone listens and lives out horrorscopes [sic], it would be a pretty bland world.
posted by tomplus2 at 1:19 PM on December 14, 2001

heh. mine was so far off, it's laughable. Holy shit. I was able to find at least one sentence I agreed with, however: You are willing to try anything once. But that's the only one, in the entire thing....

(I think different people have different associations with different colors. There's no way this could be highly accurate give a wide enough sample.)
posted by mattpfeff at 1:26 PM on December 14, 2001

As Su pointed out, the Luscher color test has been around since the '60s. This is just one more incarnation.

I'm really surprised at the name "colorgenics." Seems awfully close to Eugenics, and all its connotations.
posted by me3dia at 1:32 PM on December 14, 2001

Aha! So *that's* the colour of bullshit.
posted by skylar at 1:48 PM on December 14, 2001

what do you think about the last part of the comment -- the plausibility of color choices reflecting mood?

I think you make a good point, rusty, but i don't think it's earthshattering that if I'm stressed out I "associate" better with red than with blue. it's extrapolating from there that gets hairy.

"That's just fucking amazing. Why don't you tell me something I didn't already know you useless charlatan."

That I completely agree with. I'm not sure how this is good for anything but parlor tricks. I mean, I know I'm stressed out. I could have told you that without getting into the whole color thing.
posted by jpoulos at 1:56 PM on December 14, 2001

I feel like I was suckered. I work with color and design a lot and am aware of the effects that color has on people-so I was expecting something more scientific......
I avoid things like horoscopes and Madame Cleo and all that crap-and this seemed to be right along those lines-
ptui!
posted by bunnyfire at 2:47 PM on December 14, 2001

damnit, it was dead on. maybe it sensed i was a teenager:

At this particular time,- you are feeling that you are/or were unjustly and undeservedly treated and/or betrayed in your hopes and dreams.....You feel that everything is against you...
posted by lotsofno at 2:56 PM on December 14, 2001

I'm not sure how this is good for anything but parlor tricks.

Ahh, I see. I didn't think it was anything but a parlor trick either. I just thought it was a pretty good one, and I was speculating about how it worked. :-)
posted by rusty at 7:29 PM on December 14, 2001

I love the last bit at the end:

Leading on from your “profile” You can now have access to our unique ‘Colorgenics Hot- Line’

Your individual contact will expand on your profile..
by predicting with amazing insight …your future…
and may possibly to suggest actions that you may take concerning Your Love-life..Health & Finances

Call Colorgenics Hotline
Now
**** *** ****

It looks like Miss Cleo has diversified.
posted by carobe at 2:15 PM on December 15, 2001

Mr. Pantone this guy ain't.

What's with the New-Age slant? The music and the visual asthetics of the spinning cubes were certainly affecting my choice of color-- I fail to see how this is anything more than a novelty.
posted by Down10 at 1:42 PM on December 16, 2001