First things first…. Get those sunglasses gaffa-taped to your head.
The most damaging thing to your eyes, other than eyeballing Vodka: Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), is Ultra Violet light. For anyone who understands the elementary physics of the electromagnetic spectrum, UV light is that high energy / high frequency stuff that can penetrate and damage the internal composition of cells in the body. Your eyes included.
A typical example of this i’ve heard more than once is: 2 minutes on a sunbed is equivalent damage to your body as two weeks in the sun. The UV light from a sunbed penetrates deep into the skin tissues and into the blood, disrupting cells and causing carnage. Whether its earplugs infront of a soundsystem or sunglasses in the sun. I’m protecting my most valuable assets.
By default… You’re Damaged
It’s true. If you’re a man, statistically your eye sight is poorer than your equivalent female counterpart. I thought I’d check out where I was lagging and found a website that gives you a score on your colour accuracy. Give it a go.
I found that I was slightly defficient in the purple/violet region of this chart, which is kind of funny because purple.. Doesn’t… Actually…. Exist. Yeah i’m not joking.
Purple doesn’t actually exist
Did you know that there isn’t a wavelength of light for purple? Thats right. So, when we see purple its actually our eyes absorbing photons vibrating at hundreds of trillions, of times per second and our brains interpreting it as purple. It is effectively filling in the blanks. Making it up. A glitch in the matix, so-to-speak.
Get your head around that.
By knowing your deficiencies (of which we all have) we can be mindful in compensating for this in our work.
I recommend getting your eyes tested every year or two if you are a creative working in the visual realm. Just like the slight differences in our abilities to percieve colour, our eyes can vary in their ability to focus. By knowing your deficiencies (of which we all have) we can be mindful in compensating for this in our work. Additionally, when looking at the back of the retina we can learn all kinds of things about our health in general. I was once told by my optician that a blemish he pointed to on the screen could have been an indication of liver disease (if it hadn’t have been there since birth). It blew my little mind.
Why is the colour black #000000 in web but the opposite in print?
Often a question I pose to my students. Similarly, why do all the colours in web make white and all of the colours in print, make black? Many creatives have used RGB and CYMK all there careers and don’t know the relationship between the two.
It’s something I found when exploring a whole section of books in Waterstones, one rainy afternoon. It consequently led me into the realm of ICC Colour profiles and calibration tools but ill bore you with that in another paragraph.
The answer is really quite simple and its one that designers often forget or rather, rarely need to remember. Colour in web, is light that is mixed together: additive colour. Whereas colour in print, is ink that absorbs light and remaining reflected light is the colour we percieve: substractive colour.
If you would like to delve into all of the exciting nuances of colour then I recommend this book as a light read
When recieving an advanced eye test just remember. To use the machine scanner below, you are required to speak in a broad Cornish accent and dress as a pirate. Just saying.
Final thoughts: remember the 20-20-20 rule
Your eyes can become tired when you use them for long periods. Taking frequent breaks from the screen can help to avoid tired eyes and headaches. The 20, 20, 20 rule suggests taking a break of at least 20 seconds, every 20 minutes and to look at least 20 feet away.