Color and Information
In page 82, the image of American map show us by different color pixels, and shapes, there is nothing word in this image but I can basically figure out that this image is telling about a density data or location information in different area of America.
Because each color has its own spectrum, brightness, or saturation, so it can tell different things by reading this kind of image. Different color convey information sometimes not only by their spectrum or hues, but also by the meaning behind of them, for example when we see red, we usually link it to blood or tomato; we will think about ocean when we see blue. So I think color is a kind of multidimensional visual tool in design. Color do help us when we have a large amount of informations need to classify, but the disadvantage is color is easy be confuse among different persons.
People who has different gender or culture or experiences will have various impressions and understanding for one same color. Most people see red will relate to blood but I do not, I will think about my national flag, because red is the color of my national flag.
Based on the objective traits of things in the nature, especially in map design, we almost already have some rules for colors for instance, blue means ocean, lake or, river Dark blue means the ocean is deep. White means snow, green is park plant, yellow is desert, etc.
In contrast, word, letters, can only indicate their meanings, and the meaning of each word is unique and standard. Word tell us the meaning of it that we would not confuse or misunderstand, because we have dictionary to follow.
