Advice needed...

joe laughlin · 02-05-2013, 10:10 AM

Hi guys, I came across this site and decided to register as I wanted to know an answer to a specific question and hopefully someone who understands my problem can give me some advice, you see I found out that i was colour blind in 3rd year at High School during an Art exam when my teacher laughed at my brown plant that i had just finished and to me I did not know that i was colour blind until that day but found out after taking a colour blindness test set up for me by the school, anyways i still didnt let it get to me until almost 2 years ago when i decided that I wanted to try and become a graphic designer as my passion for drawing and painting came back into my life again so i went to college and studied Computing and IT in the 1st year to get to understand all the Adobe Software packages like Illustrator,Photoshop InDesign and so on and now that i am on my 2nd year at studying Anination Art i am beginning to understand that my colour blindness is going to have an impact on my finished work, so far my tutors have been impressed with what i have done but i still feel sometimes that they are just saying this as to not be cruel to me and i know that i can get a second person to 'proof' read my work but will any future employee allow for me to work for them knowing that i am colour blind..any advice will be grateful and apologies for such a long message
P.S. I know for sure I am red/green colour blind and from taking the online tests i even struggle with some other colours and find it hard to see them...

PrintDriver · 02-05-2013, 11:13 AM

Holy run-on sentence, Batman!
There are a couple of color blind designers on here.
What you'll have to do is find pre-press people you can trust. Designers have to make color approval decisions all the time. Having once worked with a project manager who was color blind, it can be quite stressful at times.

**KitchWitch** · 02-05-2013, 01:05 PM

Hi joe and welcome to GDF!

We ask that all new members take a few minutes read through important threads here and here. These will explain our rules, answer frequently asked questions and explain some of the long running jokes you'll run into.

Enjoy your stay.

**Typically** · 02-05-2013, 01:24 PM

there are a few colorblind people on the forum, BJ i believe?

welcome to the GDF!!

**Buda** · 02-05-2013, 09:27 PM

I can only think of BJM on here but I studied with a guy that is colourblind. He painted his bedroom walls salmon pink because he was going through an "industrial" phase. It looked grey to him so he left it even though everyone told him he had a pink room.

I think colour blind designer have the potential to be much better at working with contrast. This can be really handy when working with typography, particularly logo design.

**Lith** · 02-05-2013, 09:37 PM

Bladez too I think

**Buda** · 02-05-2013, 09:47 PM

btw, moving this thread to General as it's not a question about how the forum software runs.

<b> · 02-05-2013, 11:13 PM

A huge part of how I work involves fine-tuning relationships between colors. I'll spend quite a bit of time adjusting subtle differences between various shades of green or red or whatever. Colorblindness would be a huge handicap for me.

With that said, as Buda mentioned, color has much less to do with typography, spacial relationships, contrast, composition, etc. I suppose that it also depends on the degree to which you're colorblind, along with the colors that are affected. There are lots of different aspects to design, and lots of different ways to approach it. As has also been mentioned, there are plenty of examples of colorblind designers who have managed to work around the issue successfully.

And I just can't resist this, but you really need to chop up your writing into logical, coherent sentences. Designers, believe it or not, need to know how to write reasonably well too — we work with text and typography all the time.

joe laughlin · 02-06-2013, 07:50 AM

Thanks for your advice and understanding on answering my question guys,it has made me see that my colour blindness will only hinder me if I allow it too.

Apoligies also for messing up my thread as I am new to forums and this was my 1st time posting a question, consider me told off and I promise never to do that again.

Thank you again.

**garricks** · 02-06-2013, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe laughlin

Apoligies also for messing up my thread as I am new to forums and this was my 1st time posting a question, consider me told off and I promise never to do that again.

No apology necessary, we Mods move things around all the time. It's our job to tidy up.