...: Colors: White...

Ultimate Light
White is purity, cleanliness, and innocence. Like black, white goes well with almost any color.


Nature of White
To the human eye, white is a brilliant color that can cause headaches for some. Too much bright white can be blinding.


Culture of White
In most Western countries white is the color for brides. In the East, it's the color for mourning and funerals. White is often associated with hospitals, especially doctors, nurses, and dentists. Some cultures viewed white as the color of royalty or of dieties. Angels are typically depicted as wearing white. In early Westerns the good guy wore white while the bad guy wore black.


Using White
In most cases white is seen as a neutral background color and other colors, even when used in smaller proportion, are the colors that convey the most meaning in a design. Use white to signify cleanliness or purity or softness. Some neutral beige, ivory, and creams carry the same attributes as white but are more subdued, less brilliant than plain white. Use lots of white for a summery look. Use small amounts of white to soften a wintery palette or suggest snow.


Using White with Other Colors
Used with light or pastel tones, white is soft and Spring-like and helps to make the pastel palette more lively. White can make dark or light reds, blues, and greens look brighter, more prominent. Red, white, and blue makes a patriotic palette.


White Color Palettes
These color palettes feature black and white with other colors.


Language of White
The use of white in familiar phrases can help a designer see how their color of choice might be perceived by others, both the positive and negative aspects.


Good white

•White as the driven snow - pure, clean, innocent
•White elephant - rare, valuable but perhaps unwanted
•White knight - someone who comes to another person's rescue, someone perceived as being good, noble
•White list - list of good or acceptable items
•White sale - sale of sheets, towels, other linens
•Pearly white - teeth, especially very white teeth


Bad white
•Whitewash - cover up, conceal
•Whiteout - zero visibility
•White flag - surrender
•White lightning - moonshine, illegal whiskey
•White elephant - rare, valuable but perhaps unwanted
•White knuckle - something that is fast, exciting, or frightening


White Words: These words are synonymous with white or represent various shades of the color white.

Snow, pearl, antique white, ivory, chalk, milk white, lily, smoke, seashell, old lace, cream, linen, ghost white, beige, cornsilk, alabaster, paper, whitewash.