Orange & Teal

Abstract

‘Orange & Teal’ has become the preferred ‘look’ of the Hollywood movie industry. Is this craze just another arbitrary fashion? Possibly not, because ‒ apart from the name ‒ this palette has been around for ages in the visual arts. It is variously known as ‘painting in cool and warm,’ drawing a trois croyons, use of a ‘limited palette,’ and so forth. This leaves open the question of whether there might be one or more fundamental reasons for the preference for this particular dichromatic pair. Why not yellow–blue, red–turquoise, or green–purple? Reasons might be sought in human anatomy/physiology, physics of surface scattering, or the ecology of the human Umwelt. An in-depth analysis reveals that all these factors cooperate to render the orange & teal complementary palette indeed special. It involves world, body and mind and has to be understood in a proper semiotical (biological) setting.