Contrast

Good Use of Contrast

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/2575279443_d5ed4043d6.jpg

The above photo is of a row of ad posters for iPods in a BART station.  These ads use contrast very effectively in a couple different ways.  The first use of contrast is with the bright colors on the posters that make them stand out from the dull brows and whites of the station.  This contrast grabs the attention of passengers on the plantform and making the ad more effective in selling iPods.  Second, the posters themselves are very simple in design.  They each only use two colors and the only element of the posters with detail are the white iPods which contrasts with the bright colors of the poster, making it very clear what they are selling.  

Poor Use of Contrast

http://www.directionsmag.com/images/newsletter/2007/01_18/HIV_Map_lg.jpg

The above map is intended to illustrate the number of people living with HIV in europe by the millions.  The yellow to orange colored areas represent lower numbers while the pink and purple areas represent higher numbers.  While the information this map offers is useful, it is difficult to read due to low contrast between some of the colors, particularly the pink and purples.  Iceland and the Ukraine are two different pinks but it is difficult to tell, especially since iceland is surrounded by light blue and the Ukraine is surrounded by purple.  The light blue and purple make the two different pinks look the same.  Due to this poor use of contrast, someone trying to gather information from this map may end up misreading it because they can not easily tell the difference between the similar colors.