To test this idea, the pair conducted a series of six experiments over a two-year period. First, they tested whether bright light does in fact increase our perception of heat. Sure enough, the researchers observed that students who were sitting in a brightly lit room experienced the room as warmer than students sitting in the same room at the same temperature, but with the lighting dimmed.

By now, says Labroo, “we had inferred that bright light changes our craving for things that are thrilling,” as well as how we perceive different kinds of heat in our environment. But another experiment went even further. Participants were asked to report their feelings toward a series of positive, negative, and neutral words—ones that, unlike previous studies, were in no way associated with the word “hot.” Again they found the amplification effect: in bright light, people’s reactions to both the positive and negative words increased.

The connection between light and heat, say the researchers, may run deep in our psyches, with bright light creating “an illusory experience of heat.” The studies at hand suggest that light and heat are so tightly coupled that light can trigger our hot emotional system—for better or for worse—even in the absence of physical heat.

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Lighting and shadow are powerful elements of graphic design that can create drama, contrast, mood, and depth in your work. Whether you are working with photography, illustration, typography, or any other medium, you can use lighting and shadow to enhance your message, attract attention, and evoke emotions. In this article, you will learn how to use lighting and shadow to create drama in your graphic design work, with some tips and examples to inspire you.

Try different things and go out of the box. Play with Intensity: Adjust the intensity of your light sources to control the brightness of highlights and shadows. This can be particularly effective in emphasizing certain elements or creating a focal point within your design.

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This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Indeed, the study has implications for consumers, marketers, and even policymakers, says Labroo, “given the range of decisions we make in bright light.” If we are drinking a beverage we love, we are likelier to indulge in a brighter room (in fact, in another study the researchers find this to be true). If we are enjoying a shopping experience, we might spend more in brighter light. “And since it changes the way we perceive others, it could even make a difference in negotiations,” Labroo says. Want to sway others with an impassioned plea? Consider a noontime meeting in a bright room. Or dim the lights and let cooler heads prevail.

Besides photography, illustration, and typography, there are many other mediums that you can use for graphic design, such as collage, animation, logo, poster, or web design. Lighting and shadow can also help you improve and diversify your work in these mediums. You can use lighting and shadow to create harmony, balance, rhythm, and unity in your composition, as well as to create interest, variety, and tension. You can also use lighting and shadow to communicate your message, identity, and brand more effectively and memorably.

Typography is the art and science of arranging letters and words in a visually appealing and effective way. Lighting and shadow can help you enhance the readability, aesthetics, and meaning of your typography. You can use lighting and shadow to create contrast, emphasis, depth, and movement in your text. For example, you can use drop shadow to make your text stand out from the background, or glow effect to make your text shine and sparkle. You can also use lighting and shadow to create different styles and themes for your typography, such as retro, futuristic, or minimalist.

Learning how to use lighting and shadow to create drama in your graphic design work can be an exciting journey. Experiment with different lighting sources, angles, and colors to create different effects and moods. Use lighting and shadow to create contrast and hierarchy, depth and perspective, movement and direction, texture and pattern, style and theme, emotion and expression. Examples of this include the iconic Apple logo which uses a simple lighting effect to create a sleek look, The Dark Knight poster which uses dark lighting to create suspense, The Great Gatsby cover that has bright colors for a glamorous atmosphere, the Spotify logo with its green glow for a vibrant impression, and The Little Prince illustration with its soft lighting for a magical mood.

Think of it like building a stage for your design. You use light to make the important stuff stand out, like spotlights on actors. Shadows help hide things you don't want people to focus on, like backstage. And just like you can change the mood with different colored lights in a theater, designers can create different atmospheres with light and shadow in their work.

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Labroo is interested in what she calls “below-the-radar influences on consumer judgment.” These include how physiological factors affect consumer decisions. She was curious about what impact ambient lighting might have, so she scanned the existing research—and found two seemingly conflicting ideas.

In photography, one area that can make a profound impact is contrast. Enhance contrast between light and shadow. This can be achieved by using strong light sources and positioning them strategically. High contrast draws attention and creates a dynamic visual experience, thus creating more impactful and memorable pictures. 📸

“A light without shadow generates an emotion without reserve,” wrote the critic and philosopher Roland Barthes over half a century ago. Aparna Labroo’s recent study on the effect of bright light on emotional responses reflects Barthes’ sentiment perfectly. The study by Labroo, a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School, and Alison Jing Xu of the University of Toronto, found that ambient brightness amplifies both positive and negative emotional reactions to the world around us.

Even our judgments about hot-tempered—and “hot-and-sexy”—individuals are amplified. In yet another study, participants were shown a script for a mock TV commercial, featuring a man who behaves in ways that could be considered aggressive. He honks at someone while driving to work; he curses out someone in a parking lot; he rushes past a pregnant woman getting on an elevator. “He could’ve just been in a hurry,” Labroo says, “or very pissed off at life.” When asked to evaluate his aggressiveness, participants in brighter light rated him more hot-tempered. The same participants were then asked to look at a series of female models supposedly being considered for casting in a print ad. Those sitting in the brightly lit room rated all three women “hotter” than those in the dimly lit room did. The experiment, wrote Labroo, showed that “bright light polarizes judgments of both positive and negative stimuli.”

In addition to temperature, the effect also extends to our preferences for “hot” foods. In another study, students in either brightly or dimly lit rooms ordered chicken wings from a menu that offered 16 levels of hot sauce; those in the brighter rooms tended to want spicier sauce.

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The first was that bright light increases positive feelings. People tend to feel better and more optimistic when it is sunny out; even the stock market does better on sunny days. The second was that suicides increase when the weather is nice. Fewer suicides occur in the winter months, with the highest numbers in late spring and summer, when sunshine is abundant.

Il est le propre de L’Homme d’utiliser le noir et blanc ; comme en photographie par exemple, et comme cité ci-dessus. Mais personne ne pourra jamais égaler La Nature, quant aux couleurs, jeux de lumière(s) et luminosité.

The connection between light and heat, say the researchers, may run deep in our psyches, with bright light creating “an illusory experience of heat.”

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Illustration is another popular and creative medium for graphic design, and lighting and shadow can help you add dimension and realism to your drawings. You can use different techniques and tools to create lighting and shadow effects, such as shading, gradient, hatching, stippling, or digital brushes. You can also use different styles and colors of lighting and shadow to create different moods and genres. For example, you can use soft and subtle lighting and shadow to create a romantic and dreamy atmosphere, or harsh and dramatic lighting and shadow to create a horror and suspenseful scene.

Photography is one of the most common and versatile mediums for graphic design, and lighting and shadow can make a big difference in the quality and impact of your images. You can use natural or artificial lighting sources, or a combination of both, to create different effects and moods. For example, you can use backlighting to create a silhouette effect, or side lighting to create strong shadows and highlights. You can also use filters, lenses, and editing software to manipulate the lighting and shadow of your photos.

Xu, Alison Jing, and Aparna Labroo. 2014. “Incandescent Affect: Turning on the Hot Emotional System with Bright Light.” Journal of Consumer Psychology. 24 (2): 207–216.

Digital effects are interesting. But to understand how lighting and shadowing works, you should first know the basics about photography. An image is primarily build by light, or its absence, not by objects or forms. So, light and shadows ARE the image, not just effects. Besides, in digital manipulation, tools like burning, curves, masks and levels do a great job. But they are reproductions of physical filters, and developing techniques. It is amazing what you can learn playing at home with a film dev kit and an old b&w 400 ISO, or an ektachrome. Chemicals mix, temperature, time… it’s you, in an image factory, building new realities, with shadows and lights.

Labroo and Xu are not the first to consider this relationship. Take the quotation from Barthes, which the pair uses to introduce their paper. “It’s nice to see similar intuitions reflected across different fields and methods,” says Labroo. “It’s particularly exciting to see someone associated with both philosophy and semiotics express similar thoughts. It also affirms our effect is interesting to people beyond our discipline.”

Using light and shadow can be fun. One area to explore is Layering. Create depth by layering elements with varying levels of light and shadow. This can give your design a three-dimensional quality and make it more visually interesting. Another interesting area is playing with silhouettes. Silhouettes can be a powerful way to convey drama. Experiment with backlighting to create striking silhouettes, allowing the viewer's imagination to fill in the details.

In graphic design, the use of lighting and shadow can play a crucial role in creating drama and visual impact. One area to look at is in the direction of light. Consider the direction of light to create interesting shadows. Side lighting or backlighting can add depth and drama to your design. Experiment with different angles to see how they affect the overall mood. It's fun to try different angles and results.

When thinking of a specific design to create, think ahead and be consistent from the start. Maintain consistency in your lighting style throughout the design to create a cohesive and unified look. This helps guiding the viewer's eye and enhances the overall impact of the designs.

Lighting and shadow are not just visual effects, they are also storytelling tools. They can help you establish the context, tone, and atmosphere of your design, as well as highlight the focal point, create hierarchy, and guide the eye of the viewer. For example, you can use bright and warm lighting to convey a positive and cheerful mood, or dark and cold lighting to create a sense of mystery and tension. You can also use shadow to add depth and realism, or to create contrast and drama.

“These two streams of literature didn’t seem to reconcile,” says Labroo. But she and Xu developed a hypothesis that might explain the paradox: “We said, maybe it’s the initial gut reaction that gets amplified in bright light.” Bright light usually correlates with heat, and heat is linked to emotional intensity. “This psychological experience of heat turns on the hot emotional system,” they wrote recently in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, “intensifying a person’s emotional reactions to any stimulus. Thus, in bright light, good feels better and bad feels worse.”