Color basics
Pink
A light red family associated with flowers, skin, sweetness, cosmetics, gender coding, and softness.
Modern cultural naming, older dye roots Light red, flowers, dyes, cosmetics, design seed
What it is
Pink is usually a light red, but culturally it has become its own color family. It can be gentle, artificial, playful, romantic, cosmetic, or politically charged.
Basics
- Pink is often made by raising the lightness of red or magenta.
- Its meanings are strongly cultural and historically changeable.
- Pink can range from pale rose to hot pink and near-magenta.
Notes for later expansion
- Later expansion should cover rose, madder, cochineal, cosmetics, fashion, and gender symbolism.
- Pink is a useful example of how lightness and saturation can create a perceived color category.