White is both everything and nothing all at once. It embodies purity and innocence. It’s the color of snow, moonlight, and fresh linen. The emptiness of the color almost invites you to fill it with other colors. It represents a blank page and a fresh start that encourages growth and transformation. It represents peace and protection as a healing color that drives away negativity. Scientifically white contains all wavelengths of visible light, making it the perfect balance of the color spectrum.

White is one of the few colors that has a true psychological impact. White can bring optimism and hope to some people. Seeing white uplifts moods, promotes open minded thinking, and can inspire faith in new possibilities. Designers use white for spaciousness and clarity. White can make spaces feel larger, brighter, and more serene. White conveys simplicity and order, and can often be found used in modern designs to show minimalism, simplicity, and create calm environments.

From a cultural perspective white can mean very different things. In western cultures for instance, white symbolizes purity, virginity, and peace. Which is why wedding dresses are typically white. In eastern culture white can often be associated with mourning death, or transitions. Many widows in India customarily wear white. In Brazil and Peru white shows peace, angelic qualities, and good health. White has dual meanings a lot of the time. While sometimes it can mean uplifting, pure, protective, and hopeful, on the flip side it can also feel cold, bland, sterile, and overused. It often is associated with endings, reflection, and hibernation.

The history of white is unique. Humans used natural white pigments like gypsum, calcite, chalk, and burnt shells as far back as Paleolithic cave art which was around 17,000 years ago. In the light spectrum, white contains all visible wavelengths, when passing through a prism it separates the rainbow creating and dividing the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. In pigment mixing, white is often used to tint colors. It helps to soften or lighten a color. An example is how adding white to red creates a pink. White also acts as a canvas letting you layer hues that change their emotional tone. A bold crimson becomes romantic when softened with white. A deep navy becomes playful when lightened.

White is often seen as the most basic of colors. Secretly it is the most powerful shade in all of color theory. It’s not empty, it’s everything. White is a winter hush. White is historys pigment of purity. White is the quiet reset we didn’t know we needed. White isn’t boring,it’s bold in quietness. When chaos feels too loud white reminds you that you can always start fresh. 

XOXO,

Savi Monroe