Seafoam Green

From Why So Many Control Rooms Were Seafoam Green:

With the increase in wartime production in the US during WWII, Birren and DuPont created a master color safety code for the industrial plant industry, with the aim of reducing accidents and increasing efficiency within plants. These color codes were approved by the National Safety Council in 1944 and are now internationally recognized, having been mandatory practice since 1948. The color coding went as such:

• Fire Red: All fire protection, emergency stop buttons, and flammable liquids should be red
• Solar Yellow: Signifies caution and physical hazards such as falling
• Alert Orange: Hazardous parts of machinery
• Safety Green: Indicates safety features such as first-aid equipment, emergency exits, and eyewash stations.
• Caution Blue: Non-safety information, notices, or out-of-order signage
• Light Green: Used on walls to reduce visual fatigue

And Mathews’ quoting of Birren:

“The importance of color in factories is first to control brightness in the general field of view for an efficient seeing condition. Interiors can then be conditioned for emotional pleasure and interest, using warm, cool, or luminois hues as working conditions suggest. Color should be functional and not merely decorative.” - Faber Birren

I’ll repeat that to emphasize:

Color should be functional and not merely decorative.

Agreed.