My son is a growing child. He eats a lot but shows little appetite for vegetables. I have been trying various measures to cajole him into eating veggies he needs at minimum per day: sneaking veggies between slices of bread every morning, pouring his favorite dressing over a salad, explaining health benefits of eating vegetables, and so on.

One day, however, I was surprised to find he was eating raw lettuce without being told. That was quite unexpected because I did nothing special. All I did was take leftover lettuce from the refrigerator, tear it into pieces, and add them to a chicken stir-fry, which we often make at home.

As it turned out, this lettuce topping did the trick. Remaining heat in the chicken helped to soften the crunchy texture of lettuce and make it easier to eat. But more importantly, the color combination of chicken and lettuce contributed to making the dish look more appetizing. In fact, many culinary researchers say it’s effective to purposefully use colors when serving dishes as a technique to make them look appealing. They say their claim is based on research results that approximately 80 percent of respondents find a dish delectable because of its color, 60 percent attribute its appeal to its shape, and 40 percent say its smell is important. They also refer to the fact that humans inherently seek well-balanced nutritional values.

In the case of my son, orange-colored chicken and green-colored lettuce created a complementary contrast, leading to enhance the value of each other’s appearance. I also figure that a white plate for serving the dish was a contributing factor since it supported the synergy between the two colors without causing interference.

This is a good example of the color management technique we utilize in our daily work as CMFG (color, material, finish and graphic) designers. It’s common practice for us to use image boards or accent colors for our clients to better understand the effect of colors.

Let me draw another analogy between food and design. Take for example red sashimi (raw fish) served on a plate. The plate and the garnish of raw daikon radish cut into strips, which play second fiddle to the sashimi, correspond to the background of a design sketch. And green-colored shiso leaf (Japanese basil) and wasabi, which commonly accompany a sashimi dish, play a role of accent colors that add spice to the design sketch.

What happened in my family reminded me that the science of color provides clues for solving small problems we face in our daily lives.

Atsushi Egashira

CMFG Design Dept.

Design Director