Tufte talks about how colour can be used as a noun and to measure information and add realism in a design, below are 3 different posters which do show the use of this theory.
In these posters an instance I can see of colour being used as a noun is in the shadows on the posters. The colour black is chosen to represent these elements and is effectively used to show depth and realism and to label them as such. A second use of this is in the sky being blue in the right half of the poster, the sky in the daytime is always associated with this colour and I think this fits to the principle. The colour black is also used as a colour to measure. It measures the quantity of the shadows in the posters, particularly the right one where there are gradients and variation in the shadows to of course show how close or far away they are to the light.This gives information on the distance from the light and measures its intensity. This colour is also used to show dimension as well and add visual depth to the posters, adding realism.
“It is not how much empty space there is, but rather how it is used.”[1] I think this quote adds to the theory as it talks about the use of space and therefore colour usage in design.
Colour is clearly used to enliven these posters, especially the left and middle ones, as the use of the colours purple and blue adds a bright focus to the posters. It makes it more engaging and eye-catching, along with the stand out yellow to draw people in. All of these colours have been chosen specifically to convey the tones of the movie and important visual information.
Reference:
[1] Goodreads.com. Quotes By Edward R. Tufte. [online] Available at: <https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/644974-it-is-not-how-much-empty-space-there-is-but> [Accessed 29 October 2020].
[2] IMDb. 2020. Coraline (2009) – Imdb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327597/mediaindex?page=4&ref_=ttmi_mi_sm [Accessed 8 October 2020]
[3] Impawards.com. 2020. Coraline Movie Poster (#1 Of 35). [online] Available at: http://www.impawards.com/2009/coraline.html [Accessed 8 October 2020].