Hues at 11

When WCVB-TV (Channel 5) began redesigning its news set and graphics to broadcast in high definition, it began a colorful brainstorm. Should station officials stick with their traditional blue-and-red motifs? Infuse some gold to enhance the station's bright red logo? Which colors would make the storytelling pop more on screen?

"We didn't want to use every crayon in the box," says Russ Nelligan , creative services director at the station. "You don't want to overwhelm people with the visuals and sounds. We wanted to have a contemporary look, but we didn't want to have an old Technicolor and impersonal look as well." He and the creative team settled on the reds and blues as well as gold that were familiar to their viewers but would also play well on high-definition broadcasts for the updated news desk.

Finding that delicate balance was among the demands at the station to keep more eyeballs trained on the station, which ranked first in all of its newscasts except at 11 p.m. during the May ratings period.

It's a tricky formula, the psychology of colors, using certain hues on a set and in flashy graphics to attract new viewers but not alienate the loyal ones. Station managers play close attention to colors and details, because image means everything in television. Psychologists who study the effect of colors on people's perceptions and art professors say particular colors can hurt or help in the presentation of a news show because the hues send subliminal messages about the station.

Earlier this year, WBZ-TV (Channel 4) changed its graphics from navy blue and white to a brighter teal and yellow to differentiate itself from the reds, whites, and blues found so predominantly in its competitors' graphics.

"The redesign was more than just about what colors we are going to choose," says Wendy McMahon , WBZ's creative services director. "It was philosophically: How do we want to feel? With our color choices, we adopted a cleaner, brighter, and more contemporary look."

She says the brighter blue and warmer yellow convey a fresher look to the audience. "People want to be able to feel comfortable when they watch a newscast. They want to feel they are connecting with the personalities and with the news so you don't want it to feel cold. Some stations use red to warm themselves up. The issue with red is that it could be deemed sensational and hype-ish. We wanted to avoid that connotation."

Last fall, when WBZ's parent company , CBS, gave its evening newscast a makeover with input from Boston image consulting firm National Ministry of Design , the network switched from the traditional straight lines and blue colors that were the standards during Dan Rather's tenure to softer curves and golden oranges for Katie Couric's arrival. The idea was to make the newscast inviting and livelier than it was during Rather's regime. The new color scheme casually radiates a morning feel for an evening newscast, news observers have said. Whether it was the redesign or viewers' lack of interest in seeing Couric at night, the show remains stuck in third place in the ratings.

A few years ago, a writer at Salon.com poked fun at the use of orange in CNN's "Connie Chung Tonight," calling it the "color of insanity." The creative design team at NECN wants to avoid such ridicule. Designers there are about to launch a set redesign, the first in seven years. They're weighing which colors and details to use to update the current news desk, which now gives off a serious and sophisticated look, says Tony Sutliff , director of creative services. He wants the makeover to transmit a more vivid and contemporary feel about the network.

"It needs to have more energy, more of a modern feel," Sutliff says, adding that NECN 's logo will continue to be maroon and gold.

Lisa Rosowsky , a professor at the Massachusetts College of Art , says there is a limited color palette that designers could use for television. She says some colors -- such as red and blue, the hallmarks of WCVB, WHDH-TV (Channel 7), and WFXT-TV (Channel 25) -- clearly work better than others, because they project different messages.

"Blue is the single most popular color, so blue is a safe bet," she says. "It's a color that no one can take issue with. Red is a powerful color, the color of power, the color of energy. Red and blue have connotations in patriotism that we see clearly as uniquely American. The combination means we hit an audience that includes everyone. It's a good pair."

Margaret Miele , a color psychologist at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, agrees. She finds that traditional banking institutions as well as TV networks use soothing blues because they are softer on the eye. Red is more eye-grabbing.

"Typically, red is a color that is used to indicate a kind of cutting edge, at least in modern times," she says. "The human visual system handles red a little differently than other colors. Red tends to cast a larger image on the retina. When you pair red with gold, then it changes a little bit. The pairing is meant to evoke a sense of something that is every elite."

Miele adds that as more news can be found on the Web or from 24-hour cable channels, local news stations will likely overhaul their sets and fuse them with high- energy colors such as shades of red to keep viewers engaged. Yellow, on the other hand, tends to transmit sunny but cheap, she says.

" In the news, it would take away from their [station's] credibility," she says of yellow. "Information is transmitted in a variety of ways and very quickly. It sort of warrants that the news stations identify themselves as the ones with the energy. The colors can help to do that by helping to incorporate some red."

Some colors, such as green, are not used as much on the newscasts because they either irritate or don't transmit well on screen.

"Green is a color that designers love but clients hate. It invokes strong feelings," adds Rosowsky, mentioning that she loves the color. "When I scroll through the channels, it's a sea of red and blue. If a station wants to have a distinctive look, it would have to avoid red and blue."

Rosowsky says that orange seems to be a color that has come into vogue the last five years. NBC's "Today" show, which is ranked No. 1 among network morning news shows, relies heavily on fiery orange hues in its graphics.

"Orange is the new red," she says. "It's sort of a younger and hipper red. It's also vibrant and lively but not as common and not quite as conservative as red."

At WCVB, where the station just implemented its first set makeover in eight years, gold is being used to accent the graphics and the bright red station logo sparingly because gold appears muddy on high-definition TVs , a spokeswoman said.

"The initial vision was clarity," says Bryan Kelleher , a graphic designer at WCVB.

"We wanted to pick a type, pick a tone that was classy and clear," Nelligan adds. "It reinforces and doesn't distract from the message that the journalists are trying to get across."

Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.