Color

When diving, it is crucial to have a shammy, which is a small towel-like piece of fabric that absorbs a lot of water. Divers dry off their legs before dives so that when in a tuck position their hands don’t slip off of their legs. My shammy is the blue and green one pictured below. Both of the shammies pictured below have analogous color schemes. Analogous color schemes are “built from hues that sit near to each other on the color wheel (analogous colors) have minimal chromatic differences” (Lupton & Phillips 83). One shammy is different shades of blue with some green added in while the other one is mainly purple, pink, red, orange and yellow. In both cases the colors on the individual shammies are very close to each other on the color wheel which is why they have analogous color schemes. The purple, pink, red, orange and yellow shammy is a warm color scheme whereas the blue and green shammy is a cool color scheme. We also use shammies to scoop hot water onto ourselves to keep warm in between dives. In the first and third picture the shammies are in the tub of hot water and the vibrant colors of each shammy contrast well with the monotone color of the black tub.

This may be strange, but my shammy is something that brings me a lot of comfort in diving. Whenever I am anxious about dives during a meet, I play with my shammy to distract myself and calm my nerves. I would definitely say that the cool and calm colors of my shammy play a role in calming nerves and providing a distraction. 

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Photo taken at Lawrence University pool. Shammies demonstrate analogous color schemes. 

Photo taken at Lawrence University pool. Shammies demonstrate cool and warm color schemes.  

Photo taken at Lawrence University pool. Shammies demonstrate contrast with monotone color. 

Lupton, Ellen. Graphic Design: the New Basics. 2015.