(Watch David Zwang’s video interview with Kevin Abergel here.)

Embellishment has been a function of print production for as long as there has been printing. In fact, it almost goes back to the beginning of the writing of documents. The process of embellishment which has also been known as “illumination” can be traced back to religious texts before the first century. As early as the 4th century BCE, the Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed his theory about sensation hierarchy. He stated that our five senses are ordered hierarchically with touch on the beginning. Aristotle argued, “Touch provided an authentic picture of the intrinsic nature of the object.” For instance, the soft fur of a kitten would be indicating its inherent softness character.

While touch is classified as one of the five senses along with sight, smell, taste, and hearing, it is the one sense that has an essential role among all of the sensory experiences: touch is one of the hardest senses to be manipulated or counterfeited and the sense that customers trust the most. Using color to establish an emotional connection along with touch provides a two-pronged approach toward developing a strong perception and perhaps even solidifying the engagement.