as a bi person, the bisexual flag brings me infinite joy and always puts a smile on my face, however as a person who has a Passion for Graphic Design, that undersaturated shade of purple infuriates me when it's used digitally
like, on an actual flag - which was its original purpose - it looks great!
those look fine! lovely, even! with the semi-transparent fabric, the way it catches the sunlight, it looks beautiful!
but now look at how it looks digitally
the pink and blue are so vibrant compared to the sad, lonely lavender!
and let's look at this statement from Michael Page, the creator of the bi flag:
(sidenote: he created this flag in 1998, so if his takes on bisexuality is different from yours, it's okay to notice that! a lot has changed since the 90s when it comes to lived experiences and the way we describe them. but, it's also important to respect his thoughts about this and the way he presented them, even if today, we'd probably not say that bi people "blend unnoticeably into both the gay/lesbian and straight communities.")
so in pantone colors, the pink is 226 C, the blue is 286 C, and the purple of the flag is 258 C.
but...here's the deal
Michael talks here about how the key to understanding the symbolism is to know that the purple blends into both the pink and blue. and on a physical flag, I think you can see that!
but digitally, it absolutely does not blend. it clashes badly, and looks oddly separate from the other two colors.
which got me wondering...what purple do you get if you actually blend 226 C and 286 C?
oh! oh, my god.
look at that! look at how nicely it fits between those colors!
look at it next to the original color scheme! look at how much more vibrant the purple is!
and friends. this is just blending through rgb! you get even more purple variations when you use other color spaces!
let's compare all of them:
(top: original, lab. middle: lrgb, lch. bottom: rgb, hsl)
look at all of the different purple options you can get just by combining these two colors!
if you want almost too-vibrant saturation, you can go hsl, if you want something more relaxed that's closer to the original, you can go lab or lrgb. and if you want to split the difference, lch is bright and violet, while rgb is there with its saturated but darker purple.
anyway, I guess I don't really have a point here? this isn't so much an informational post as it is Me Getting Weird About Colors, but I think it is a useful lesson about how colors look very different on screens compared to how they look on objects in real life.
and sometimes, I think it's okay to compensate for that.
out of all of these, this is my favorite bi flag:
it's the one where the colors were blended in lab color space. for me, the lighter, softer purple is close enough to the original bi flag purple, while also feeling like a smoother blend of the blue and pink
but that's just me! and it might not even look the same to you, since every screen is different, because technology is a nightmare!
anyway, thank you for coming with me on this colorful journey! I will now retreat back to inkscape and make pained sounds about inkstitch gradients until something tangible pulls me back into reality
19K notes
·
View notes
I love you he/him lesbians
I love you she/her gays
I love you "weird kids" with split dyed black and pink hair and they/it/bun in their bio
I love you boys in skirts and dresses and corsets who are still cis
I love you trans girls who love their masculine features and don't change how masculine or feminine they present
I love you trans boys who still love being feminine and hope you land the best suckerpunch on anyone who says "but isn't that just being a girl"
I love you gays who kiss their boyfriends and girlfriends and partners and joyfriends and all kinds of significant others in the hallways to flaunt that they're not straight
I love you people who wear flags and rainbows to shove your gayness or transness in people's faces
I love you straight guys who love makeup but can't wear it around your friends
I love you people who coin obscure genders and use only neo/xenopronouns(seriously y'all are so cool and I wish i could design flags half as cool as yours)
I love you all aromantic/asexual people
I love you all the people that the lgbtq+ community chooses to outcast to appease the world which would destroy us all
I hate you lgbtq+ community members who choose to attack those who are on your team in an effort to seem "normal"
12K notes
·
View notes
I took my dad to pride today. After asking him and saying what itt might entail, I made him a free dad hugs sign:
While walking there, a lot of people pointed at him and said it was a cute idea. They were right.
My (and his) personal highlights were:
A guy hugging him and saying something in Ukrainian (bc of the flag, probably)
Someone asking him if they can call him "daddy" (I had to explain to him why I started laughing. He now knows.)
Someone giving him a rose
Someone kissing him on the cheeck
A lot of people seeing me standing around awkwardly while there was a line forming in front of him and hugging me too
A guy my dad's age hugging him with tears in his eyes
A kid my age shouting "I don't have a father!", Running towards and almost tackling him
A guy in a fetish-related dog mask hugging him and clinging to him like a lifeline
Two children between eight and ten initiating a group hug with him and giggling the entire time
Everyone thanking him afterwards and a lot of people saying he gives the best hugs in the world. One guy said he'd never been hugged like that before
This guy in a moving lorry shouting and making the lorry stop driving to get a hug from my dad:
My dad said that the majority of people hugging him were either older (25-60) queer men or younger (15-25) trans people. He really loved the experience and felt like a lot of the people, especially the older guys really needed it.
Anyway we're definitely doing this again next year
53K notes
·
View notes