Light to dark or dark to light?

Su, Zhang, Zhu, and Xia found that “Gradient colours are widely used in product design. The variation of gradient colours muting a colour as a series of steps from bright to dull creates a soft and gradual impression while also affecting people’s perceptions. . . . In the case of controlling for aesthetic differences, [this] study manipulated two types of colour gradients (dark colours fading upward from the bottom versus downward from the top) and measured the perceptions of product stability. In the same hue, an upward gradient gives a stronger perception of stability. . . . participants evaluated colour fading-upward products with less weight relative to fading-downward colours. Furthermore, dark colours fading upward from the bottom lead to a stronger perception of weight, increasing the stability perception of the object.”

Xing Su, Jieying Zhang, Qi Zhu, and Tiansheng Xia. 2023. “The Influences of Gradient Colour on the Weight Perception and Stability Perception:  A Preliminary Study.”  i-Perception, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 1-11, https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695231197797