Tumblr Color Theory Children's Hospital Post depicting an image of a hospital floor painted with a red trail of paint resembling blood.

Tumblr Color Theory Children's Hospital Post

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Updated Jul 28, 2022 at 02:31PM EDT by Zach.

Added Jul 28, 2022 at 10:33AM EDT by Phillip Hamilton.

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About

Tumblr Color Theory Children's Hospital Post is a viral reblog thread on Tumblr where a user claims that red, painted pathways on a hospital floor do not necessarily look like blood because, in color theory, red has more positive than negative connotations. The post was made in January 2019 and gained viral spread that year, inspiring memes where red painted and bloody floors are referenced as children's hospital floors.

Origin

On January 18th, 2019, Tumblr[1] user memewhore posted an image macro showing a purported children's hospital with red painted pathways leading down the hallway and into the rooms (shown below). The caption reads, "So our local children's hospital recently redecorated, but I'm not too sure they really thought things out," implying the red paint looks like bloody trails. The post gained over 428,000 notes in three years.


So our local children's hospital re- cently redecorated, but I'm not too sure they really thought things out 00001

Over the course of the month, users reblogged the post with additional text, creating a thread. On January 21st, Tumblr[2] user gildatheplant commented, "Literally any other colour would’ve been a better choice guys." That month, Tumblr user mintymaiden reblogged the post and commented (now deleted), "I’d like to point out that the colour red has more positive than negative meanings," along with a color theory chart showing the connotations of red according to color theory (shown below).


ichigo-hiyoko: mintymaiden: gildatheplant: Literally any other colour would've been a better choice guys. willpower power love energy enthusiasm leadership strength determination warmth Positive meanings Negative meanings im sorry but this reply absolutely killed me danger alert war anger violence lust stress passion I'd like to point out that the colour red has more positive than negative meanings. red can mean whatever the heck you want it to mean, that is never going to change that this straight up looks like they DRAGGED A BLOODY BODY ACROSS THE F------ FLOOR

Tumblr user ichigo-hiyoko then responded:

red can mean whatever the heck you want it to mean, that is never going to change that this straight up looks like they DRAGGED A BLOODY BODY ACROSS THE FUCKING FLOOR.

Tumblr user youthful-pills commented by providing a link to the interaction-design.org[3] page on color theory in defense of mintymaiden, writing:

Hi fun fact, colors do have meaning and there is a legit thing called color theory. Red does has more positive connotations than negative like the @mintymaiden said. Red is associated with more love, lust, passion than blood and death just like the chart shows you but If you want, here’s a link for you to check it out yourself. Also, check out “The Designer’s Dictionary of Color” by Sean Adams. Have fun learning something.

On January 29th, Tumblr[4] user eternal-dannation commented, "this post is the perfect summation of tumblr’s reading comprehension and critical thought abilities" (post shown below, click to expand).


scoopisboopis leg-stealing-bee So our local children's hospital re- cently redecorated, but I'm not too sure they really thought things out gildatheplant Literally any other colour would've been a better choice guys. mintymaiden willpower energy power enthusiasm leadership Xoxo strength determination passion -Designer What is Color Theory? 8881 warmth forlovefromfear Positive meanings diasporanpapi I think y'all are missing the point here. Negative meanings eternal-dannation danger I'd like to point out that the colour red has more positive than negative meanings. cazador-red ichigo-hiyoko im sorry but this reply absolutely killed me red can mean whatever the heck you want it to mean, that is never going to change that this straight up looks like they DRAGGED A BLOODY BODY ACROSS THE FIORE FLOOR â’¸ alert youthful-pills Hi fun fact, colors do have meaning and there is a legit thing called color theory. Red does has more positive connotations than negative like the @mintymaiden said. Red is associated with more love, lust, passion than blood and death just like the chart shows you but If you want, here's a link for you to check it out yourself. Also, check out "The Designer's Dictionary of Color" by Sean Adams. Have fun learning something wildhaunt war anger violence lust stress You can theorize to Nebraska and back but that doesn't change my immediate reaction which is that someone is literally dragging a corpse around Color theory don't Mean s--- when You is Leaving Blood trails jhenne-bean I like that the presumption here is that "No One On Tumblr Has Heard of Color Theory, Let Me Explain in Depth" rather than simply acknowledging that the VISUAL EFFECTS of this particular color choice, applied in the manner it was, can still amount to "this is a hospital and that looks like blood" like, color theory doesn't exist in a vacuum. If your design of choice for Blood Red Paint is asymmetric splatters and sploches against the wall, or in this case, a snail trail on the hallway's floor, an infographic won't override the viewers' instinct. this post is the perfect summation of tumblr's reading comprehension and critical thought abilities Homicide detectives: why are you dragging that bleeding corpse around? Me, an intellectual: well you see it's basic color theory...

Spread

The post gained viral spread over the following years and inspired memes referencing it. On June 27th, 2020, Cheezburger[5] published an article about the post. On September 21st, 2021, Tumblr[6] user trustmeimanengiqueer posted an image of a water fountain dyed red to allegedly raise awareness about breast cancer, writing, "But this would be really good for a children’s hospital," gaining over 78,000 notes in 10 months (shown below).


22 Of The Worst Design Fails That People... X aubtu.biz #10. "My Company Wanted To Make Our Fountain Pink For Breast Cancer Awareness Didn't... Quite Get It Right" â—Źâ—Źâ—Ź BoeJenjamin

On September 25th, Tumblr[7] user ned-b posted a meme referencing the post, gaining over 115,000 notes in 10 months (shown below, left). On March 24th, 2022, Tumblr[8] user possumpunky posted an edit of the original hospital meme where the red is replaced with other colors, writing, "Do You Love The Colours Of The Children’s Hospital?" gaining over 67,500 notes in four months (shown below, left).


*anything with a suspicious red splotch or streak on a white background * tumblr: Could be a children's hospital FOO I'm so sorry 8880 Do You Love The Colours Of The Children's Hospital? have done

On July 24th, 2022, Redditor CharmQuark posted a version of the meme to /r/CuratedTumblr,[9] gaining over 4,100 upvotes in four days (shown below).



Various Examples


Ball Horse shaving Connecticut Plinko ads Clark Apollo Gift of Prophecy Color of The Sky Color Theory Children's Hospital "Sweden doesn't share food" I was on a ferris wheel today and this is what the seats looked like THE 400 Clearly the designers/builders/whatever understand color theory 100 Finally, a hotel that understands color theory 3 t random pic with blood on the floor 百科事典 Is this color theory?

Search Interest

External References

[1] Tumblr – memewhore

[2] Tumblr – gildatheplant

[3] Interaction Design – Color Theory

[4] Tumblr – eternal-dannation

[5] Cheezburger – Tumblr Breaks Down Color Theory

[6] Tumblr – trustmeimanengiqueer

[7] Tumblr – ned-b

[8] Tumblr – possumpunky

[9] Reddit – CuratedTumblr

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Top Comments

Gumshoe
Gumshoe

in reply to Pyroniusburn

It's also just a stupid understanding of colour theory. It really doesn't matter "how many" meanings a colour has, or that some completely subjective and non-comprehensive list you made has more that are positive than negative. Red doesn't mean 20 things at once. We don't mentally tally up all the connotations when we see and then decide "well overall I'm getting more positive than negative vibes off this". It's usually one or maybe a two or three things, and it completely depends on the context its in. When someone sees red lipstick or lingerie, that might represent love or passion or lust, but its not also simultaneously representing war and leadership.

Colour theory is supposed to be a bit more sophisticated and nuanced than a colour just being net "positive" or "negative".

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