Crimson & Emerald & Magenta

Crimson is the spotlight — the deep vivid crimson-to-red of the theatrical spotlight in the rave and club environment. The rave lighting tradition descends directly from the theatrical and discotheque lighting technology of the 1970s-1980s: specifically the PAR can (Parabolic Aluminized Reflector — a sealed beam lamp used for theatre and concert lighting from the 1970s, producing a hard-edged, high-intensity beam in various colors depending on the colored gel placed over the lamp), and the use of colored follow-spots (manually operated spotlight units) to illuminate DJs, VJs, and stage elements in the dark warehouse environment. The specific crimson-to-red of the rave spotlight: in the typically very dark warehouse or factory space (minimal ambient light, maximizing the impact of the lighting effects), the occasional sweep of a deep crimson-red spotlight over the dancing crowd creates the most dramatically exciting and most viscerally stimulating visual effect — the combination of the deep-dark environment and the vivid crimson creates the highest local luminance contrast and the most immediately attention-commanding warm color in the visual field. Emerald is the laser — the vivid jewel-green of the green laser show that became the most characteristic visual element of large-scale rave and electronic music events from approximately 1990. The first continuous-wave green laser systems commercially available for entertainment use (approximately 1990-1995) used argon-ion gas lasers (producing vivid green-to-blue-green beams at 488 nm blue-green and 514.5 nm green) or krypton-ion lasers (with a more vivid emerald-green at 520-532 nm). The specific 532 nm green (the most common wavelength for modern solid-state DPSS — Diode-Pumped Solid-State — green lasers) corresponds almost exactly to the peak sensitivity of the human eye's photopic (daylight) vision — making green the most visible of all laser colors and the most immediately dramatic in a dark environment. The emerald-green laser became so strongly associated with rave culture that laser shows are still one of the most instantly recognizable visual signatures of large-scale electronic music events (festivals: Glastonbury, Tomorrowland, Ultra, Coachella). Magenta is the UV fluorescence — the electric magenta-to-pink of UV (ultraviolet — 'blacklight') fluorescence in the rave environment. UV blacklights (emitting primarily at 365 nm — the most effective UV-A wavelength for exciting fluorescent compounds) were one of the most characteristic elements of rave décor from the earliest events — the combination of very dark ambient conditions with UV blacklights caused white and pale-colored clothing, UV-reactive body paint, and specially treated paper and fabric to appear to glow in vivid fluorescent colors. The most characteristic UV-fluorescent colors in the rave context: fluorescent magenta (produced by UV-reactive textile dyes using specific fluorescent compounds — often stilbene-based optical brighteners or rhodamine-based dyes); fluorescent green (produced by fluorescein-based or coumarin-based dyes); and fluorescent yellow-orange. The smiley face iconography: the acid house movement adopted the smiley face (a simple circular face with dot eyes and curved smile — originally designed in 1963 by commercial artist Harvey Ball as a workplace morale badge for State Mutual Life insurance company employees in Worcester, Massachusetts) as its primary visual symbol in approximately 1988-1989 — the original acid house smiley was typically rendered in neon yellow or orange-to-magenta on a black background, creating the most immediately fluorescent-appearing and most culturally charged symbol of the acid house movement.