I’m back with more Kindergarten ramblings, about the principals!
I already briefly talked about the colours used in their designs in this post. But I had more thoughts about them. I don’t know if any of this was intentional from the creators at all. Meaning once again I’m probably rambling for the sake of it.
First thing first, we know David is the only principal who is not evil. He wanted to help the children. Unlike Jerome’s dad, Penny’s mother and Regis who experiment and abuse children to get what they want.
Last time, I talked about how Penny’s mother dresses in bright pink, using it as a deceptive way to come off as kind and non-threatening. But this time I want to talk about the colours used for all the principals and how it relates to their characters. Since I’ve been drawing portraits of them and noticed a detail in the colours used.
As I was colour picking their palettes, to alter them slightly, so it wouldn’t be too bright for my fanart. I noticed a few details. Obviously each principal has a main colour. Jerome’s dad has a blue suit. Penny’s mother has a pink shirt and purplish pants. Regis has his purple overalls. And David has his yellow/orange jumper and brown trousers.
I want to start with the colours and their symbolism as I do think they reflect the different personalities they have. But mainly how the colours for Jerome’s dad, Penny’s mother and Regis contrasts to David.
As shown by the colour wheel, blue, purple and pink are next to each other. With blue, purple and certain pinks being considered cooler colours. Unlike yellow and orange which are at the other side of the colour wheel. With pink and orange being separated by red. Having David wear colours further away from the other principals is another way of separating him from them. Apart from him being the only non-evil one.
Starting with Jerome’s dad, his main colour is a desaturated, cool toned blue. One of the main things that blue symbolises is calm. Which I do think sort of works for him. While he’s not fully calm, shown when he shouts for the monster to get away from him, for the most part he seems able to control his kindergarten. Which he mostly does through listening devices, explosives, the pills. Then shooting anyone who he seems as too much trouble. Of course this control is broken when Kid arrives. But blue also has other associations such as sadness. Which he actively causes to others. Such as kidnapping Lily’s brothers which upsets her greatly and kicks off her whole thing of trying to uncover the plot. The link could also be made that his creation of the monsters, ultimately leads to his own death, which causes Jerome to be upset.
Moving onto Penny’s mother, her main colour is pink. Though she doesn’t have just one shade of pink. The main colour of her shirt skews towards to being a cooler toned pink. Though there is a lighter, warmer pink that I’m not actually sure of what it is. It doesn’t seem like lighting, seeing as it’s on her shoulders. But also across her entire sleeve cuffs. Then there’s a slightly duller pink, which I assume are buttons. Finally her pants being slightly closer to a cool, purplish-pink. Though pink itself as a colour is mostly associated with love. Which she wants to come off as, as well as trying to appear as kind and understanding. Which pink also symbolises. With the purplish pink it has ties to power, as purple as seen as a rich. Due to its history with the nobility. And so far I think Penny’s mother is probably one of the richer characters. Seeing as how big her lab is compared to the others, the mutator machine she has. And also being able to turn Penny into a cyborg with laser eyes, x-ray vision and storage compartment. Nevermind the multiple control remotes. I swear that woman is rich.
Now talking about Regis, his main colour is purple. The shade of purple Regis is a sort of cool toned purple. Purple has a few different meanings associated with it. One of the main associations it has is with royalty and power, as back in the past the due to create the colour was expensive and only the rich could afford it. Also associated with ambition. This works perfectly for Regis as his whole motivation is power. He usurps and kidnaps David to get the position as principal. Then planned to give Kevin over to whoever “her” is. The colour can also be associated with mystery, which @jesterinsoup mentioned in their post here. (Thanks oomf! This post was really helpful!) This again works perfectly because as of now we don’t know who “her” actually is. And there’s the whole mystery of why there’s tunnels connecting all the schools. As well as why every Principal has a secret basement lair, and where they’ve gotten the money for them.
Lastly we get to David. Again he’s an odd one out compared to the others, in that his trousers are an obvious, noticeable different colour compared to his jumper. Unlike the other principals who don’t have a different colour at all, or just a slightly different shade. His jumper is a warm yellowish-orange. With his trousers being a warm brown. Yellow as a colour mostly symbolises joy and optimism. Which maybe David would be if he hadn’t have been kidnapped. But it also can symbolise cowardice and caution. Which I think is interesting as I wouldn’t say he actively shows any signs of cowardice. Caution could possibly work as he himself is in danger, but I’m not sure. Brown on the other hand is associated with warmth and comfort. For me this reflects how he’s not evil. And how he’s willing to help in any way he’s able to. Like despite being kidnapped and in distress, he’s the most genuinely friendly of the principals.
Another thing that sets David apart is his expression! Jerome’s dad has a colder expression, which I think could link again to how he’s mostly in control but is still constantly looming over the children as a threat. Penny’s mother mostly is smiling, as she keeps up the act of being caring and kind. Apart from a few moments where her control is disrupted. Then there’s Regis who looks constantly irritated and like he’s 5 seconds away from punting the thing nearest to him. Whereas David is just upset and in pure distress. Which makes sense, he’s been kidnapped and held prisoner for 2 days, by someone he trusted (I WILL GET TO THE WHOLE CHAIN AND COLLAR THING ONE DAY, I SWEAR!!!) which is an interesting contrast to his expression. If he hadn’t of been kidnapped, he’d probably have a different expression.
One final note not really related to colour palettes, that I want to mention is about their hair. David is the only one who appears to be balding, or at the least has grey in his hair. This could show that he’s a little older than the other principals. Or he gets stressed out very easily and that’s turning his hair grey. Maybe it’s both. I’m not sure.
Overall David differs from Jerome’s dad, Penny’s mother and Regis not only in his aims, actions and demeanour. But also in his colour palette, and how far away his colours are from the others. As the other principals colour palettes are right next to each other, showing how similar they are in goals. As well as the methods they use, which centre around mutating children for some form of power.
@jesterinsoup Regis’ outfit is actually a cool pink?!
Damn, this is why you shouldn’t spend 3 hours making analysis, to post just before 12 am. Looking at the bright pinks of Penny’s mother that late made his outfit look like a cold purple to me.
His color is giving fancy
