Computational production of colour harmony. Part 2: Experimental evaluation of a tool for gui colour scheme creation

Abstract

Although webpage and computer interface designers generally have little experience at generating effective colour schemes, colour selection appears only rarely in user interface design literature. This article describes the experimental evaluation of an algorithmic technique that applies colour harmony rules to the selection of colour schemes for computer interfaces and web pages. The technique uses a genetic algorithm to evolve colour schemes; the evolutionary path is determined by a quantitative colour harmony evaluation function.Our technique first creates abstract colour schemes by applying those rules to specific features of the interface or web page; the user then holistically modifies the scheme's overall colour cast, overall saturation, and light-dark distribution, producing colourings that are both harmonious and usable. We demonstrate experimentally that the software is relatively simple to use and produces colourings that are well-received by humans.In an earlier article, the criteria for a colour harmony tool for computer interfaces and websites were described and used in the design of the Colour Harmoniser, our software implementation of a system that is based on classical rules of colour harmony, adapted and extended to suit graphical user interfaces.In this article, we describe two sets of experiments that have demonstrated the usability and effectiveness of the Colour Harmoniser tool, compared with standard methods of colour selection. These experiments suggest that the tool functions somewhat more effectively than we originally anticipated, producing colour schemes that were rated more highly on several quality scales than those produced by random choice, by humans who self-classify as nonartists, and by humans who self-classify as artists.

Relationship between Forest Color Characteristics and Scenic Beauty: Case Study Analyzing Pictures of Mountainous Forests at Sloped Positions in Jiuzhai Valley, China

“…Figure 3 shows an example of an original pictures converted to a 147-color pattern by Matlab, thereby simplifying the colors in the photo. According to previous research, color attribute factors such as the ratio of main color, hue, saturation, and value were selected [17,19]. We selected five color indicators based on current research and the color characteristics of Jiuzhai Valley.…”

An interactive method for generating harmonious color schemes

“…Moretti et al . created a 3D mathematical tool to generate harmonious color schemes for coloring computer interfaces and websites.…”

“…Moretti et al 24,25 created a 3D mathematical tool to generate harmonious color schemes for coloring computer interfaces and websites. It allows the user to choose among several color schemes, and then alter the overall hue orientation of the color scheme, to change the lightdark balance and to manipulate the overall lightness and saturation of the scheme.…”

Perceptually‐based Color Assignment

“…We look for a more general coloring scheme that provides a host of control parameters to incorporate user's intent. Moretti et al [MLM13, MML13] introduced a software tool called “Colour Harmonizer” that takes user's color selection from which to generate color schemes for target templates. Its main focus however is on a rather specific template type such as webpages.…”