Dimensions of color harmony

Abstract

Twenty-one subjects rated a random sequence of 144 color pairs on a categorical scale ranging from 1 (harmonizing) to 7 (clashing). Another group of 35 subjects rated each individual color on a set of semantic differential scales. The colors were also scaled objectively in terms of Munsell measures for hue, chroma, and value. The color harmony ratings were analyzed by using multidimensional scaling and invoking a weighted individual-differences Euclidean distance model. A two-dimensional solution accounted for 83.1 % ofthe variability in the transformed data matrices. On the basis of supplementary regression analyses, it was found that hue, value (brightness), and the psychological attribute "pleasantness," were the factors that influenced the color harmony judgments. In general, harmonious color combinations involved colors that were similar with regard to these attributes.Color harmony , the "suitability" of juxtaposed colors, is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by the individual colors' characteristics (i. e., hue, brightness, saturation) and their relative areas _ The most extensive study of this phenomenon was conducted by Helson and Lansford (1970), whose subjects rated the pleasantness of 125 colors on 25 colored backgrounds in five sources of illumination_ The principle factor determining the pleasantness of color combinations was brightness contrast -the most pleasant combinations involved large brightness differences between color and background, whereas the least pleasant combinations involved little or no difference.Hue and saturation contrast were less decisive factors . In the case of saturation, large differences between color and background tended to be judged as being more pleasant than were small differences; however, small differences in saturation could be judged as being pleasant or unpleasant, depending on whether or not there was a high degree of brightness contrast. The findings regarding hue differences were even more equivocal. Earlier studies had shown that the more pleasant combinations involved either zero, small, or large hue differences between color and background, but not intermediate. Helson and Lansford (1970) found that this generalization held for some hue families, but not for others.Helson and Lansford 's (1970) overall conclusion was that color harmony is not easily predicted and depends on the interaction of the spectral characteristics of illumination source, background color, and the hue, brightness, and saturation of the object color.

The modeling of harmonious color combinations for improved usability and UX

“…Polzella & Montgomery [20] found that the more harmonious combinations involved colors of similar brightness or similar hue, which matches afore mentioned principles. The parameter of saturation seems to have no effect on color harmony.…”

“…The worst rated combinations on the other hand showed little or no difference. This conclusion was later found not to be generally applicable [20]. Another study [25] focused also on the combination of foreground and background color, but in the context of legibility, which describes the visual clarity of text -in short legibility is how well one can see the letters [1].…”

“…So this model defines the combined pleasantness as color harmony value. Polzella & Montgomery [20] had their subjects rating 12 base colors in order to calculate a pleasantness scale for these colors. We used this scale to build a lookup table (LT) for our pleasantness intersection model.…”

“…Therefore several researches have been done, e.g. [20][4] [22] [19], however these studies focus on the relationship between two colors, respectively foreground and background color. Other studies on mathematical models for color combination cover the influence on legibility and readability [11][3] [25].…”

Consumer preferences for color combinations: An empirical analysis of similarity‐based color relationships

“…However, the details of their theories differed considerably and empirical tests were infrequent and conflicting (Ou & Luo, 2006). More recently, researchers have presented participants with pairs of color patches and collected ratings of “harmoniousness” or “clashing.” The presented pairs were typically based on changing one aspect of color at a time (e.g., brightness or hue) and the empirical results were often mixed or conflicting (e.g., Chuang & Ou, 2001; Polzella & Montgomery, 1993; Ou & Luo, 2006).…”