Correlations between color attributes and children's color preferences

This study examined the role of color attributes (lightness and saturation) on children's color preferences for interior room colors. It also investigated children's most preferred colors among each of the five major hue families in the Munsell color system using scale‐models. Previous color preference studies have typically been done with small color chips or papers, which are very different from seeing a color applied on wall surfaces. A simulation method allowed for investigating the value of color in real contexts and controlling confounding variables. Forty‐five color samples were displayed on scale‐models to 63 children ages 7–11 years old. This study identified children's most preferred colors among each of the five major hue families in Munsell color system. It also demonstrated that saturation was positively correlated with children's preferences in the red, green, blue, and purple hue families. In the yellow hue family, interestingly, lightness has a positive correlation with preferences. Children's gender differences were found in that girls prefer red and purple more than boys. These findings lead to color application guidelines for designers to understand better color and eventually to create improved environments for children and their families. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 452–462, 2014     

Impact of environment color on individual responses in public spaces of shopping malls

This study aims to explore the specific impact of a color's hue, saturation, and brightness value on people's evaluation, behavior, and emotions in the public space of existing shopping malls. Following a field investigation, color composition and distribution characteristics in the public spaces of shopping malls are summarized. In the real scenes, the hues of colors are mainly warm colors, with some supplemented by blue. The saturation of the majority colors, which are almost grayish colors, is lower than 33% and their brightness is very wide and evenly distributed. An experiment was then conducted in the laboratory, wherein photos taken and sounds recorded on-site were shown to participants; the participants were then asked to answer questionnaires based on the pleasure-arousal-dominance emotion and approach-avoidance behavior theories. The results showed that hue has a weak effect on individual responses, whereas saturation was found to have a significant effect. Moreover, the brightness difference between colors can cause a change in satisfaction, behavior intention, and emotion. Additionally, in the public spaces of shopping malls, the red color is more associated with embodied meaning, whereas the green color is more associated with referential meaning, in which different objects have significantly different influences.     

Associations of visual forms with colors: The minor role of emotion as the mediator

Associations of colors with a wide variety of visual forms were examined. Fifty visual forms were presented to Japanese participants, who were asked to report a color suitable to each visual form out of 15 colors. Correspondence analysis was applied to the responses, and four dimensions of configurations were obtained. The first and second dimensions were related to chromaticity or hue. In these dimensions, red and orange were associated with round symmetric shapes, yellow with shapes with sharp corners, violet and purple with irregular shapes with smooth curves, and cold colors such as blue and green with forms that consisted of simple geometrical elements such as triangles, squares, and circles. The third dimension was related to L* and b* in the CIELAB color space and to the stability of visual forms. Dimension 4 was not significantly related to any of L*, a*, and b*. In another experiment, participants rated the affective impressions of the colors and visual forms on semantic differential (SD) scales. The analyses of the SD data combined with the results of the color‐form associations suggest that the role of emotional meanings of colors and visual forms in mediating the associations was rather minor, and that world‐knowledge contributed considerably to the observed color‐form associations. Kandinsky's color‐form assignment was also examined, and except for the yellow‐triangle association, the assignment was not supported.     

Hue cycle described by graphs and color names

The color appearance of the hue cycle in equal radiance is described in hue, saturation, and brightness/lightness. The latter does not resemble CIE luminance Y (peaking at 555 nm green), but peaks near 570 nm yellow with minor peaks near 490 nm cyan and 530 c magenta. Saturation per watt peaks near 450, 530, 610 nm (blue, green, red). Newton's choice of seven spectrum colors, and particularly his two bluish colors, is explained as major colors rather than merely different hues.     

Hue,saturation, lightness,and building exterior preference: An empirical study in Turkey comparing architects' and nonarchitects' evaluative and cognitive judgments

This study investigated architects' and nonarchitects' evaluative and cognitive judgments of color on building exteriors. Thirty architects and 30 high school teachers living in Izmir, Turkey participated in the study. The experiment had two phases. First, participants viewed eight images, in which the color of a building exterior was manipulated with hues selected from HSB (hue, saturation, and brightness) color space. Participants were then asked to rate each image on 7‐point semantic differential scales measuring preference (like–dislike), arousal (arousing–sleepy), naturalness (natural–artificial), and relaxation (relaxing–distressing). Second, participants viewed the same building in nine saturation and lightness levels for each hue and picked the most preferred lightness and saturation level for each hue. Findings showed that for a building exterior: (1) yellow and blue were the most liked colors, (2) some hues were rated as more arousing, more natural, and more relaxing over the others, (3) gender had an effect on color preference and semantic ratings of naturalness and relaxation, (4) architects and nonarchitects differed in their color preference and semantic ratings of arousal and naturalness, and (5) full bright and moderate to low saturated colors and full saturated and moderate to high bright colors were preferred more. The results have practical implications for architects and urban designers. A successful coloration of a building exterior may increase its use frequency and economical value. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 395–405, 2008     

Correspondence analysis of color–emotion associations

Emotions are often associated with colors, but what mediates color–emotion associations is not fully understood. This study examined associations between colors and emotions using correspondence analysis. The hypothesis that emotions are associated with colors through the correspondence between the hue circle and the circumplex model of emotion/affect was tested. Participants viewed 40 colors and reported a word that expressed an emotion that they associated with or felt in response to each color. Participants' responses were aggregated into a contingency table of colors and emotion words, and a correspondence analysis was conducted. An eight‐dimensional biplot was obtained. The first and second dimensions were related to hue, and the hue configuration was similar to colors' spectral trajectory in the CIE xy space or the CIELAB a*b* color space. The configuration of emotions was not consistent with the circumplex model of emotion, which rejected the above hypothesis. The associations in dimensions 1 and 2 appeared to be mediated by the perceived temperature of colors and emotions. In dimensions 3–6, dimensions that seemed to reflect secondary associations based on cultural convention or personal experiences (such as white with emotionless and purity and blue with depression) were obtained. These results also demonstrated the usefulness of correspondence analysis for analyzing color–emotion associations due to its ability to reveal the underlying statistical structure of associations.     

Coffee cup color and evaluation of a beverage's “warmth quality”

Glass color may influence the evaluation of food and beverages as has been reported in a previous study where participants rated a cold beverage presented in a blue glass to be more thirst‐quenching than the same beverage poured into a green, yellow, or red glass. Our experiment sought to test whether container color also can affect the perceived temperature of a warm beverage. One hundred and twenty undergraduates were given warm coffee served in cups of different colors (blue, green, yellow, and red) and were asked to indicate which beverage was the warmest. Statistically significant differences among colors were found. The red cup was evaluated as containing the warmest beverage (38.3%), followed by the yellow (28.3%), the green (20.0%), and the blue (13.3%) cups. Conventional associations between warm versus cool colors are used to explain these results. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 79–81, 2014     

Individual differences of unique hue loci and their relation to color preferences

Loci of the four unique hues (red, green, blue, and yellow) on the equiluminant plane on the color display and three preferred colors were obtained from 115 normal trichromats. We sought possible correlations between these measures. Different unique hue loci were not correlated with each other. The three preferred colors were not correlated with each other. We found five combinations of significant correlation between a preferred color and unique hue settings, yet the overall tendency is not very clear. We conclude that individual differences in color appearance measured by unique hues and color preferences measured by asking for favorite colors may not be predicted from each other or even within a category because the differences in the earlier visual mechanisms can be compensated for and these high‐level measures can be influenced by learning and experience. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 29, 285–291, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20023     

Quantitative representation of floral colors

Human and insect pollinator perceived floral colors of 81 species of angiosperms (flowering plants) from Trivandrum (Kerala, India) was represented using the CIE 1976 L*a*b* color space and color hexagon, respectively. The floral color difference among human perceived red, yellow, and blue‐hued flowers and that of each flower from its respective pure hue was calculated using the CIE ΔE 2000 formula. Human perceived floral color difference values were consistently higher than 3.5, indicating the uniqueness of floral colors. Flowers perceived red and yellow by humans were dominant and of comparable proportions. Insect pollinators perceive most of the flowers as blue‐green. Quantitative representation of human and pollinator perceived floral colors would be invaluable to understand the information broadcasted by flowers. It can form the basis of flower grading in the floriculture industry and underpin objectivity in evolving the framework for national pollinator strategies.     

The appearance of colors produced by a minimum-energy stimulus and two pairs of fundamental colors

This article presents the results of experiments designed to measure the color appearance produced by a minimum-energy stimulus within very small color fields and exposed for a very short duration. The experiments also revealed the common nature of colors in both spatial and temporal reductions. The hue is shifted toward either red or green and then toward a line connecting yellow and blue on the chromaticity diagram. The decrease and increase in saturation and brightness, respectively, correspond to this variation in hue. The nature of the results pertaining to the mechanism of color perception led to the assumption that a color-sensation mechanism consisting of two pairs of fundamental colors acted functionally. These fundamental colors were calculated from the variations of the results obtained in color space, and were defined respectively as 513C, 510, 585, and 484 nm.     

The primary hue circle

Munsell started to base his color-order system on measured physical quantities, but it came to represent the order of colors us they ure perceived. The hue circle represents fundamental facts about color vision. The Munsell hue circle has anomalous placement of blue and the use ($five principal hues does not relate to color vision nor applied color science. A reoriented hue circle, labeled with the additive and subtractive primariesblue,green, red, yellow, magentu, and cyan-but retaining the existing Munsell hue spacing and sectors is proposed.The primury hue circle relates to vision and color-reproduction processes, so it should exert a unifying influence on color .science. 0 1993 John Wi1ey . & Sons. Inc..     

Lighting,indoor color,buying behavior and time spent in a store

Relationship between a store's lighting and indoor color and the measures of buying and time spent were studied with a study group of 440 men and 478 women who were 20–60 years old (M = 29.3, SD = 10.2). Two types of lighting (soft and bright) and 5 indoor colors (blue, yellow, green, red, and white) were used. Green color and the time spent in the store were statistically significant positive effects on product purchase. Time spent in the store was positively associated with soft lighting conditions, but negatively associated by red indoor color. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011     

The association between colors and emotions for emotional words and facial expressions

Color sensations are tied not only to other sensations, but also emotions. There have been many studies on this. One study regarding architectural color showed that colors were associated with mental status; for example, red relates to arousal, excitation, and stimulus. The purpose of the present study is to investigate how colors are evoked by emotions. The emotions were described both by emotional words and by schematic faces. Since facial expressions are accompanied by facial color, facial expressions should relate more closely to facial color than emotional words. Therefore, we used numerous color samples for our experiments to show discrimination sensitivity to stimuli in subtle differences of color. Some associations between colors and emotions were found, and the tendencies of associations were different among emotions. Anger, joy, surprise, sadness, and no emotion were connected to particular colors. The distribution of color responses in sadness was spread among bluish colors. The emotional tendencies, among anger, joy, surprise, and sadness, were similar in the two conditions of our experiment. However, in the schematic face condition, the color responses for all emotions were increased in the skin‐colored samples. Thus, the context of the face elicited the color responses.     

Hue and warm‐cool feeling as the visual resemblance criteria for iso‐CCT judgment

The hue perception and ‘warm‐cool’ feelings were investigated, in response to various lighting settings, following the adaptation to either 3500K or 5000K to compare which one—between conventional iso‐Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) and a new one based on CIE u'v′ color space—is more compatible with the visual perception. Twenty participants evaluated hue and warm‐cool feelings for 48 test lighting settings, by observing an empty gray booth. The results showed that yellow‐blue and ‘warm‐cool’ feelings are closely located around the Planckian locus, while red‐green roughly follows the line orthogonal to the Planckian locus in CIE u'v′ color space, at both 3500 K and 5000 K settings. This suggests that u'v′ color space correlates better with human perception.     

Hue,chroma, and lightness preference in Chinese adults: Age and gender differences

Recent studies have shown cultural differences in color preference. However, the color preference of people in China, which was found to have its own pattern, was yet to be studied in depth. The current study investigated color preference and the associated age and gender differences in an adult national sample (N = 1290) to provide a culture‐specific characteristic of color perception. Participants rated how much they liked each of 31 colors (four chroma‐lightness levels of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, plus three achromatic colors). We found a unique saturated color preference pattern characterized by red, cyan, and blue being preferred the most and orange as the least preferred chromatic color. The “red preference” phenomenon was observed in Chinese adults. Light colors were preferred the most in terms of chroma‐lightness level, followed by saturated, muted, and dark colors. The results of a principal component analysis of the 28 chromatic colors showed that blue‐green‐like colors (cool colors) constituted the largest proportion of color preference. The preference for orange and several dark colors increased with age, while that for bluish colors, purple, yellow, white, black, and light colors decreased. In terms of gender, women liked cyan, white, pink, and light colors and disliked red, orange, and dark colors more than men did. Our findings provide new empirical evidence about the color preference of Chinese and may offer some insight into the study of color preference and lay the foundations for future theoretical and practical research.     

Did the CIE get it right? A critical test of the CIE color domains for signal lights

Since 1951, the Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) has provided influential guidance on the choice of the most suitable colors for colored signal lights. In 1994, the CIE reviewed its 1975 recommendations for signal colors and has recently revised them. These revised recommendations have now been published as a CIE standard. This article reports an experiment designed to test those recommendations and to provide data on the reliability of signal color recognition under a range of conditions. Thirty young subjects (aged 18–28 years) and thirty older subjects (aged 50–64 years) named the colors of lights, the colors of which were located on or close to the color boundaries defined by the CIE for red, yellow, white, green, and blue colors. The angular diameter of the light was one min of arc. In a second experiment, half the subjects named the colors of the lights when the angular diameter was 5 min of arc. Observations were made under both dark and light adaptation. Red signals, especially those located in the CIE Class A domain, were reliably recognized under all conditions. Yellow near the red boundary of the CIE yellow domain tended to be confused with red, especially under dark adapted conditions at low signal illuminances. White was not a reliable signal color and was often confused with yellow, except for a white located near the blue boundary of CIE white. Green colors located near the blue boundary of the CIE color domain for green were less reliably recognized than those of longer dominant wavelength. Blue signal colors located within the CIE Class A blue domain were more reliable than expected, except at very low signal illuminances. There were significant differences in the performance of older compared to younger subjects, some of which can be explained by color shifts occurring as the result of the yellowing of the lens of the eye with age. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 26, 109–122, 2001     

A comparative analysis of the characteristics and images of costume colors in the traditional plays of Korea,China, and Japan

The purpose of this study was to analyze quantitatively the characteristics and images of costume colors in the traditional plays of Korea, China, and Japan. The study focused on the Korean Masque, Beijing Opera, and Kabuki costume colors based on a selection of 1135 color samples. The collected source data were selected by extracting digital color data by using the Eyedropper Tool of Photoshop 7.0. The RGB color data were transformed to H V/C and the attributes of hue and tone were analyzed. Color images were analyzed with the color image scales of IRI Color Design Institute and Shigenobu Kobayashi to increase the validity of the evaluated images. As a result, the “five element colors (red, yellow, purple–blue (PB), white, and black)” from the theory of “Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing” were used in the common stage costume colors of the Korean Masque, Beijing Opera, and Kabuki. Red, a preferred Asian color, was used most frequently in the costumes of these three traditional plays. A comparison of the traditional stage costume colors in the three northeast Asian countries revealed a difference in tones rather than in hues. First, the Korean Masque frequently used white in accordance with the tradition of white‐clad people and the cultural view of colors in which natural colors were preferred. Additionally, in the Masque, Koreans used colors based on the theory of Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing with high‐chroma tones. On the other hand, the Beijing Opera exhibited the gorgeous and strong color images of China, by adopting high‐chroma colors in the Five Element Color: R, Y, PB, white, and black. Last, in the Kabuki costumes, a variety of white, black, dull, light, dark, strong, vivid, deep, bright, and grayish tones played an important role in showing various color images. The costume color images of the traditional plays of the three countries revealed that all shared the use of dynamic, springy/casual, and gorgeous images in the strong contrast of five element colors. Regarding the differences, the Korean Masque exhibited natural images in favor of natural colors, whereas the Kabuki displayed modern, decent/formal images by using dull, dark, and grayish colors. The study results suggested that the three countries commonly used five element colors from the theory of Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing, but that their color images differed in terms of the tones used and the techniques for color combination. These results reflect that colors in the traditional costumes of the three countries are affected by their cultural codes, thereby representing the characteristics ofcertain peoples and cultural circles. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011     

Human brain activity and emotional responses to plant color stimuli

This study investigated how color stimuli that consisted of green foliage plants (Epipremnum aureum) with same sized area of Kalanchoe spp. plants with four different flower colors (white, yellow, pink, and red; Kalanchoe spp.) on a dark green background influenced the brain waves and emotions of 30 undergraduate students. Electroencephalography tests were performed in order to monitor the brain‐wave responses in the prefrontal, frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes in response to the different plant color stimuli. Fourteen pairs of adjectives on the semantic differential scale were used to measure emotional changes. A statistical analysis showed that all of the color stimuli correlated with some emotional keywords and physiological responses. Green plants (E.aureum) produced more positive attitudes, and brain functions were more active compared to those observed after the participants were exposed to white, yellow, pink, or red flowers on a green background. In addition, when participants looked at the green plants, the relative fast alpha power spectrum increased, indicating the involvement of improved concentration, creativity, and attention. However, optical stimuli from the yellow flowers had a positive effect on the parietal and occipital lobes, producing a high relative theta power spectrum and indicating that concentration was improved and that the subjects were happier. The choice of adjectives and the EEG patterns were weakly but significantly correlated. These results may have practical applications because green plants can be used in places where comfort and high concentration are required, plants with white and yellow flowers can be used to make a place more pleasant, and red flowering plants can be used to create a luxurious environment. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 307–316, 2014; Published online 28 December 2012 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/col.21788.     

Color,arousal, and performance—A comparison of three experiments

Three studies of the psychological and physiological effects on people of colored room interiors are described. Experiment 1 compared a colorful and a gray room, whereas in experiments 2 and 3 red and blue rooms were compared. The results indicate that the color of an interior space will have effects on many different levels. The perception of the room itself was affected, and the colors also had an impact on the emotions and physiology of those who stayed in the rooms. Strong, especially red, colors and patterns put the brain into a more excited state, sometimes to such an extent as to cause a paradoxical slowing of the heart rate. Introvert persons, as well as those already in a negative mood, became more affected than others, which caused severe changes in their performance. The series of experiments described here were among the first to be carried out in full‐scale rooms painted or otherwise decorated in various colors. One practical implication is that a moderate use of good color design will serve to improve the overall mood and well‐being of people. In future research more emphasis should be placed on color, as just one component in the highly complex real‐life situations. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 34, 141–152, 2009     

Changes in hue and saturation of chromatic lights presented in the peripheral visual field

The perception of ten different colors on a CRT display presented across the horizontal meridian of the visual field were measured to determine the range of relevant test stimuli for color zone map measurement. Hue and saturation judgments were used based on the opponent‐colors theory. The changes of the unique hue components for eccentric displays of red, yellow, green, and blue fall within the distribution range of previous results obtained using monochromatic lights. Chromatic displays of nearly unique hues with high saturation would be significant as test colors for measurement for a color zone map. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 28, 413–424, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10194