Color Card Classifications Simplify Selection

  One of the practical methods I believe would assist the paints sector, which aims to focus on digitalization and customer orientation, is presenting colors according to properly classified color families. I believe these recommendations will also provide a separate perspective for every display tool, from parquet flooring with relatively few alternative color options, to coatings and building materials. The primary condition for making color selections is comparison. An untrained eye can select medium-toned and clear colors quite comfortably. Medium-tone shades can be easily named at first glance; red, red with a pink cast, or red with an orange cast. However, as colors become lighter, darker, or muted, distinguishing tones becomes difficult even when a sample color is available for comparison: such as the difficulty in determining whether a dark burgundy has a cherry or tile tone to it.

Current Situation Assessment

Although presenting raw materials and/or finished products offered with color alternatives in physical color swatches or color display units appears sufficient, making selections that meet the goal through comparing small surfaces is difficult for consumers and industrial purchasers. In colored products, the coding system mostly presents the color through a name or number that does not provide the color's coordinates. While labeling with systems that clarify color coordinates, express which color family the color tone belongs to, and convey saturation certainly provides meaningful guidance to professional selectors, unfortunately in our society that is not color literate, this coding also falls short during the selection phase. Apart from selecting from physical swatches, a consumer trying to evaluate color alternatives for any product in the digital environment and take advantage of this convenience of modern life follows two main methods: Either they conduct preliminary research on the digital platform and shorten their physical shopping time, or they place their order directly from the digital platform. However, when wall paint or building materials are concerned, neither the sales point offering no trial opportunity nor the digital environment manages very successfully at presenting a tone sequence that would shorten the selection process. With these products, since the final result only becomes apparent after the product is applied to a large surface area and interaction with surrounding materials emerges, the color alternatives of the product must be presented with even greater care than, for example, a clothing or car color.

Problem 1

Unlike fan swatches, in channels where colors need to be classified by names, tones grouped under 4 primary color families (green, red, blue, yellow) do not provide sufficient comparison opportunity, so companies justifiably increase the number of color families in their product ranges: adding an orange family between the red and yellow families. The shortcoming of this method is the necessity of overlooking tones between the purple and red families, which generally occupy the two ends of the scale, in a horizontal arrangement.

Solution 1

The solution to this is to increase the primary color families to 8 and add the "magenta" family, which we can define as pink with a purple cast (with a blue touch), as a primary color family to the arrangement.

Problem 2

I believe the primary reason companies following the color spectrum in their presentations struggle to direct consumers toward satisfaction is that neutral colors and whites are presented in a separate class from the primary color families. The unwanted surprising result that may appear (and generally does appear) when the product is applied—that is, when a color named as neutral casts too much green, too much pink, or too much yellow—the customer tends to blame the brand rather than their own choice. I also think the consumer is not obliged to know or have previously experienced that a color identical to the original on the swatch will be perceived differently on a large surface. For example, when a beige with a red cast is not placed in the red family but presented among earth tones or neutral colors, I conclude that both the goal of the greatest sales rule—"shortening the purchasing decision process"—is sabotaged, and the potential of leaving the customer facing a tone different from their expectation increases.  

Solution 2

Instead of opening separate categories for whites and tones that can be named as neutral/earth/beige/grey, by displaying them under the color family they belong to in color systems, the misleading rate of consumers' subjective selections can be easily reduced. In this way, the possibility of one of two neighboring tones being in the main color category and the other in the earth/neutral/beige category—confusing the consumer—is prevented, since which heading these two neighboring colors should be included under is also the result of the subjective evaluation of the department creating the swatch.

Problem 3

Since I am removed from the production side of the sector, if I must speculate, I think the reason for moving away from the color system used in the production phase during the presentation phase may be that each department does not possess the color information from production. Another reason may be that the mathematical connection between the color's formula and the final product color cannot be easily established.

Solution 3

Since color systems are universal in fundamentals but not universal in details, for example pure/unmixed blue is placed at a different coordinate in every system, there is benefit in the company remaining faithful to the color system on which it bases its production. However, it is important that the foundations of this system are understood by all departments and sales points.

Problem 4

a. When colors in digital swatches are attempted to be represented by light, similar issues are of course still on the agenda. It is normal for the problem to become even more apparent due to monitor differences and color settings. b. Regarding digital wall colorization, I argue that these applications, which serve as a valuable test drive regarding the final consumer's own color tolerance—for those whose foresight is insufficient to visualize the final result in their mind—only provide benefits with medium-toned and clear colors. These test drives, particularly in the selection of neutral colors (beiges-greys) and white tones that are very prone to changing due to the reflection of surrounding colors, are unfortunately applications with a very high likelihood of misleading.

Solution 4

a. While distinguishing which color family a color belongs to as it becomes lighter and muted becomes difficult even for professionals in the digital environment, including it under the relevant primary color family, just as in a physical swatch, will partially reduce the problem. b. Digital wall colorizations should have an algorithm that, by recognizing and borrowing from existing space materials, conducts realistic predictions regarding reflections.

Conclusion

Using the currently employed color system as is and not resorting to subjective classifications is quite sufficient and goal-oriented. When proceeding in parallel with the system, trends, color combinations, and themes that we can describe as the decorative part of the presentation for consumers can be easily presented. Each tone, according to its coordinates, supports different and clearly formulated combinations. These formulas simultaneously appeal to the color tolerance and color harmony preferences of people who intuitively lean toward the relevant tone. If the number of colors is too many to be manually entered into the system, it can easily be converted to mathematical software in the digital environment that can identify tones compatible with each other. Classification in parallel with the system will clearly be instructive in sales analysis, production planning, and logistics matters. Best-selling colors, slow-selling colors, and geographic distributions, when examined by coordinates rather than color names, produce a statistically logical table and create a meaningful foundation for new color studies and purposefully filtered sales presentations. Oya Komar - Architectural Color Consultant - Colourfit