Nothing
is seen
alone.
A colour is never just a colour.
It is a conversation with everything
around it.
Your eyes tell
a beautiful lie.
Place one colour on two different backgrounds, and it can appear to become two different colours. The surrounding field changes the way we experience what is inside it.
Josef Albers made this instability a subject of close observation. His Interaction of Color (1963) invites us to learn by looking, comparing and experimenting.1 Let’s begin with your own eyes.
One colour. Two identities.
Look at the small squares. Do they seem different? Remove their surroundings to see what stays the same.
Both squares are #C995A6. Their surroundings do the persuading.
OBSERVE → COMPARE → DISCOVERA note on what this experiment shows +
This is a demonstration of contextual colour appearance, often discussed as simultaneous contrast. The two squares use exactly the same sRGB value, with no filters or transparency. Their perceived difference may vary with your display, ambient light and vision. The study demonstrates an effect; it does not measure it or isolate a single physiological mechanism.
We see relationships
before we see absolutes.
A useful habit for anyone who makes things: judge a colour in its intended surroundings. A swatch in isolation can tell a very different story.
A little further
into colour.
Good looking. Carefully grounded.
Start with the work that inspired this study.
The world hasn’t changed.
Your way of seeing might.