Results of my colour analysis poll

I recently ran a poll on Instagram, asking people to guess which of four colour palettes worked for a particular person. This is the image I presented, a composition of four photos taken only moments apart. I regret that the images were not framed more similarly, but even so, the results were interesting and reinforced three things.

Which is best… A, B, C or D?

VALUE CONTRAST IS IMPORTANT

Of the four, only one person chose option C, which in my opinion was the worst option, so that showed some colour knowledge amongst the voters! Of the two I thought were best, options A and D, most people chose D. In reality, it was option A that looked best on the person. What fascinates me here is that option D offered a better ‘value contrast’ for the person than option A, and value contrast is a very significant factor.

Not all colour consultants measure a client’s value contrast, but once the general palette is established, value contrast is at least as significant as the colours chosen; it can make or break an outfit, even if we don’t know what value contrast is.

In a nutshell, value contrast is the difference between the lightest element of our colouring (including hair, skin and eyes) and the deepest element. We can have high, medium or low value contrast and when we dress in colours that refelct our value contrast, things look great on us. If the contrast is too high for us, the outfit is distracting. If the contrast is too low, it can look a bit lifeless.

So I believe many people chose option D because in that example, the value contrast was approriately matched. However if you look more closely, you will see that option D makes the person look a bit flat and greyed in the complexion. The colours in option A brightens the person, despite the value contrast not being ideal.

The swatches I use each have approximately 50 colours in them so the appropriate value contrast can easily be created with so many colours to choose from.

THE SEASONAL SYSTEM IS LIMITED

Despite there being numerous colour systems in the world, it is the seasonal system that most people have heard of.

Interestingly, option D, the one most people chose, does not represent any season thus proving that the seasonal system lacks complexity. I use a system that has 18 different palettes so it is much more nuanced than the seasonal system. Even expanded seasonal systems that incorporate 12 palettes, instead of the usual four, require a relationship to one of the seasons. Yet colour is almost infinite (the human eye can see millions of colours) and therefore some colour palettes do not relate to the seasons at all.

Option D, which many people chose, represents a cool, deep, smoky palette. There is no such thing in the seasonal system. Winter is cool, deep and bright and Summer is cool, light and soft. Autumn and Spring bear no resemblance to option D at all.

PHOTOGRAPHS DON’T ALWAYS TELL THE FULL STORY

Photographs are incredibly useful tools for checking outfits as we see more detail in them than we see if we’re just looking in the mirror. I’ve not been able to get an absolute understanding of why that is, but it is. One theory has to do with restricting our peripheral vision and another states that we are more objective when looking at a photo of ourselves than we are when looking in the mirror. If I’m in doubt about my outfit, I photograph it.

It’s a different story when we’re analysing a person’s colouring. I believe we need to see the person from different angles to really see how colour behaves alongside someone. Likewise, if we’re analysing a person’s colouring from a photo surrounded by digital drapes or frames, we don’t get to see the reflection of colours on the actual person, although we do get to see a relationship between a colour and a face.

In terms of online colour analysis, it can be very useful if a person’s colouring is obvious, the photos are taken correctly and if the analyst has in depth understanding of colour. When a person’s colouring is ambiguous or not obviously one thing or another, this is where an online colour analysis can be less reliable.

In my poll, I’ve had the advantage of seeing colours behave differently on the person from various angles, whereas the voters in my poll have only seen flat images of the person holding up colour drapes. As most people chose option D (the second best) above option A, the results tell me that although we might get close it is not always easy to judge colours on screen. In reality the colour palette in option D robbed the person of their lightness and cast a grey shadow into the mix and option A had enough depth but added a little more vibrancy.

Below I have presented options A and D differently, using exactly the same photograph but instead of the drape I have used digital frames that represent the same colour palettes. Perhaps this makes it easier to see that option A brightens and option D detracts.

Option A or option D?

A massive thank you to Rachel for allowing me to use her image!