SECTION 4

COLOR
Colored light and colored surfaces may be produced, applied, per-
ceived, and appreciated because of both their utility and decorative effect.
Whether the primary objective is beauty or utility, the final result will
almost always be a combination of some degree of both. Therefore it is
desirable to give careful consideration to both the aesthetic and the func-
tional phases of all problems involving color.
Various ramifications of color involve chemistry, physics, physiology,
psychology, and fine arts, as well as good taste. Ordinarily the skills
utilized in the development of decorative color schemes for products,
packages, interiors, or exteriors are quite different from those required for
the measurement and specification of color. Whereas the artist may be
expected to create an aesthetically harmonious scheme, it remains for the
physicist and the engineer by numerical specifications of colors to provide a
certain and unambiguous means of translating the conceptions of the de-
signer into production. It is also a technical problem to maintain produc-
tion of the same color unchanged over a considerable period and in widely
separated plants, and later to reproduce a color which has been out of
production for a considerable time.
The illuminating engineer is concerned with color problems because light
is an important factor related to the ultimate aesthetic and functional
success of any color scheme. Also, the utility, appearance, and aesthetic
effect of a lighting design may be influenced appreciably by the colors of
surfaces in the illuminated area.
Because of the wide differences which exist between the immediate inter-
ests, experience, and training of individuals engaged in the several phases
of color work, the possibility for misunderstanding between them is great.
During W
T
orld War II, the American Standards Association adopted an
Emergency Standard, Z44-1942, in order to eliminate such misunder-
standing and many wastefully divergent practices. This standard recom-
mends a method of physical measurement (spectrophotometry) as the
fundamental process in the standardization of color.
>
(See page 4-24.) The
standard also recommends the use of basic color specifications which can
be computed from fundamental spectrophotometric data by a method
adopted by the International Commission on Illumination. For the popu-
lar interpretation of these basic color specifications, which might otherwise
be incomprehensible to most people, the Standard recommends the use of
descriptive I.S.C.C.-N.B.S. color names, which can be determined from
the basic color specifications, "wherever general comprehensibility is desired
and precision is not important."
The I.S.C.C.-N.B.S. system of color names described on page 4-6 sup-
plements the fundamental technical color terminology included in Section 3.
Note: References are listed at the end of each section.
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