The role and evolution of colour analysis in image consulting: a comprehensive historical perspective

Table of content:

I. How Colours Came to be so Impactful

II. What do we Know About Colour Choices?

III. What is Colour Analysis?

IV. What is the Base of Colour Analysis?

V. The Role of Colour Analysis

VI. The Evolution of Colour Analysis

VI. A Classification Approaches in Colour Analysis

VI. B Scientific Colour Harmony Based Methods

VI. C Mixed Scientific and Classification Based Approaches

VI. D Human-centred Models of Colour Analysis

VII. Age and Gender Specific Colour Considerations in Wardrobe Planning

VIII. The Business of Colour Analysis in Image Consulting

IX. FAQs

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How Colours Came to be so Impactful

Colours have always been one of the favourite topics of social discussions and yet not many are aware their immense impact on personal brand or corporate perception. Usually considered as a nice addition instead of a vital component, it’s left for the colour professionals to handle the topic according to its impact. Colours have played a vital role in human decision making and continue to shape our daily decisions up until today, with an impact extending far beyond mere aesthetic preferences. Colour depicts complex information and are one of the three most important visual clues (e.g. Ge et al., 2022) we process from our environment, along with shape and texture. As a major contributor of visual distinctiveness, colours scored as a second most important to drive attention (Buetti & Lleras, 2019 ) but often come out as first in different scenarios/tasks (Ge et al., 2022). While identifying shapes and textures helps to distinguish predators and safe objects, in our ancestral environment we used colours to navigate food choices (Clydesdale, 1993 ) and identify danger, with use cases include:

• Ripeness of fruits and vegetables to avoid eating unmatured state that is often toxic
• Freshness of meat and fish to distinguish edible condition for toxic conditions
• Presence of harmful mould or decay that can cause deadly contamination
• Poisonous plants and animals that should not be touched or eaten
• Weather conditions the predict danger and urge to seek shelter

As can be seen from the above list, the impact of colours is immense in staying alive and remains one of the main factors in forming an opinion on anything we encounter, be it a food, a building, a personal brand or a company and its products. It is safe to say that to be successful, no business can afford to ignore the enormous influence of colours. In the context of personal or corporate branding, the reach of colours includes:

• Creating instant brand recognition
• Establishing brand personality by evoking specific associations and emotions
• Affecting perceived value and influences consumer purchase decisions within 90 seconds
• Differentiating from competitors and their offers

Color accounts for 60% of the acceptance or rejection of a product.

Institute for Color Research

Supporting colour selection is an industry in itself, encompassing colour consultants, colour engineers, colour architects, and many other specialized professions. Predicting global colour preferences and trends has become a multi-billion dollar industry, with Pantone® being a well-known name in the design world due to its Colour of the Year announcement. Colour forecasting extends beyond just denoting one colour per year, institutions serving industrial use predict colour combinations for an average of 2-3 years ahead. However, the cycle can be much shorter, e.g. 3-4 months in fashion, or longer, e.g. 3-4 years in the car industry. As trend spotting becomes a scientific field, more formal methods are used and the investment in colour research and forecasting demonstrates its significant impact on consumer behaviour and market success.

Color can account for 85% of the reason why someone decides to purchase a specific product.

Color Marketing Group

What do we Know About Colour Choices?

While there are many universal colour preferences influenced by environmental impact and the culture around us, often cited as the ecological valence theory (Palmer & Schloss, 2009), on the individual level, different people have different perceptions and feelings about the same colour based on their personal history and characteristics. This difference in colour judgment creates an interesting challenge in several key areas:

• Personal Branding: Choices made must navigate both universal colour psychology, related industrial trends, and own unique characteristics
• Fashion Industry: Designers need to balance trending colours with geographical market preferences as well as individual consumer preferences
• Beauty Sector: Makeup artists and aestheticians must consider both seasonal trends, occasion appropriateness, cultural expectations, as well as the client’s natural characteristics and psychological preferences.

The difficulty to navigate such conflicting expectations made colour consulting a crucial service in styling and image consulting and brought to life numerous professions in industrial context. As noted earlier, colours are one of the core signals that direct our attention and form trust or distrust in the object in front. Everything is entirely contextual. There is no general rule that blue creates instant trust. Depending on both visual surroundings and the business and psychological context, it can also be ignorable. This warrants careful consideration when trying to apply oversimplified, general concepts, often referenced as ‘colour psychology‘ as a guiding principle, as they’re rather a list of stereotypes than actual results of study from the field of the psychology of colours.

The contextual nature of the appropriateness of chosen colours, along with the conflicting preferences mentioned earlier, makes colour advisory a hot topic. It is widely accepted that the colours worn in a given situation have a significant impact on how people perceive the person and the business they represent, including professional competence, emotional maturity, and trustworthiness. While structured research is rare, anecdotal studies have demonstrated:

• Leadership Potential: Strategic use of bold colours is told to enhance leadership perception
• Expertise: Coordinated colour choices told to increase perceived expertise regardless of the profession itself
• Client Trust: First impressions are told to be more positive with coordinated colour choices
• Emotional Intelligence: Sophisticated colour combinations told to signal higher emotional maturity
• Using incorrect colours can result in a lacklustre appearance for both the skin and hair

Color harmony between personal appearance and brand identity can increase perceived authenticity by up to 42%.

Journal of Business Psychology, 2022

These premises make colour analysis an essential investment for public-facing professionals, however the fashion industry and facial aesthetics industry also have long been seeking standardized colour analysis methods to back up their colour recommendations and improve their services and products. In the following sections, we’ll explore the world of colour analysis, its history, practical methods, and the science behind harmony creation. We will uncover the ways this powerful tool affects global industries and personal styling practices.

What is Colour Analysis?

Colour analysis is a method used to identify and choose colours that complement one’s natural features to propose appropriate material, makeup and decoration colours. It examines the relationship between skin undertones, eye colour, and hair pigmentation to create a personalized colour palette. Since its early rise, colour analysis aims to provide a structured way to determine which colours look best on a person based on their natural characteristics.

Understanding individual color preferences has become increasingly important in our personalization-driven market.

Color Marketing Group

As the base of the methodology focuses on physical characteristics, it’s important to note that traditional colour analysis operates independently of Personal colour preferences, cultural colour associations, regional colour traditions and seasonal fashion trends. Highly professional analysts typically apply two distinct layers to accommodate this, where the base analysis provides with the evaluation of the natural characteristics, and the following contextual refinement provides further considerations for cultural and professional context.

What is the Base of Colour Analysis?

Almost all form of colour analysis is based on skin-tone assessment, choosing colours that flatter skin tone. The topic that is widely regarded as biased with no consensus on the right tools neither in scientific skin-tone analysis, nor in private sector methodologies. Simply because accurate skin tone assessment that provide consistent result depends on factors such as standardized environments, lighting, body parts assessed, client conditions, and choice of tool (Weir et al., 2024).

While the practical application of skin-tone matching continues to yield positive results in personal styling and image consulting, research studies haven’t provided definitive evidence to support its theoretical foundation yet. This creates an interesting paradox: despite widespread practical acceptance, the method lacks robust scientific backing. The gap between practical success and scientific validation remains a central challenge in the field, prompting ongoing research and methodology refinement. Challenges include:

• Difficulty in accurately capturing skin colour and standardizing skin colour measurements
• Challenges to mitigate variations in lighting conditions and sampling
• Complex interactions between surface reflection and underlying skin pigments
• Difficulty in quantifying personal and emotional responses to colours in a scientifically rigorous manner

What makes skin-tone assessment a challenge despite the technical advancement of recent years, is the fluctuation of the melanin and/or haemoglobin pigments, which determine skin colour, and varies not just by facial part, but also by season. Making it hard to arrive to a one steady skin colour for any given person. Instead, the colour of the skin dynamically changes with time, condition, texture, and lightning, providing a moving target when it comes to personal colour analysis.

This makes it very hard to build a rigorous research framework to answer whether skin colour is related to colour preference, supporting the validity of skin-tone matching. The consequences of lacking steady base for colour analysis extend far beyond simple disagreements. Different schools promote conflicting classification systems and use custom variations of skin-tone analysis due to the absence of universal standards. The competing theories and methodologies have left their mark on the reputation of colour analysis as a whole.

The role of Colour Analysis

Despite the unstable base, several reports highlighting the significance of colour analysis from both academic sources and non-academic publications alike over time; keyword searches conducted across various databases including Web Of Science & Google Scholar showed that many non-academic pieces recently resurfaced discussing colour analysis and reinforcing the steadily high interest in it amongst those seeking guidance on selecting appropriate clothing colours and establishing their personal brand or business entity.

The Strategic Value of Colour Analysis in Personal Branding and Styling

Colour analysis has been accepted as a cornerstone tool in wardrobe planning and style consulting, offering multiple practical benefits. The widespread appeal of colour analysis stems from its helpfulness in coordinating clothing and makeup choices, offering a consistent pattern for selection and provide predictability in future choices. As such it serves as a valuable resource for wardrobe planning with both reputational and financial benefits. The investment in professional colour analysis often translates to significant long-term savings through more informed purchasing decisions and increased wardrobe versatility.

A well-planned colour strategy can reduce wardrobe costs by up to 30% while increasing outfit satisfaction by 65%.

Fashion Industry Report 2023

Image consultants utilising colour analysis provide transformative guidance with an impact that often creates a ripple effect, influencing not only appearance but also communication style, body language, and overall presence in professional and personal settings. The guidance can assist in finding a job, securing a promotion, finding love, or simply feeling good about themselves. Society women, job seekers, corporate executives, beauty pageant contestants, lawyers, TV celebrities, politicians, and business corporations are among the clientele of image consultants.

Professional image consulting can increase interview success rates by up to 60% and improve leadership perception by 45%.

Professional Image Institute Study

Colour Analysis in Industrial Use

The fashion and facial aesthetics industries also aim to find solutions for building a scalable solution to address the complexities. The cosmetic industry is particularly involved in colour matching, with a global market value of over 70B USD and a steadily growing interest in products that enhances natural look.

Industry leaders are implementing innovative solutions including the integration of machine learning models to skin colour reclassification, to process vast datasets of cultural preferences and real-time colour adjustment tools for virtual try-ons and digital makeup matching platforms.

The Evolution of Colour Analysis

Colour analysis traces back to the early 20th century, when artists and colour theorists began exploring the relationship between personal characteristics and optimal colour choices. The modern foundation of colour analysis is referred back to the 1940s to Johannes Itten, a Bauhaus art teacher who noticed his students consistently gravitated toward colours that complemented their natural features. This observation led to a search for systematic approaches to personal colour identification.

The following era saw the introduction of colour swatch books as marketing tools. Robert Dorr introduced yellow-blue undertone assessment for makeup application. The practice gained popularity in the 1980s due works like The Essence of You by Suzanne Caygill, Colour Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson, or Color Me a Season by Bernice Kentner, making colour analysis accessible to the mainstream. More recently, since the 2010s, colour analysis experienced a resurgence due to social media platforms and an increasing interest in personalized styling approaches.

• The schools build in 70s 80s are still active and practicing. Most of them up until today rely on traditional methods including the use of:
• Paper Swatches: Consultants use paper-based colour palettes to provide a client with a shopping guide
• Fabric Swatches: Textile samples are held against the client’s skin to evaluate compatibility
• Visual skin-tone Assessment: The assessment rely heavily on the consultant’s eye and experience, which is largely dependent on the school and theory they follow
• Portable Fan Decks: Easy-to-use reference tools both for recommendation and for the client to purchase

Classification Approaches in Colour Analysis

In traditional colour analysis, clients are classified into established categories that have specific colour recommendations. This has a primary consequence of the palette being pre-made for the client, and the consultant is only responsible for the typification the client. Two dominant classification systems are used: seasonal analysis and tonal grouping.

Seasonal Colour Analysis

The most discussed method of colour analysis is sorting people into seasonal categories – winter, spring, summer, and autumn – known as seasonal analysis, established by the earlier mentioned early practitioners. This method is commonly carried out via colour draping, where practitioners evaluate skin responses to various hues using fabric swatches in a well-lit room, held to the face of the client.

The consultants commonly employ four distinct sets of coloured drapes, representing each season’s characteristic colours. Clients are assigned to a season based on which drapes enhance their facial radiance, and are then advised to follow that season’s predetermined colour palette.

This method gained traction for its simplicity and accessibility, providing an easy to remember, easy to associate with system, that allows stylist to work with colour preferences without extensive training. While there are ongoing debates around the colours of each seasons’ palette between schools, the most common description of the seasonal types and their recommended palette are as follows:

Winter Type: High contrast, clear colours

• Bold, clear colours with blue undertones
• Pure white and jet black
• Navy blue and royal blue
• Ice pink and fuchsia
• True red and burgundy
• Emerald green
• Deep purple
• White metals, platinum, chrome jewellery

Summer Type: Soft, cool undertones

• Soft, muted shades with cool undertones
• Lilac and lavender variations
• Pale blue and powder blue
• Rose-tinted pastels
• Soft pink and mauve
• Cool grey tones
• Muted sage green
• Silver, white gold, platinum jewellery

Spring Type: Bright, warm undertones

• Bright, warm colours with yellow undertones
• Peach and coral
• Golden yellow
• Bright orange
• Apple green
• Clear turquoise
• Warm pink
• Rose gold, copper, bronze jewellery

Autumn Type: Rich, deep earth tones

• Rich, deep colours with warm undertones
• Rust and terracotta
• Olive green
• Chocolate brown
• Mustard yellow
• Burnt orange
• Deep teal
• Yellow gold, brass, copper jewellery

Beyond wardrobe planning, seasonal analysts also suggest hair colour modifications, which can significantly affect one’s overall look. Each season assigns an ideal hair colour spectrum to clients, which, however, can be difficult to implement and remain the most contested area among practitioners. Many hairdressers struggle to translate recommendations into their professional language because they lack training in seasonal colour analysis.

Also, implementing the recommendation is a bit of an unknown, as the final outcome of hair colouring can vary greatly based on the hair’s current condition, previous treatments, and response to the dyes chemical composition. Consequently, as a rule of thumb, most consultants recommend staying within two shades of the natural hair colour rather than rigidly following class-based recommendations. This practice maintains harmony with the skin tone while allowing for style experimentation.

Likewise, makeup colour suggestions are provided for the seasonal classes, chosen from the recommended base palette for each type. However, the applicability of these recommendations is limited by makeup trends, as beauty is an extremely fast-changing and trend sensitive industry that also has to follow global trends as well as seasonal trends. One can easily find their most recommended shade to be out of trend, and wearing it would come with a risk of looking outdated.

Seasonal colour analysis services nowadays are available as digital colour analysis tools as well, which are digitalised versions of the original seasonal palettes. Considering the earlier discussed complexity of the skin-tone analysis serves as a base for the recommendations, the spot-colour sampling provided by these apps is less accurate than the consultant-based service where the analyst has access to the client’s full appearance.

While adhering to the seasonal colour guidelines can be challenging in practice, the model serves as a valuable starting point for systematic colour selection. Experienced practitioners often find themselves naturally evolving beyond the seasonal boundaries, using the system as a springboard rather than a rigid rulebook. The system’s true value lies in its role as a tool, helping individuals to dive into the interplay of colours while developing their own aesthetic preferences and personal palette.

Controversies and Critiques of the Seasonal Theory

Theoretical Gap

A significant but often overlooked theoretical discrepancy lies in the misattribution of Johannes Itten’s work within the seasonal colour analysis framework. Itten’s original research focused on subjective colour preferences rather than personal colour harmonies and the seasonal associations were purely related to landscape-inspired palettes, not to human characteristics.

The transformation from Itten’s original concepts, without advancing the theory to bridge personal preferences and natural attributes, into modern colour analysis left several problematic gaps.

• No peer-reviewed research or structured study supports the seasonal theory’s core claims
• Absence of methodological documentation
• Lack of scientific validation for the classification system
• The leap from preferred colours to complementary colours lacks theoretical backing
• Undefined criteria for determining seasonal classifications

The theory’s commercialization in the 1980s through various franchises further complicated these issues, as each system developed its own interpretation without addressing the fundamental theoretical gaps. This has led to multiple, sometimes conflicting, approaches to seasonal colour analysis, all claiming the same theoretical heritage.

Cultural Insensitivity

The most obvious limitation of the theory that makes its applicability immediately questionable is the geographical limitation of its palettes. The four-season model exclusively reflects temperate climate zones and with that it fails to account for approximately 70% of the world, including tropical regions, subtropical areas, arctic and desert climates.

Even withing the temperate climate zones, the seasonal palettes are only relevant near sea level, which is the middle part of the USA and EMEA region, where the model was built. The theory’s palette selections also demonstrate clear Western-centric influences, as for example, winter palettes heavily emphasize Christmas-themed colours (red, green, white) instead of the traditional winter colours that may include: Soft greys and muted tones (Scandinavian regions), warm earth tones (Mediterranean areas), or vibrant yellows and oranges (Tropical zones).

Methodological Issues

Debates surrounding the seasonal theory includes:

• Subjectivity: Different consultants may interpret skin tones and seasonal categories differently, leading to inconsistencies in advice.
• Client confusion: While this method requires distinction between warm and cold colours, most individuals perceive shades that resonate with them as warm, due to their emotional connection with them, regardless of their position in the system.
• Restrictive palettes: The majority of palettes recommended contain only 10-20 colours from the thousands available across colour domains.
• Low level of personalisation: The palettes recommended out of the box are generally not personalized and delivered as-is to each client, expecting millions of people to fit into only 4-16 colour themes.
• Spot based colour recommendations: Clients are forced to rely on fallacious colour memory because the recommended palettes provide isolated colours for recommendations. It is not clear how far one can deviate from the recommended shade and in what direction before it becomes inappropriate. There is a lack of consensus between the colour naming makes the recommend colours hard to translate to other systems.

To fill few of the methodological gaps, the original four season have been further developed with subcategories, by today offering multiple variations ranging from 4 to 16 categories, with the most commonly applied being the 12 class seasonal model .

Despite the inconsistencies and applicability issues, many people still find the model attractive, particularly those without prior styling experience, due to its intuitive classifications. In general, it is thought to yield better outcome than fashion-based image consulting that tends to disregard natural attributes and typically produces poor results when applied without personalisation.

Tonal Grouping

The tonal classification system is widely embraced by aestheticians, cosmetic consultants, skincare specialists and makeup professionals, offers an other but slightly less nuanced approach to individual colour choices. It provides only three basic types based on the undertone temperature and the degree to which they dominate the persons natural complexion.

1. Cool Skin Tones

• Blue or purple undertones
• Skin that appears rosy or pink
• A tendency to burn easily in the sun
• Veins that appear blue or purple through the skin
• A preference for silver jewelry

2. Warm Skin Tones

• Golden, peachy, or yellow undertones
• An ability to tan easily in the sun
• Veins that appear green through the skin
• A preference for gold jewelry

3. Neutral Skin Tones

Neutral skin tones possess a mix of warm and cool undertones. Individuals with neutral skin tones may experience:

• An ability to wear both silver and gold jewelry
• Veins that appear both blue and green
• A gradual tanning process with some burning

It also offers makeup and hair colour recommendations based on the result of the assessment. Several manual, and less reliable methods used to classify natural skin tone into the main types, often suffer from high level of bias and subsequent inconsistency of result:

1. Vein Examination Test: Blue veins on the wrists or inner arms could indicate that the person belongs to the cool skin tone category. If greenish veins are more apparent in these areas, it could indicate that they belong to the warm-toned category. If there is a lack of clear dominance between blue and green hues, this may indicate neutral undertones.
2. White Paper Test: Holding a white paper or textile next to the bare face. If there is a yellow cast against the paper, the person has warm undertones. A pink or blue cast suggests cool undertones, while no noticeable cast indicates neutral undertones. In an effort to eliminate the high variations in facial skin tone, the jewellery industry often applies the method by reflecting the throat and chest colour instead.
3. Jewelry Test: Often called metal test, is about holding different metal pieces against the skin under natural light – the right metal will make the complexion of the skin appear brighter and more radiant. Silver and gold jewellery are frequently used, with silver flattering cool tones and gold complementing warm tones.

Controversies and Critiques of the tonal approach

The absence of quantitative metrics makes the temperature-based approach to colour analysis relative and contextual, similar to seasonal theory. The main methodological concerns involve:

• Context dependency: Colours shift their perceived temperature based on surrounding hues, making the same colour appear warm or cool depending on adjacent colours. Particularly true in the case of blue and green, which are neighbours on the colour wheel and have a smooth transition between them.
• Environmental Factors: The time of day, clouding, lighting, temperature, seasonal changes, and type of artificial lighting can greatly affect the analysis accuracy.
• Personal Bias: People often associate comfort and familiarity with warmth, leading them to categorize their colours as “warm” regardless of their place in the theory
• Cultural Influence: Different societies may interpret colour temperatures differently based on their cultural contexts and experiences
• Physical temperature misattribution: The electromagnetic wave’s frequency and energy increase as the wavelength shortens, as in blue, making it physically warmer. Its connection with cold is based on human history, as blue is the colour of clean, cold water and the sky. The system is based on cultural perception rather than actual temperature, which leads to significant inconsistencies in the interpretation of warm and cold.

Using this method in a professional setting is tainted by debates, similar to the seasonal model, which result in a less credible result. The need for more objective and measurable approaches to personal colour analysis is suggested by these limitations, especially in professional settings where the consensus and transferability of the results are pivotal factors.

Mixed classification methods

In practice, the two classification models are used in parallel to provide more opportunities for refinement. Professional colour consultants often combine these methodologies to further personalize the pre-defined classes for their clients. In such cases, the client receives two definitions for themselves: one is their warm or cold type, the other is their seasonal class. The relationship between tones and seasons is as follows.

Cool Undertones in Seasonal Model

• Summer: Light to medium skin with pink undertones
• Winter: High contrast between skin, hair, and eyes

Warm Undertones in Seasonal Model

• Spring: Light to medium skin with golden undertones
• Autumn: Medium to deep skin with golden or copper undertones

The combination of methods lead to a tonal-seasonal hybrid system which defines classes by the formula of Tonal Direction + Primary Season. The resulted Extended Seasonal Categories e.g. “Soft Summer” or “Bright Winter”. These systems sometimes fully overlap with the 12 class seasonal model, but quite often are custom systems of the practitioners themselves.

General Issues with Classification Approaches

Professional colour consultants frequently exposed to criticism and questioned in credibility due to the lack of scientific backing, restrictions on classes and inconsistency in results. This further deepens the social issues associated with colour consulting and image consulting in general:

• Preconceived Notions: Clients often arrive with strong personal beliefs about “their colours”
• Social Media Influence: Popular but oversimplified colour advice creates unrealistic expectations
• Resistance to Change: Emotional attachment to certain colours can interfere with professional recommendations

The difficulty in defending methodology choices to sceptical clients commonly pushes the practitioners towards an increased specialization in specific colour systems to maintain expertise credibility. Also to avoid face loss, consulting focus tends to shift toward “safer” styling elements like body shape and proportion.

Often, agencies that recognize the colour consulting element as a weak link in their service package decide to outsource colour analysis to experts, such as Huedentity to maintain their credibility and provide a solid background for their recommendations.

Scientific Colour Harmony Based Methods

Moving from intuitive choices to evidence-based decisions to colour consulting, we found scientific approaches to harmony creation. The most important aspect of these methods is that while evidence-based, they exclude individual skin undertones and personal characteristics. Scientific approaches primarily examine the dynamics between colours in isolation, treating them as abstract elements rather than considering their relationship to human complexions. The most dominant approaches are colour order system theories and colour interaction theories.

Colour Order System Theories

Colour order systems provide structured frameworks, typically with strong mathematical bases, for organizing and understanding colour relationships. They include traditional models such as Munsell, perceptual models such as the Coloroid system, or the Natural Colour System, industrial models such as RGB, CMYK, CIE XYZ , HSV, HSL, Their strongest benefit is that they enable precise colour specification and translation of definition across industries which is crucial in manufacturing. The common characteristics of all models are:

• Colour Space Organization: Systematic arrangement of colours in three-dimensional space
• Measurement Parameters: Defined scales for hue, value (lightness or darkness of the colour), and saturation (intensity or saturation level of the colour)
• Relationship Mapping: Visual representation and mathematical equation of colour connections and harmonies

Although most colour system is based on empirical studies, there is no consistency among authors in terms of principles guiding colour harmony. The lack of consensus and customisability made artist and other non-academic practitioners often distance themselves from scientific colour harmony principles, viewing them as overly technical and constraining to creative expression. The scientific rigour of these systems which makes them valuable for research, has inadvertently created barriers for practical application in creative disciplines. Science has its limits in the fields as relative as human preferences. The rigorousness expected from a scientific study is intended to eliminate bias from measurement, but the exact thing we’re trying to measure in terms of colour preferences is bias. Leading to a very limited applicability of these models beyond industrial use.

Colour Interaction Theories

Colour interaction theory explores how different colours influence and affect each other when placed in proximity. Similar to order theories, colour interaction theory has evolved through empirical testing, growing from observation into science of the interaction of colours. Contributing figures include Goethe, Chevreul, Itten, Albers and many others.

Interaction theories are founded on complementary and analogous principles that establish rules like when colours are complimentary and analogous to each other in terms of hue, chroma, or lightness, they are in harmony. Since most of the colour interactions described in the last few hundred years are derived from everyday observation, they are more useful guides in colour consultancy than order system theories. Without going into the specifics of who first described them, below are a few examples of considerable colour interactions:

• Simultaneous contrast the tendency of colours changing their perceived hue based on the neighbourhood colours
• Successive contrast , often called afterimage, it is the phenomenon of the complementary colour halo appearing after gazing at an intense hue
• Spatial effect expresses the tendency of colours to advance of recede in compositions
• Colour assimilation is a tendency of small colour areas to blend with larger surrounding areas, becoming similar to them
• Complementary or opposite contrast made of colours that together mix into grey, used in dyad, triad, tetrad etc.
• Light-dark contrast is a visual vibration between high and low value (lightness/brightness) colours
• Analogous contrast made of colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel and so appear to be related

Controversies and Critiques of Scientific Approaches

The colour order systems and colour interaction theories have been the basis for colour harmony creation in scientific fields ever since. The combination of these approaches greatly improved the results in more simple use cases, such as architecture, interior design etc.

But there are still a number of applicability issues in human-dominated contexts such as personal branding and styling. The overuse of the basic colour wheel to create analogous and complementary colour palettes is a prime example of the issues within the context of styling. Online palette generators are many but due to the fact that these palettes only contain full saturation basic colour, because the colour wheel is a one-dimensional representation of basic hues, they usually result in inapplicable parrot palettes. Especially, when using complementary contrast, which is the strongest possible contrast between colours, the generated palette comes with high visual noise.

For that reason, to create harmonious and wearable visual themes, professional harmony creation requires the use of at least two dimensions (hue and value) but preferably three dimensions (hue, value, and chroma). And even with that, the result would be one-size-fits-all if not further refined based on the client’s individual characteristics.

The most commonly mentioned issued regarding the use of scientific approaches in colour consulting are:

• Generic and overly simplistic colour harmony guidelines that cannot account for social, cultural or individual context
• Inflexible application processes with the same few rules employed across use cases with limited or no customisation options
• Reduced consideration of individual uniqueness resulting in colour harmonies that does not flatter the wearer but serve only themselves

The level of personalization required in field styling and the complexity that stems from the human context would require these approaches to account for several additional factors to be suitable for colour consulting purposes:

• Incorporating the wearer’s natural complexion, particularly their skin-tone attributes as the largest coloured surface of a human, into the harmony created.
• Considering the background noise of the environment where clothing is worn in social settings, which is both visually and culturally noisy. What appears good in an editorial shot on an isolated background may not appear well in front of a multi-colour background at a social event.
• Encompassing the purpose of harmony, as in the human environment, colours convey a message and contribute to political, professional, and personal stands. The context of the event in which the harmony is presented and the message it should convey are important factors in wardrobe planning.

Mixed Classification and Scientific Approaches

The combination of scientific harmony creation rules and traditional skin-tone considerations has led to recent improvements. An example of an outfit optimisation framework (Yu et al., 2012) incorporates several natural colours such as hair, eye and skin colour following tonal models and leveraging a probabilistic framework. A Bayesian network trained on real-life outfits images is employed, with dress codes and clothing items being taken into account. It remains to be seen whether this level of personalization is sufficient and whether the outcomes can be applied in real-life scenarios. Also, the potential large-scale acceptance of the approach among clients is uncertain as it seems to shift wardrobe selection from fun to chore.

More lightweight commercial solutions are stylist apps with AI-powered suggestions based on an outfitting algorithm. Their less customized and expertise-driven nature makes them more affordable for mass consumption. Their advice, however, is often diluted by an eCommerce sales machine behind them to the point where it cannot be considered personalized anymore.

Human-powered personal stylist apps comes with more human expertise, and allow communicating with human personal stylists via text messaging or video chats. The services offered are typically based on seasonal, tonal, or a combination of those theories, sometimes trend-based advices. While the matching is AI-driven, and the palette/board creation is often digitally enhanced. It’s important to note that there is no methodological or theoretical improvement behind these apps; they are digitalized versions of traditional services.

Human-Centred Models of Colour Analysis

Despite numerous technical advancements since the 1980s, the foundations of colour analysis haven’t been consolidated. The main approach is still based on a mix of different tonal classifications and pre-made seasonal palettes to help with colour selection. And while digitalized versions are becoming more and more widespread, they represent a less customized and thoughtful approach than 1-on-1 personal sessions. Colour analysis is still a subjective art rather than a scientific and standardized practice, delivered through colour-draping.

The reason for the lack of theoretical and methodological advancements in modern colour analysis can be traced back to the fundamental challenges of what it aims to achieve. Standardizing skin colour definitions while human skin contains thousands of different colours. Followed by applying colour harmony principles that were built to eliminate personal preferences and serve mathematical models. In order to create a colour palette for a specific person to wear it in a specific context, with the right cultural/political message, while blending well with the visual noise of the social environment. The task is incredibly complex.

Innovative approaches have emerged in recent years that promise solutions to tackle the complexity of colour analysis and better account for the diversity of human skin tones and preferences. Leading the efforts to build a robust foundation for modern colour matching is the Huedentity project, with the following advancements:

• Addressing the lack of standardized skin-tone analysis by building machine learning-based skin analysis and pigment colour reduction methods
• Addressing the issues with swatch-based colour palette recommendations that rely on fallacious colour memory, don’t indicate the boundaries of suitable colour variations, and use inconsistent colour names
• Addressing the overly restrictive pre-made palettes by using comprehensive colour charts that encompass the entire spectrum and selecting matches from all colour domains
• Addressing the low customisability of the pre-made seasonal colour palettes by creating a multidimensional, completely personal colour chart for each person
• Addressing the confusion around warm and cool colour distinction by removing temperature typology and using individual skin matching
• Addressing the inapplicability of scientific harmony creation rules by expanding the formulas with contextual parameters, recommending colour pairing from the client’s own palette with purpose of the look considered

Skin-Matching Instead of Skin-Tone Matching

At the very heart of the advancement is the technology that can tackle skin tonal diversity. Huedentity assign a so called distinct general tone to each person, which is a dynamically created perceptual summary of the colours of the skin that provides a singular representation of the variety of hues involved. This tone is not merely a single shade picked to represent the skin; rather, it is calculated from an estimated 16,000 distinct colours that contribute to the final impression of skin colour.

The skin tone calculation process adapts to different lighting conditions and environmental factors using advanced imaging technologies to analyse skin tones and to provide accurate colour matches. With that, typisation of skin tone into warm-colour, or light-dark becomes ommittable and a hyper-personalised matching protocol can be provided.

The matching protocol is called the Human Centred Colour System® and provides client-specific colour palettes that built around the perceptual skin tone of a client, the distinct general tone. This process removes debates and conflict of opinions from the colour matching practice and greatly improve the credibility of the result.

The Human Centred Colour System®

The Human Centred Colour System® built on a perceptually even colour space and colour harmony rules defined by the empirical research of Nemcsics and colleagues (2007). The model employs 48 distinct basic colours that fall under 7 colour domains, which research has shown to be visually distinguishable from a human with regular colour vision. For easier use, the chart created only displays 12 of the original 48 basic colours for the clients for whom it was created.

A two-dimensional model is used to present the 12 colours, taking into account the most crucial colour attributes such as hue and value (lightness-darkness). Match selection is done by placing the client’s distinct general tone into the centre of this colour space to define the harmonising intervals within each domain. The dynamic, contextual display eliminates the need to memorize individual colours and makes it easy to remember colour matching patterns.

The next level of personalization applied by the model is the client-specific colour pairing guide, which incorporates the purpose of selection, environmental noise, and the colour dynamics principles known from scientific approaches. All pairing guidance is built from the previously defined personal palette of the client, resulting is a fully custom pairing guide.

The final Colour Book delivered also contains personal matching with global colour trends, providing feedback on how the current colour trend sits with the client. Recommendations are given on where to shift the colour choice to stay aligned with the trends without venturing too far from the personal colour palette. This approach represents trend-sensitive consulting, incorporating social surroundings into the equation.

The Huedentity project’s professional appeal lies in its technical sophistication and cultural sensitivity. It provides the long-desired credibility to those offering colour analysis as a part of their image consulting services. The research-based model removes client scepticism, and raises the reliability of the results to match the other components of image consulting. Most notably, it distinguishes the consultant as a leading service provider, as clients rely on their hired professional’s objectivity and expect their methods to be grounded in evidence.

Artistic Approaches

As an inspiring, artistic approach to embracing diversity and complexity instead of reducing it into artificial classes is the Humane project. The Humane project attempts to document humanity’s true colours rather than the untrue labels “white”, “red”, “black” and “yellow” associated with race. The mission of the project to shape skin colour definition and diversity deeply resonates with the Huedentity project and its popularity shows the increased interest in putting humans to the centre of the palette creation method.

The background for each portrait in the Humane project is tinted with the tone that is taken as a 11 x 11 pixel sample from the nose of the participants and matched with the industrial pallet Pantone®. Although the sampling method is significantly simpler than Huedentity, it nonetheless offers the chance to showcase skin colours in their variety.

Age and Gender Specific Colour Considerations in Wardrobe Planning

An additional layer of colour consulting that is often provided on the top of colour analysis is incorporating a wider cultural context of the client, beyond their psychical complexion. Wider cultural context also shapes colour choices (Lamb & Bourriau, 1995) and research found significant variations in colour perception across different age groups (Dittmar, 2001) and genders (Bonnardel, 2013). The following distinct patterns identified in colour preferences by studies (Ou et al., 2011):

Age-Related Colour Preferences

• Young adults (18-25) gravitate toward vibrant, saturated colours
• Middle-aged individuals (35-50) prefer muted, sophisticated tones
• Older adults (60+) show increased appreciation for lighter, softer shades

Gender-Specific Colour Responses

• Both genders share common responses to basic colour harmonies
• Women display heightened sensitivity to subtle colour variations
• Men demonstrate stronger preferences for pure, unmixed colours

The Business of Colour Analysis in Image Consulting

Colour analysis is an integral part of professional image consulting, which is a growing and lucrative market. The market size is reported to be $762 million globally, with an average monthly income for consultants being around $6,250. However, the highest tier of image consultants are reported to earn more than $30,000 per month. Certification or authorised partnership with evidence-based providers can greatly enhance client trust and allow for premium price positioning.

Distinctive position is particularly important in the case of corporate image consultants, where clients expect robust backing for the recommendations provided to them. Considering that consultants told to generate an average of 22% of their business through networking forums and 12% through referrals and returning clients, providing cutting-edge and distinctive services can lead to a significant increase in both corporate and private referrals.

Conclusion

The service of colour analysis is a crucial component of image consulting and personal branding, and there is a steady interest in it due to the significant impact of colours on a person’s perceived professionalism and emotional maturity. Following its rocky beginning with unstandardized methods and conflicting theories, recent innovations, such as the Huedentity project, have begun to raise the credibility of colour consulting to the same level as other styling components. With its human-centred approach, the Huedentity model is not only capable of providing a hyperpersonalized palette, but also addresses the technical challenges of standardizing skin-tone matching and providing contextual colour harmony recommendations.

While traditional methods are still in use and periodically reach their peak in the market, the need for consistency and flexibility has brought great interest to innovative approaches. The science behind colour matching, along with its practical use in planning wardrobes, lay the groundwork for quality service and satisfied clients.

Huedentity is the sole provider of a research-backed personal colour analysis service and a hyper-personalised colour matching method that uses both advanced skin-matching and trademarked colour model. It provides a solid foundation for contemporary consulting services and takes the pressure of colour analysis of the shoulders of consultants with an evidence-based service and deluxe delivery. Advantages of embedding Huedentity colour analysis into consulting services are many:

• Increased credibility: The use of advanced colour science eliminates ambiguity in colour recommendations and increases the credibility of the consultants.
• Professional distinction: It raises consulting services above the competition with a cutting-edge solution that is new to the market.
• More referral: By providing consulting services with a premium touch, it generates referrals. Each package is created with care and expertise to make the clients of the consultant feel like royalty.

FAQs

How is the Huedentity personal colour analysis is different and why is it important in styling?

Huedentity is built on The Human Centred Colour System®, which provides a practical model for creating hyper-personalized colour palettes. Our colour analysis model uses dynamic, contextual colour model instead of pre-made categories. This means that we can provide each client with matching colour variations from the entire colour spectrum, rather than just a limited set of swatches.

What Huedentity uses for skin-tone matching?

The Huedentity Colour analysis method uses advanced technology for matching skin tones. Instead of relying on cold-warm tone models, it focuses on understanding an individual’s unique skin tone. This approach solves the problem of accurately representing human skin colour, which has approximately 16,000 different shades, and eliminates the need of classification. This innovative approach opens up new possibilities for creating a standardized method of matching skin tones with material colours.

What result the Huedentity colour analysis will provide?

The Huedentity model displays 12 colour domains, that research established as visually distinguishable by a human with regular colour vision. By placing the individual skin colour into this colour model, we create personal palettes that displays the matching colour variations as intervals in the whole spectrum to showcase the pattern of match instead of providing random swatches. With that, we eliminate misinterpreting a mismatching shade with a full colour domain which often ends up clients thinking that e.g. green is not working for them.

What academic insights Huedentity utilises for its colour analysis?

The scientific base of the Huedentity project is the Human Centred Colour System® utilising the aesthetically uniform system of the empirical Coloroid model that brings about harmony of hue, saturation and lightness, placing greater importance of the aesthetic evenness than on the technical equality of colour differences. We adopted the colour classification including 7 colour domain and 48 basic colours as foundation for our palette creation, while optimising its nomenclature and harmony creation rules to our context.

How can the Huedentity model be integrated into an image consulting or styling package?

We love working with image consultants and stylists who are passionate about offering hypercare to their valued clients. We offer a variety of ways to work together, including direct reselling, white-labelled integration that is fully tailored to a consulting framework or custom solutions. The collaboration is risk-free. There is no need to purchase anything upfront to be able to offer it to clients. The custom package is provided after the clients of the consultancy have inquired and pre-purchased.

Where to contact for more information about the model and partnership options?

We’re looking forward to hearing about your interest in the model and ideas of integrating it into your specific consulting model. Please feel free to reach out to us on contact@huedentityproject.com. We’ll come back to you withing 24 hours.