In late May 2018, the University & College Designers Association Design Education Summit was held at Youngstown State University. The theme of the conference, “Good Design Works,” sought to cast a spotlight on how the discipline of Design was being used as a catalyst for positive social change. The UCDA Series featured on the +Public blog offers a venue for academics and designers to expose their research to our clients, colleagues, and communities.
Recognition of Brand Colors without a Logo by Rion Huffman, Tara Henderson, and Victoria Bastion – Pittsburg State University
Statement of Problem:
It is not known how well people of typical color vision can recognize brands based on color alone without the recognizable logo present.
Research Question:
Can a person with typical color vision accurately identify various brand colors correctly when given a choice of six color samples consisting of one correct swatch and 5 near similar swatches with varying LAB values?
Instruments:
There will be two different survey instruments used for the study, the Enchroma Color Vision Test and the Brand Color Test. Participants must first pass the Enchroma Color Vision test to ensure that they are not color deficient. The Enchroma Color Vision Test (2015) mimics the style of the Ishihara Color Blindness Test, but is available online with accurate results. The test consists of a number of images that consist of a circle of dots appearing randomized in color and size. Within this pattern are dots that form a number that are clearly visible to those with normal color vision, and invisible or difficult to see for those with color deficiencies. The Brand Color Test uses swatches made up of 6 different color variations similar to the actual color swatch. One of the 6 colors is the actual color of that brands logo, which was found in HEX values from brandcolors.net, the other 5 swatches were created using a specific formula. The HEX value was converted into LAB values and then the remaining 5 values were changed with a consistent formula.