Our Colours
Introduction
ICI Paints prides itself on the knowledge of colour and colour formulations in paint. We understand both the 'Art' and 'Science' of colour.
Art
The 'Art' part of our work relates to the aesthetics of Colour. Every year the ColourFutures™ team at ICI Paints works to define the latest international colour trends by reviewing findings from research groups, colour marketing and trade and retail exhibitions, and design influences from the worlds of fashion, technology, architecture, music, nature and popular culture.
This work is reflected across our international websites. From the latest looks, colour collections and colour scheming advice to visualisation tools that enable you to paint a room online to see how your colour scheme idea will look.
The Science of Colour
The 'Science of Colour' is about its technology. Colour is a sensation that we experience through our eyes with our brain. Colour is all around us, used on a variety of forms and shapes and we all interact with it. It adds spice to our lives and can affect the way we behave, feel, perceive or orientate ourselves in a given space.
At ICI Paints, we use our understanding of Colour to describe it in a more user friendly way. Colour as perceived by the human brain through the eye is tri-dimensional. One way of describing these three components is in terms of hue, Light Reflectance Value (LRV) and chroma.
Our Colour Ranges
Colour Palette Notation System
The Colour Palette Notation System has been developed by ICI to help identify colour precisely. Professionals are used to the idea of colours having notations.
Here is an example of a Colour Palette notation: The notation expresses three factors - hue, light reflectance and chroma. These combine to create what the human eye sees as colour.
Hue
Hue is the colour family. In Colour Palette the colour families are shown by initials and numbers:
- RR: magenta through to red
- YR: red through to orange
- YY: orange through yellow to lime
- GY: lime through to green
- GG: green through to turquoise
- BG: turquoise through to blue
- BB: blue through to violet
- RB: violet through to magenta
Within each of the hues there are up to 99 divisions to give more precision to the colour description. This value is very important as it indicates the nearest colour family. For example 03YR is a Red and 89YR is an Orange.
LRV - Light Reflectance Value (lightness or darkness)
- How much useful light is reflected
- The higher the LRV number, the lighter the colour
- Part of the design requirement
- 2 digits - 100 steps
- Colour Palette colours fall between 04 and 83
- Most pastels have an LRV between 75 and 83
Each page of the Colour Palette fanbook has been designed so that the colours flow from pale to deep, top to bottom.
Chroma
- Amount of colour saturation/intensity
- Strength of colour
- Measured up to 1000 steps
- A high number indicates a more intense colour
