color theory project

Appearance of Color: Daylight vs. Retail Department Stores

By: Kelly McCamley

DS 451 Professor Sarmadi

4/30/2014

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Table of Contents Proposal 3

Introduction and Statement of Problem 4

Literature Review 5

Objectives 8

Hypothesis 9

Limitations 9

Assumptions 10

Procedures 11

Results and Discussion 12

Summary and Conclusion 24

Appendix 27

References 38

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Approved Proposal

Perception of Color: Daylight vs. Retail Department Stores Topic:

• My project proposal is to compare and contrast daylight and the lighting in a popular retail department store. The specific retail department store that I am going to focus on is Target because it was ranked 3rd in 2013’s Top Retailers. The type of lighting that Target uses is cool fluorescent and I will be comparing the cool fluorescent lighting to daylight.

Samples:

• 150 paint chips o Standard: Daylight o Sample: Cool Fluorescent

Measurement: • I will perform the research using the spectrophotometer to obtain the lightness

(L*), a*, b*, chroma (C*), and hue (h) levels of 150 paint chips. After organizing such values in an excel spreadsheet, I will then determine whether or not the colors on the paint chips under daylight or cool fluorescent have any relationships.

Hypothesis: • My hypothesis is that there will be a difference in the levels of saturation (C*) in

colors under daylight (standard) and cool fluorescent lighting (batch). More specifically, I predict that blue colors under cool fluorescent lighting will have higher saturation (C*) and that red and green color will have a lower saturation (C*) in comparison to daylight.

Questions: • Between the standard (daylight) and cool fluorescent light, were there any

similarities or differences between the lightness (L*) values? • Between the standard (daylight) and cool fluorescent light, were there any

similarities or differences between a* and b* values? • Between the standard (daylight) and cool fluorescent light, were there any

similarities or differences between the chroma (C*) values? • Should consumers take into consideration the type of lighting in departments

stores, such as cool fluorescent, while shopping?

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Introduction and Statement of Problem:

As a retail student, I have been exposed to internships and part-‐time jobs in

retail department stores. While gaining work experience in various retail stores such

as JC Penney and Maurice’s I noticed there was different lighting used when displaying

products. Also, while shopping I have noticed the products I purchase appear different

at home or outside in comparison to inside retail stores. From both my work and

shopping experiences is where I gained interest in the lighting used in retail

department stores.

Target has been a department store that I have been shopping at for as long as I

can remember and is one of the top retailers in the United States today. I want to use

Target’s lighting as my batch since I am and always will be a loyal customer to them.

Target uses cool fluorescent lighting throughout their entire store and I will be

comparing Target’s cool fluorescent lighting to daylight. Daylight is my standard

because it has the largest spectrum. I also believe that daylight would be an

appropriate standard because Target’s products that are purchased are exposed to a

great amount of natural daylight in consumer’s everyday lives and households. I have

obtained 150 paint chips that will be compared under daylight and cool fluorescent

lighting. I have decided to use paint chips because I will be able to clearly see

similarities and differences amongst colors under daylight verses cool fluorescent

lighting. Considering that cool fluorescent light bulbs have high amounts of short

wavelengths (blue) I believe colors such as red and green will appear gray and dull in

comparison to blue.

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Literature Review:

Out of all of our senses, sight is the most dominant. Sight controls and defines

how people perceive the world (“Lightpoints” 4). With sight being such an important

factor in people’s everyday lives it is important to be aware of different types of light

sources people are exposed too. Daylight is a light source that people are exposed to

several times a day. Daylight has the best representation of color because it has the

largest spectrum. Direct sunlight at noon is an almost perfectly balanced light source

and contains all color in nearly equal quantities (“Lightpoints” 20). Another type of

lighting is incandescent lighting. Many people consider incandescent light to be

normal because it is what a large amount of people use to illuminate their homes.

Incandescent light tends to produce more red and yellow light than green and blue, and

appear to be “warm” in color (“Lightpoints” 5). People like incandescent light bulbs

because they are affordable but one major drawback is that they are inefficient. A light

source that is efficient and has a longer lamp life is cool fluorescent light bulbs. Cool

fluorescent light is an unevenly balanced light source with a greater amount of short

(blue) wavelengths in comparison to longer (green and red) wavelengths. Fluorescent

lightings account for approximately 67 percent of lightings used worldwide due to the

new lighting energy policy, but it lacks the warm colors of the spectrum. Even though

cool fluorescent light enhances blue and green, it makes red and orange appear dull

(Singh, 783).

Consumers are beginning to see a shift in not only the lighting in retail

department stores, but also their own homes because of the United States lighting

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energy policy. In 2007, president Bush signed the energy independence and security

act, which moved towards increased efficiency in order to lower green house gas

emissions and energy use. One of the three provisions enacted was the lighting and

efficiency standards, which focused on phasing out incandescent light bulbs with more

efficient light sources (“Lights out for the Incandescent Light Bulb” 1). The most

common way to express the energy efficiency of a light source is its “efficiency” which

is the ratio of lumens it produces to each watt of power it consumes. According to our

lecture on April 16th, this ratio is also known as the lumens per watt (LPM). It is one of

the most critical characteristics because it is the LPM that reports the efficiency of the

light bulb, not the amount of watts (Sarmadi). Beginning January 1st 2014 the two most

popular incandescent light bulbs, 60 and 40 watt, were banned (“Lights out for the

Incandescent Light Bulb” 1). Retailers such as Home Depot have been purchasing

incandescent light bulbs in bulk to try to supply consumers as long as possible but are

expected to run out within 6 months. Retailers are not the only ones buying

incandescent light bulbs in bulk, interior designers have been hoarding as early as two

years ago (“Lights out for the Incandescent Light Bulb” 1). One of the main reasons

that retailers and consumers were hoarding incandescent light bulbs was because

compact fluorescent light bulbs emit a pale blue or whiter light that does not quite

match the already familiar incandescent light bulbs. Even though consumers are not

used to compact fluorescent lighting in their homes, they will eventually start to see

compact fluorescent lighting as the new normal. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are

costly but the tradeoff is the dramatic drop in power consumption and the much longer

lifespan, which can last up to 15 times longer than incandescent lighting.

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Target has been influenced by the United States light energy policy and has

taken steps to be more eco-‐friendly. Target has replaced their cool fluorescent lamps

in their refrigerators with GE LED lighting. According to Leds Magazine, moving to

LEDs in reach-‐in freezer and cooler door cases, Target expects to cut energy use by

60% relative to the previously used fluorescent systems (1). The remainder of Target

is still using cool fluorescent lighting and there has been no update on whether or not

Target will expand their LED lighting to their entire store in the near future. Currently,

Target has taken steps to abide by the United States light energy policy and use cool

fluorescent in the majority of their store, with LED lighting in their refrigerators.

Especially now with the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs, the colors seen

in retail department stores verses at home may appear different. With retail

department stores such as Target using cool fluorescent lighting in the majority of their

store, consumers are likely to perceive the colors on the products differently than

when they see the products under daylight. Items of clothing bought at a store under

fluorescent light may appear to change color when viewed at home under incandescent

light or daylight. In this case, each light source causes the same objects, to reflect a

different combination of wavelengths back to the viewer (“How Color is Perceived” 6)

Daylight and incandescent lighting are what consumers were originally accustomed

too seeing the colors of their products on an everyday bases. With the implementation

of the light energy policy to ban incandescent lighting, consumers will begin to see

more fluorescent lighting in their homes. This will cause consumers to not only be

exposed to cool fluorescent lighting in their homes but also in retailer stores such as

Target. Consumers are not yet as used to cool fluorescent lighting as they are too the

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previous familiar incandescent lighting. Cooley from Cooley Montano Studios stated,

“Retailers certainly want products to stand out, but they also want the architectural

space to have a life of its own and lighting today is more and more about the

environment (Weathersby, 188).'' So when retailers are trying to create welcoming

environments like Cooley stated, it is important they consider how consumers may

react to being exposed more often to different light sources than they are already used

too seeing. Consumers will begin to see incandescent lighting being faded out and

noticing a difference between daylight and cool fluorescent lighting. That is way it is

important to measure the difference between daylight and cool fluorescent lighting

because consumers will eventually not be exposed to incandescent lighting at all.

Objectives: The purpose of this experiment is to gain knowledge on the differences between

daylight and the lighting used in retail department stores. More specifically, I will

compare and contrast 150 paint chips under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting and

determine if there are any similarities or differences between the two. Daylight is my

standard, whereas cool fluorescent lighting is my batch because it is the light source

that a U.S. leading retailer, Target, is using in their stores. From the results, I will be

able to discover if there are any consistencies between daylight and the cool

fluorescent lighting used in Target stores. Consistencies may be between lightness,

saturation, etc. If there are differences between the color of the paint chips and the

type of light source I will take into account the light source’s spectrum of light. My goal

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is to determine whether the results I predicted are true or false. I also hope to discover

a relationship, either between the lightness, saturation, etc. that I may not have initially

predicted in the first place.

Hypothesis:

My hypothesis is that there will be a difference in the levels of saturation (C*) in

colors under daylight (standard) and cool fluorescent lighting (batch). More

specifically, I predict that blue colors under cool fluorescent lighting will have higher

saturation (C*) and that red and green color will have a lower saturation (C*) in

comparison to daylight. I believe blue colors under cool fluorescent lighting will appear

more saturated because there is a spike in the amount of short (blue) wavelengths in

its spectrum. The spectrum of daylight is equally balanced by all colors resulting in

one not to stand out amongst the others.

Limitations:

My first limitation is that paint chips are not an accurate representation of all

surface colors viewed by consumers in retail department stores. Consumers see colors

on a wide array of merchandise ranging from clothing to food packaging to sports

equipment. The surfaces of all the in-‐store merchandise are not the same and may be

round, rough, or shiny which are all not represented in my selected paint chips. All

these different types of surfaces cause light to be reflected differently and can change

the consumers perception of the color. I will be able to get significant results from my

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paint chips but will not be able to assume that all the colors on the merchandise will

have the same results as the 150 paint chips.

My second limitation is that I tested my samples over a course of 4 lab visits.

With multiple people using my station and calibrating it multiple times, there is some

room for error. It would have been ideal if I could have completed all 150 samples in

one visit but my schedule did not allow that amount of time allocation.

My third and final limitation was the large quantity of data I had to manually

enter into excel. The total amount of numbers I had to enter was 1500, seeing as (150

samples under daylight + 150 samples under cool fluorescent lighting)* (5 color values

including L*,a*,b*, h, and C)=1500. Even with double-‐checking my manual results

there is still room for errors in my data entry. This limitation occurred because the

spectrophotometer only reported the ΔE* values between the light sources and did not

report any L*, a*, b*, h or C values. The opportunity for data entry error may result in

my ΔE* values to be slightly off as well as any number that I manually typed into excel.

Assumptions:

For the purpose of this experiment, I am assuming that the spectrophotometer

reads and analyses color both accurately and equally. Even more specifically, I am

assuming the spectrophotometer reads both accurately and equally among my 150

paint chip samples under daylight and cool fluorescent light. I am also assuming that

daylight at noon (D65 10 Deg) and cool fluorescent (F02 10 Deg) are both accurate

representations of natural daylight and the cool fluorescent lighting used in Target

department stores. I am also assuming that the BEHR Premium Plus paint chips I

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collected are labeled as their correct colors (red, blue, orange, etc.) as an accurate

representation of colors. Overall, I will assume that all of these factors remain constant

and not impact my results.

Procedure:

Once Professor Sarmadi approved my project, I called the Target store located

in Hilldale Mall, Madison to ask a manager what type of lighting they used in stores.

After I learned that Target used cool fluorescent lighting I decided that it would be the

type of light source I would compare to my standard daylight. I then drove to the local

Home Depot to collect 150 paint samples. I collected a wide array of paint samples

with different hue and chroma values. I organized the samples by color into groups as

follows: red, orange, green, yellow, blue, violet, and brown. I did not need to label the

samples prior to measuring them on the spectrophotometer because I decided to

identify them according to their name on the paint chip.

In the lab I used Station 2 and recorded my results during four separate lab

visits. I began by calibrating the spectrophotometer using the medium size aperture

for each sample. I used the medium sized aperture because it was the largest opening I

could fit my paint chips on. During my first and second lab visits I tested my 150 paint

chips under daylight-‐D65 10 Deg (standard). During my third and forth lab visits I

tested my 150 paint chips under the cool fluorescent lighting-‐F02 10 Deg (batch). As

stated earlier in my limitations, I had to test all 150 samples twice. This is because the

spectrophotometer only reported the ΔE* values between the light sources and did not

report any L*, a*, b*, h or C values between light sources. After I tested each sample I

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immediately saved the results directly into its corresponding folder, which was either

daylight samples or cool fluorescent samples. It took me approximately 6 hours to

measure and save all of my samples onto the classroom computer.

After all of my samples were tested under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting

it was time to manually enter the L*, a*, b*, h, and C values into an excel spreadsheet. I

organized the excel spreadsheet by color and entered all 1500 values manually. Once

all the data was recorded I calculated the ΔE* for all 150 samples in order to determine

the difference between the colors of the paint chips under daylight and cool fluorescent

lighting.

For the presentation I have arranged samples by color groups with their L*, a*,

b*, h, and C values displayed. My presentation board will only show the 150 paint

chips but not what they exactly looked like under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting

since none of the paint chips required to physically be manipulated.

Results and Discussion:

I have decided to use the CIE 1976 space (CIELAB) system for this experiment.

Seeing as I have tested the colors of paint chips, I decided to use the CIE 1976 space

(CIELAB) system because it is mainly used to study object or surface colors. The

following variables have been recorded and have helped me process my results: L*, a*,

b*, h, and C*. The L* variable measures lightness and ranges from 0 (being completely

black) to 100 (being completely white). The a* variable measures the red-‐green

components and b* measure the yellow-‐blue components of a color. When an a* value

is negative it is more green whereas when an a* value is positive it is more red.

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Similarly, a negative b* value is more blue whereas a positive b* values is more yellow

(Christment, 22). As a cylindrical coordinate the h value describes the hue angle and

the value C* describes the chroma or saturation of the color (Christment, 19). The

value ΔE* represents the total color difference between two colors. In my experiment

the ΔE* values will represent the total color difference between the paint chips under

daylight and cool fluorescent lighting.

Instead of comparing each sample individually between daylight and cool

fluorescent lighting I have divided the samples into groups of colors. For example, I

will not be comparing the color “cheery to “firecracker”. Instead I will be comparing

the overall groups of colors as follows: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and

brown. It is more appropriate to interpret the data in groups of colors because I am

looking for any similarities or differences in the saturation between different groups of

colors. Referring back to my hypothesis, I am predicting there will be a difference in

the levels of saturation (C*) in colors under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting. I

have predicted that blue colors under cool fluorescent lighting will have higher

saturation (C*) and that red and green will have a lower saturation (C*) in comparison

to daylight.

My data will be represented in charts showcasing 4 representations of each

color group. This way the results can be clearly viewed and explained thoroughly. The

name of the paint chip is shown followed by the daylight sample values and cool

fluorescent samples (cool) values. The values I have included in my charts are L*, a*,

b*, h, and C* which coordinate with the CIE 1976 space (CIELAB) system.

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The first color category I have interpreted from my results is red. The remaining

18 red samples can be found in my appendix. Using the CIE 1967 (L*a*b*) system I

calculated the ΔE* values with the equation: ΔE*=((ΔL*)^2+(Δa*)^2+(Δb*)^2)^.5 between

the daylight and cool fluorescent samples. The ΔE* values on the chart range from 7.67

to 12.19 and show that there is a color difference between the color of the paint chips

under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting. The C* values are higher among the

daylight samples compared to the cool fluorescent samples (cheery C*: daylight=42.92

vs cool=36.59). This means that the red paint chips under daylight appear more

saturated in comparison to cool fluorescent lighting. The L* values are higher among

the cool fluorescent samples in comparison to the daylight samples (cheery L*:

daylight= 68.45 vs cool=70.5). This means that the red paint chips under daylight are

slightly darker in comparison to the cool fluorescent samples. When comparing the a*

values, daylight has a higher amount of red in comparison to cool fluorescent lighting

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(firecracker a*: daylight= 52.38 vs. cool= 40.28). When comparing the b* values, cool

fluorescent lighting has a higher amount of yellow in comparison to daylight

(firecracker b*: daylight= 29=26.6 vs. cool= 29.01). It is important to note that the red

paint chip “poinsettia” has a slightly higher amount of yellow under daylight in

comparison to cool fluorescent lighting. The results of my red category support my

hypothesis because C* values are lower for the samples exposed to cool fluorescent

lighting in comparison to the samples exposed to daylight. This means the red paint

chips appear less saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight.

The second color category I have interpreted from my results is orange. The

remaining 18 orange samples can be found in my appendix. The ΔE* values on the

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chart range from 7.92 to 13.74 and show that there is a color difference between the

color of the paint chips under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting. The C* value is

higher among daylight samples and lower among cool samples (aurora orange C*:

daylight=65.99 vs. cool=62.78). This means that the daylight samples have a higher

level of saturation in comparison to the cool fluorescent samples. The L* value is lower

among daylight samples and higher among cool fluorescent samples (aurora orange L*:

daylight=61.66 vs. cool=64.92). This finding means that the daylight samples are

slightly darker in comparison to the cool fluorescent samples. When looking at the a*

values, daylight has an overall higher amount of red in comparison to cool fluorescent

lighting (sunset strip sample a*: daylight =26.03 vs. cool=19.77). When looking at the

b* values, cool fluorescent lighting has an overall higher amount of yellow in

comparison to daylight (sunset strip sample b*: daylight =25.25 vs. cool=29.62). Since

orange is between red and green on the spectrum I would expect it to appear less

saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight. The results from

my orange category support my hypothesis because the C* values among the cool

fluorescent samples were lower in comparison to the daylight samples. This means

that the orange paint chips appeared less saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in

comparison to daylight.

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The third color category I have interpreted from my results is yellow. The

remaining 18 yellow samples can be found in my appendix. The ΔE* values on the chart

range from 6.63 to 13.67 and show that there is a color difference between the color of

the paint chips under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting. The C* values are higher

among the cool fluorescent samples and lower among the daylight samples. This

means that the yellow paint chips under cool fluorescent lighting have a higher level of

saturation in comparison to the daylight (lemon pound cake C*: daylight=40.71 vs.

cool=44.93). The L* values are lower among the daylight samples in comparison to the

cool fluorescent samples. The daylight samples are slightly darker than the cool

fluorescent samples (lemon pound cake L*: daylight=90.07 vs. cool=92.86). When

looking at the a* values, daylight has a higher amount of red in comparison to cool

fluorescent lighting (mellow yellow a*: daylight =8.07 vs. cool=2.98). When looking at

the b* values, cool fluorescent lighting as a higher amount of yellow in comparison to

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daylight (mellow yellow b*: daylight =52.59 vs. cool=59.3). Since yellow is between red

and green in the spectrum and I would expect it to have a lower saturation under cool

fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight. But the results from my yellow category

show otherwise with the C* values being higher among the cool fluorescent lighting in

comparison to daylight. Meaning that the yellow paint chips actually appeared more

saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight.

The fourth color category I have interpreted from my results is green. The

remaining 22 green samples can be found in my appendix. The ΔE* values on the chart



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among the daylight samples in comparison to the cool fluorescent samples (formal

garden C*: daylight=54.49 vs. cool=44.34). These results mean that the green paint

chips under daylight appeared to be more saturated in comparison to green paint chips

under cool fluorescent lighting. The L* values are also slightly higher among daylight

samples in comparison to cool fluorescent samples (formal garden L*: daylight=56.32

vs. cool=54.45). This means that the cool fluorescent samples appeared darker in

comparison to the daylight samples. When comparing the a* values, daylight has a

higher amount of green in comparison to cool fluorescent lighting (green grass a*:

daylight= -‐37.49 vs. cool= -‐27.24). When comparing the b* values, daylight has a

higher amount of yellow in comparison to cool fluorescent lighting (green grass b*:

daylight=24.95 vs. cool=22.2). The results from my green category support my

hypothesis because C* values were lower under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison

to daylight. Resulting in the green paint chips to appear less saturated under cool

fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight.

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The fifth color category I have interpreted from my results is blue. The

remaining 18 blue samples can be found in my appendix. The ΔE* values on the chart



among the cool fluorescent samples and lower among the daylight samples (blue ocean

C*: daylight=35.43 vs cool=40.51). This means that the blue paint chips under the cool

fluorescent lighting appear more saturated in comparison to the daylight samples. The

L* values are higher among the daylight samples in comparison to the cool fluorescent

samples (blue ocean L*: daylight= 44.78 vs cool=39.86). This means that the cool

fluorescent samples are slightly darker in comparison to the daylight samples. When

comparing the a* values, daylight has a higher amount of green in comparison to cool

fluorescent lighting (windjammer a*: daylight= -‐15.74 vs. cool= -‐10.53). When

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comparing the b* values, cool fluorescent lighting has a higher amount of blue in

comparison to daylight (windjammer b*: daylight= -‐33.03 vs. cool= -‐40.62). The

results of my blue category support my hypothesis because the C* values are higher

under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight. Meaning that the blue paint

chips appeared more saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to

daylight.

The sixth color category I have interpreted from my results is violet. The

remaining 18 violet samples can be found in my appendix. The ΔE* values on the chart



among the cool fluorescent samples and lower among the daylight samples (Pixie

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Violet C*: daylight=20.41 vs cool=23.14). This means that the violet paint chips under

the cool fluorescent lighting appear more saturated in comparison to the daylight

samples. The L* values are higher among the daylight samples in comparison to the

cool fluorescent samples (Pixie Violet L*: daylight= 72.96 vs cool=71.48). This means

that the cool fluorescent samples are slightly darker in comparison to the daylight

samples. When comparing the a* values, daylight has a higher amount of red in

comparison to cool fluorescent lighting (Magic Moment a*: daylight= 10.19 vs. cool=

8.56). When comparing the b* values, cool fluorescent lighting has a higher amount of

blue in comparison to daylight (magic moment b*: daylight= -‐29.17 vs. cool= -‐34.13).

The results of my violet category support my hypothesis because the violet paint chips

appear more saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight. This

is due to the greater amount of blue (-‐b*) in the violet paint samples in proportion to

the amount of red (a*).

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The seventh color category I have interpreted from my results is brown. The

remaining 12 brown samples can be found in my appendix. The ΔE* values on the chart



among the cool fluorescent samples compared to lower the daylight samples (Desert

Shadows C*: daylight=13.52 vs cool=15.86). This means that the brown paint chips

under the cool fluorescent lighting appear more saturated in comparison to the

daylight samples. The L* values are higher among the cool fluorescent samples in

comparison to the daylight samples (Desert Shadows L*: daylight= 61.15 vs

cool=62.24). This means that the daylight samples are slightly darker in comparison to

the cool fluorescent samples. When comparing the a* values, daylight has a higher

amount of red in comparison to cool fluorescent lighting (lemon pepper a*: daylight=

1.29 vs. cool= .31). When comparing the b* values, cool fluorescent lighting has a

higher amount of yellow in comparison to daylight (lemon pepper b*: daylight= 15.95

vs. cool= 18.45). Since the a* values are so low (ranging from -‐.15 to 1.29) there is a

more even balance between red and green in the brown paint chips. But there is a

slightly higher proportion of yellow in the brown paint chips because the b* values are

higher (ranging from 10.48 to 18.45). According to my results the brown paint chips

appear more saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight and

this could be attributed to the higher proportion of yellow. Depending on what color

(red, yellow, green, or blue) has the greatest proportion in the brown paint chips may

affect how saturated it looks under cool fluorescent verses daylight.

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Summary and Conclusion:

After thorough analysis of my 150 paint chip samples under both daylight and

cool fluorescent lighting, I have tested the validity of my hypothesis. My hypothesis is

that there will be a difference in the levels of (C*) in colors under daylight (standard)

and cool fluorescent lighting (batch). More specifically, I predict that blue colors under

cool fluorescent lighting will have higher saturation (C*) and that red and green color

will have a lower saturation (C*) in comparison to daylight. While interpreting the

results I found out that my hypothesis was correct. In my research and discussion

section I interpreted seven different color categories in order to determine how

saturated the colors appeared under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting. Referring

back to my results, the blue and violet paint chips both had higher C* values under cool

fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight. The colors blue and violet appeared

more saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight. These

results support my hypothesis when I predicted that blue colors under cool fluorescent

lighting would have a higher saturation in comparison to daylight. Also referring back

to my results, the red, orange, and green paint chips had lower C* values under cool

fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight. The colors red, orange, and green

appeared less saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight.

These results support the last part of my hypothesis when I predicted that red and

green colors under cool fluorescent lighting would have a lower saturation in

comparison to daylight. I was not surprised when violet also appeared more saturated

under cool fluorescent light. This is because the violet samples had a greater

proportion of blue in them then red. I was also not surprised when orange appeared

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less saturated under cool fluorescent lighting because it is located between red and

green on the spectrum. I was surprised by the results of my yellow and brown paint

chips under daylight and cool fluorescent lighting. I found that my yellow paint chips

appeared more saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight. I

find this interesting because on the CIE L*a*b* non-‐linear diagram, blue and yellow are

on totally opposite sides of the b* values. So maybe since b* contains both the blue and

yellow component, yellow appears saturated under cool fluorescent lighting as well.

One other result that surprised me was that my brown paint chips appeared more

saturated under cool fluorescent in comparison to daylight. I assumed that the brown

paint chips would have almost equal L*, a*, b*, C*, and h values because brown is often

a mixture of all the colors. But I believe that the brown paint chips appear more

saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight because my brown

samples had a higher proportion of yellow in them. Depending on what color (red,

yellow, green, or blue) has the greatest proportion in the brown paint chips may affect

how saturated it looks under cool fluorescent verses daylight. So if I would have

gotten brown paint chips with a greater proportion of red, the brown may have looked

less saturated under cool fluorescent lighting in comparison to daylight.

Overall, I learned that there is a difference between the cool fluorescent lighting

in department stores in comparison to daylight. I learned that if I ever need to

consider what type of lighting to use in a retail store I need to be aware of its effects.

Specifically with cool fluorescent lighting I need to be aware that any products that are

blue will appear to be more saturated and visually look more appealing to consumers.

Whereas cool fluorescent lighting will cause my red and green products to appear

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unsaturated and duller in comparison to my blue products, which will not be as

attractive to my consumers.

If I were to re-‐do my project I would compare a LED light source as well. Even

though this would have taken me a lot more time to complete my project, I think it

would have been very beneficial. A lot of retailers not only use cool fluorescent

lighting, but are also using LED lighting in their stores. It would be interesting to see

switch colors are more saturated under LED lighting compared to cool fluorescent

lighting and daylight. I would also want to not only use paint chips as my sample but

use fabric as a sample as well. A large majority of products in retail stores are clothing

and my paint samples do not represent how colors would react to light on fabric.

Fabric has a completely different surface texture than the paint chips and it would have

been beneficial to extend my sampling to fabric as well. Given a situation where I had

more time I would have definitely liked to incorporate both LED lighting and fabric

samples.

If I were to change anything in my project it would have been focusing more on

how cool fluorescent lighting and daylight affect black and white colors. When I was at

Home Depot collecting samples, I did not think to grab white or black paint chips

because I thought I only needed to focus on the colored chips. Seeing how cool

fluorescent lighting and daylight would have impacted black and white surfaces would

have shown me real life results, aside from what I learn in class or research. Through

class and research I know that the cool fluorescent spectrum has a spike in its smaller

(blue) wavelengths and that daylight has the largest and most even spectrum. It would

have been helpful to reinforce these concepts I learn in class with real life results.

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In the end, this project has made me more aware and educated on the different

effects of cool fluorescent lighting and daylight on colors. In my retail career I will take

what I have learned from this project and make sure to take into account the type of

light source that is used to illuminate product. When it comes to cool fluorescent

lighting I will be an expert.

Appendix:

References:

Chrisment, Alain. Color & Colorimetry. Paris: Editions 3C Conseil, 1998. Print.

“How Color is Perceived.” American Printer (2000): 6-‐7. Print.

Lightpoints. Westfield: Sylvania, 2003. Print.

"Lights out for the Incandescent Light Bulb as of Jan. 1, 2014." Fox News. FOX News

Network, 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Sarmadi, Majid. “Class Lecture April 16th.” DS 451 Color Theory and Technology,

University of Wisconsin-‐Madison, Madison WI, 25 April. 2014.

Singh, Satyendra. “Impact of color on Marketing.” Emerald Group 44.6 (2006): 783-‐789.

Print.

"Target Supermarkets Will Install GE LED Lighting in Refrigerated Cases." LEDs. LEDs

Magazine, 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Weathersby, William. “What’s In Store: Retailing lighting standards focus on consumer

psychology and flexible fixture schedules.” Cooley Monato Studio 188. 8 (2000):

188. Print.

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Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Medium of

publication.

color theory project

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