Circle Model
A Typology of Color Science and Practice
The foundation of The Circle Model
The Circle Model was developed as a structured tool to reflect the comprehensive insights gathered from the extensive literature review. By studying historical and contemporary sources from fields spanning art, science, and color theory, I uncovered fundamental shifts in the way color is researched and utilized.
The Circular Model presents 10 fields within color theory. Each field reflects unique aspects of color research, from technical and scientific foundations to artistic and emotional implications. Through a process of affinity mapping (1), I systematically analyzed my literature review, uncovering themes and intersections that reveal contemporary topics at the intersection of multiple fields. These themes informed my research focus and contribute to developing tools and insights tailored to today’s digital and multisensory design environments. In the process of making The Circle Model i also became aware of, where my contribution of knowledge lies.
The 10 pillars
You can study the 10 pillars further on this page.
Color History
Technological progress
Historical color systems
Cultural influence
Exploring the evolution of color science, this category traces shifts in how humans understand, produce, and use colors. From early pigment production to the digital age, it reflects on how technology has democratized color availability and influenced our aesthetic norms.
Color Models
Color physics
Hue definitions
Historical models
The color wheel is foundational to color theory, helping designers understand and position colors in relation to one another. This category covers the evolution of various color models and their applications in design and visual perception.
Color Psychology
Cultural connotations
Mood impact
Perception theories and mappings
Color psychology examines how colors influence mood, identity, and cultural interpretation. Given the subjective nature of color perception, this area emphasizes careful, context-based analysis over prescriptive interpretations of color impact.
Color Branding
Visual mapping
Competitor analysis
Strategic positioning.
In branding, color plays a vital role in establishing identity and differentiating from competitors. This category introduces analytical tools for visual mapping, enabling brands to strategically position themselves within their market.
Color Control
Calibration & Consistency
Screen vs. print
Color systems and codes.
Color management addresses the technical tools and systems developed for ensuring color consistency across digital and physical formats. This includes standardizing colors via systems like RGB, CMYK, and Pantone, essential for accurate reproduction in diverse media.
Color Testing
Target group testing
Systematic approach
Emotional associations to colors
This field focuses on assessing whether chosen colors communicate intended messages to target audiences. Recognizing the variability of color perception, it advocates for systematic testing to support consistent emotional and rational responses across different viewers.
Color Palettes
Color relationships
Visual hierarchy
Integrated design.
Color palettes organize colors harmoniously, often drawing from visual sources or artworks. This category provides strategies for creating cohesive palettes that support design goals and establish visual consistency.
Color Trends
Seasonal colors
Trend analysis
Cultural zeitgeist.
This category addresses the dynamic nature of color trends in fields such as fashion and interior design. It highlights how color preferences evolve over time and are systematically tracked by industry experts for applications in consumer products and lifestyle design.
Color Functionality
Accessibility
Colorblind considerations
Functional design
Color functionality emphasizes the importance of accessibility and usability in color choices, particularly in wayfinding, web design, and other interface contexts. This field examines how color can enhance usability and communication for diverse audiences.
Color Presentation
Color naming
Presentation techniques
Inspiration sources
This category explores how colors are presented within industries like retail and trend forecasting. Emphasizing sensory engagement, it encourages us to articulate and communicate color choices in a compelling and precise manner.
The development process behind The Circle Model
The Circle Model represents a structured synthesis of research conducted throughout the literature review. This section outlines the methodological journey of developing the model, capturing the iterative and exploratory processes that led to its current form. Combining systematic methodologies with intuitive exploration, the Circle Model evolved into a typology of 10 interconnected categories within the field of color theory.
From keywords to categories
The foundation of the Circle Model lies in an ongoing process of identifying, categorizing, and refining key themes and concepts derived from the literature review. As part of my research, I systematically documented emerging topics and keywords on Post-its. These notes captured essential insights, gradually growing in complexity and nuance as new sources and perspectives were integrated. This iterative process involved constant reflection on linguistic definitions and the conceptual boundaries between terms. Titles for categories and subcategories were revised frequently as I observed overlaps, distinctions, and evolving relationships between concepts.
Affinity Diagramming and Clustering
Affinity diagramming, introduced by Jiro Kawakita in 1970, became a cornerstone methodology for organizing the diverse range of information (2, page 21-28). This research technique allowed me to identify patterns and connections across the vast material. By grouping related Post-its into clusters based on shared themes and characteristics, emergent patterns began to reveal themselves. These clusters were not static; categories were created, merged, or eliminated as I refined the thematic structure. For example, while initially working with eight categories, further analysis and additional literature led to the inclusion of two more, resulting in the final 10 categories: Color History, Color Models, Color Control, Color Functionality, Color Palettes, Color Psychology, Color Trends, Color Branding, Color Articulation and Color Testing.
From brainstorming to categorization: An open and explorative process
To refine these categories, I engaged in an open-ended, explorative brainstorming process that aligned with the narrative focus of my literature review. Rather than adhering to a rigid scientific methodology, the approach embraced flexibility and sought to identify areas where I, as a professional, could contribute to color theory with new tools and frameworks. This process combined systematic analysis with lateral thinking, as informed by VanGundy’s (1988) principles of brainstorming (3), and was supported by the structure of affinity diagramming.
The brainstorming phase was intentionally open and explorative, aiming to understand the field by analyzing, combining, and comparing themes within a dynamic framework. Categories were not fixed but evolved through iterative analysis, as I systematically compared and restructured them to uncover intersections and relationships. For instance, connections between fields such as Color Psychology and Color Branding or Color Control and Color Testing were explored to highlight their relevance in contemporary color research. These intersections were visually mapped as lines in diagrams to capture the connections and identify areas ripe for further exploration. Specifically, I drew a line each time I identified an interesting scientific connection. I created a separate diagram for each individual category, observing that some categories established numerous connections, while others appeared more isolated. While many additional connections and notes could have been explored, I prioritized those most relevant to this project and its goals, balancing systematic rigor with the exploratory nature of brainstorming. This methodology allowed for both critical reflection and creative engagement, ensuring that the Circle Model not only maps the existing landscape of color research but also highlights potential for new contributions. Similarly, multiple categories (three or more) could be compared simultaneously to explore emerging connections. However, I chose to narrow the scope, as there was already an abundance of input, refining the process to focus on the most relevant findings.
Mapping connections: Towards a holistic typology
The typology serves as both a navigational tool for exploring material and a framework for generating new scientific questions within this project. By comparing each category against the others, I created an interactive map of relationships within color research. Some categories, such as Color Testing, revealed numerous connections to other fields, while others, like Color Trends, appeared more isolated. To specify with more details i created a circle with all connections and notes defining the individual connection.
This mapping process was particularly valuable for uncovering areas where my research contributions could make a meaningful impact. By examining these intersections, I identified opportunities to address gaps in the existing literature and propose innovative tools and methodologies.
Below are Circle Model with all connections and notes:
Click on the image to reveal the categories!
The Circle Model: A scientific and practical contribution
The Circle Model’s final structure consists of 10 categories that collectively represent a comprehensive typology for understanding color theory and science. These categories are not merely isolated fields but interconnected pillars that reveal the multifaceted nature of color research. The Circle Model offers both a navigational tool for researchers and a practical resource for professionals and students in visual design.
Importantly, the model’s typology serves as a framework for situating and contextualizing new scientific questions. For instance, researchers can use the model to examine how trends in **Color Psychology** influence branding strategies or how historical **Color Models** inform modern accessibility standards. By bridging theoretical insights with practical applications, the Circle Model contributes to advancing both scholarly understanding and professional practice in the field of color theory.
Applications and future development
The Circle Model’s typology has already been instrumental in shaping my research focus, providing clarity and direction for developing new tools and insights. Additionally, the categories themselves have become the foundation for further material collection and analysis, as seen in the detailed resource pages for each pillar (“The 10 Pillars” [link]).
Future developments include extending the Circle Model into digital formats, enabling interactive exploration of category relationships and facilitating dynamic comparisons between themes. While the current analog structure provides a foundational framework, digitalization would enhance its accessibility and usability for a broader audience.
Through its combination of structured methodologies, exploratory processes, and interdisciplinary integration, the Circle Model represents a significant scientific contribution to color theory and visual design research. It underscores the importance of systematic organization and open-ended inquiry in navigating complex and multifaceted fields, offering a robust framework for both theoretical exploration and practical application.
The Circle Model as a compass
The Circle Model has shown to be a valuable compass in navigating the expansive field of color theory when I am teaching the subject of visual design. By organizing information from the literature review into distinct, interrelated categories, the model provides a way to explore color theory through multiple perspectives and cross-disciplinary insights. First of all it simply creates an overview and it enables a comprehensive understanding of color as both an artistic and scientific phenomenon.
The Circle Model has provided a comprehensive exploration across ten pillars, each contributing unique insights and perspectives on color science. While there is ample room to expand on each category and introduce additional pillars, this project will concentrate on three specific areas to develop concrete analytical models and tools.
On this page you can explore the 10 categories further (called the 10 pillars).
Practical contributions
It was essential that these findings became applicable and beneficial for both students and businesses, allowing my research, analysis and development to serve as a useful tool in real-world design environments. My approach was therefore oriented towards innovation and the development of frameworks. My professional experience as a visual designer was combined with the structured knowledge in the literature review. Through this analysis and the Circle Model, I identified my four core areas of knowledge contribution. These areas collectively offer both a theoretical grounding and practical tools for navigating the complexities of color application in design, aimed at fostering informed, intentional, and impactful use of color. The four contributions are:
1) How to navigate within color theory: This contribution represents the foundational structure of my literature research itself, encapsulated in the Circle Model. The model serves as a navigational tool for researchers, designers, businesses, and students, offering a comprehensive framework to understand and position themselves within the complex landscape of color theory.
2) How to analyze and choose colors (Color Branding): This section and framework provides a systematic approach to color selection, guiding designers through mapping in a visual competitor analysis. This support strategic, brand-aligned color choices beyond aesthetic intuition.
3) How to test your color choice (Color Testing): I developed VERT kit (Visual Emotional Rational Test), a structured testing method for designers and students to experiment with and evaluate color combinations or other visual prototypes. VERT ensures that color choices resonate emotionally and are grounded in rational applications, adding a new layer of depth to the design process. This is the biggest and most sophisticated part of my research project Visual Color Project.
4) How to communicate your colors (Color Presentation): By adapting sensory communication techniques from trend forecasting agencies and retail industries, this framework equips designers to convey color decisions effectively, filling a crucial gap in the practical application of color in professional settings. Furthermore I present an observed color related paradox within this area.
Sources:
1) Curedale, Robert, *Affinity Diagrams*, 2019, Design Community College.
2) VanGundy, Arthur B., Techniques of Structured Problem Solving, 1988, Van Nostrand Reinhold.
3) Osborn, Alex F., Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Thinking, 1953, Charles Scribner's Sons.
4) Flick, Uwe, An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 2018, Sage Publications.