Munsell's Color

In the early 1900s, the American Albert Munsell developed a system of color analysis based around hue, value and chroma. These elements form a three-dimensional model: Starting with a circular relationship of hues, Munsell established a decimal notational system to describe the transitional relationship as one color is identified from another.

Munsell's Color Sphere


In Munsell's system, hue is arranged around the perimeter of a sphere, value as it moves from the top pole (light) to the bottom (dark), and chroma as it moves toward the center. Munsell also developed nomenclature that made it easy to identify any color in his system. R 5/10 would be red, value 5, chroma 10.

Hue, Saturation and Brightness

In most software applications, color can be chosen using Hue, Saturation, and Brightness (HSB) model ( also referred to as Hue, degrees from 0-360; saturation determines the vibrancy as the color moves toward white; and brightness changes the darkness of a color, Saturation and brightness are measured in percentages.

Munsell also limited the nomenclature of his color system, referring to orange as red-yellow to avoid confusion. His second term, value, describe the light or dark qualities of a color, on a scale from 1(dark) to 10(light). His final term, chroma, identifies a color as it moves inward from hue band to the value pole. Other color models refer to this as saturation.
To account for variation in strength of a color ( red is considered to be twice as strong as in chroma as blue-green), Munsell developed what he called the color tree.

These systems serve as a starting point in understanding the complex relationship of balance, proportion, harmony, and effect that combinations of colors can produce.
Each has its merits and applications for an interior design practice. Furthermore, their translation to a three dimensional design space needs to be tested in-situ to observe the results.

Reference URL: http://www.georgehernandez.com/h/xzMisc/Color/Systems.asp