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Color Circle

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology

  • 564 Accesses

Synonyms

Color wheel; Hue sequence

Definition

The color circle, as generally understood and widely used, is a diagram with a continuous sequence of hues arranged in the order of the spectrum. (The gap between spectral red and spectral violet is bridged with extra-spectral purples.) The color circle diagram is used as a guide to color mixing and color composition. It is also used in the classification of colors and is incorporated in all three-dimensional color order systems.

Introduction

Very many color circle diagrams have been designed and published. The essential feature is that the diagram must represent the sequence of hues in correct order and in a continuum: reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, reds, oranges, yellows, greens, etc. The number of separate hues in the sequence can vary as can the hues themselves that are selected for inclusion. The starting point for some color circles is a choice of so-called primary colors. Other circles are organized so that colors...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Design and Art, Curtin University, Perth, Australia

    Paul Green-Armytage

Authors
  1. Paul Green-Armytage
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Correspondence to Paul Green-Armytage .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Modern, Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Ming Ronnier Luo

  2. School of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Ming Ronnier Luo

  3. Graduate Institute of Colour and Illumination, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Ming Ronnier Luo

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Green-Armytage, P. (2016). Color Circle. In: Luo, M.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8071-7_231

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