It's been quite a few years for me since I took color theory in college for my art degree. I think that you can automate color compliments with 2, 3, 4, or x colors by using "vectors" to compute the opposite hues... cutting the HSV model in halves for two colors, thirds for three, etc.
To get to the aesthetics, you'll have to use voting or surveys, and the reason is somewhat straightforward. Here are a few resons (not all):
The appeal of colors change over time with fashion and trends. In the US, mint green and canary yellow in the 1930s, white and cherry red in the 1940s, the list goes on for consumer goods and their colors. Think of vintage goods and their colors. Pantone produces color forecasts and tweaks their colors over time to reflect tastes.
Cultural differences. Color symbolism plays a large role - after all part of a designer's skill is selecting the right color for the specific context of an assignment. White for mourning in Asia != white for a wedding. One thought is that the region or location may be significant in the aesthetic judgment. If I remember correctly, the ArthurAnderson logo was orange because it was a color that could be used globally without negative meaning.
One last note, which comes from my training in a modernist driven school, is the form and the function of a design in black and while should be rock solid and work before adding color and the complexity... I think this was taught so that the novice students we were would learn the basics of typography, form, and balance before getting into colors.
As to the aesthetics: You can use the voting model like colorlovers (I hope that older votes are when tracking current color trends), use A/B testing if you are a web designer, or fall back to a company like Pantone to help you find current trends. Someone like google might be able to tie click paths to color schemes ... in other words data mine to establish what is a trend.
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Hi there.
It's been quite a few years for me since I took color theory in college for my art degree. I think that you can automate color compliments with 2, 3, 4, or x colors by using "vectors" to compute the opposite hues... cutting the HSV model in halves for two colors, thirds for three, etc.
To get to the aesthetics, you'll have to use voting or surveys, and the reason is somewhat straightforward. Here are a few resons (not all):
The appeal of colors change over time with fashion and trends. In the US, mint green and canary yellow in the 1930s, white and cherry red in the 1940s, the list goes on for consumer goods and their colors. Think of vintage goods and their colors. Pantone produces color forecasts and tweaks their colors over time to reflect tastes.
Cultural differences. Color symbolism plays a large role - after all part of a designer's skill is selecting the right color for the specific context of an assignment. White for mourning in Asia != white for a wedding. One thought is that the region or location may be significant in the aesthetic judgment. If I remember correctly, the ArthurAnderson logo was orange because it was a color that could be used globally without negative meaning.
One last note, which comes from my training in a modernist driven school, is the form and the function of a design in black and while should be rock solid and work before adding color and the complexity... I think this was taught so that the novice students we were would learn the basics of typography, form, and balance before getting into colors.
As to the aesthetics: You can use the voting model like colorlovers (I hope that older votes are when tracking current color trends), use A/B testing if you are a web designer, or fall back to a company like Pantone to help you find current trends. Someone like google might be able to tie click paths to color schemes ... in other words data mine to establish what is a trend.