What's This?
ColorSpinner is a Web front-end to NodeBox's Colors library, specifically, the part of it that generates color palettes for English words like “Apple”, “Soldier”, “Dog” or “Anger.” Try it and search for whatever comes to mind.
- How are these color themes generated?
ColorSpinner is a web interface to a database of over 3000 words and their associated colors and shades provided by NodeBox's Colors library. These associations are generated by the Prism algorithm, with results that are often confounding and counter-intuitive, but just as often fascinating and inspirational. To quote the Prism Web site:
The colors algorithm (workname Prism) matches a color palette to any given subject. It retrieves colors for apple (which would result in soft greens, yellows and reds) with the same ease as retrieving colors for jealousy (which would result in bright yellows and sickly greens).
Because Prism is a computer program, it makes no difference between both concepts: the two of them are just words it runs through its filters. It doesn't even understand the words. This works entirely different with humans: humans know apples are green and red, obviously, because we can see them. More importantly, we have bound apples to countless of well-known associations like Snowwhite and Little-Red-Ridinghood, or nature.
…We tend to rule out the less obvious options, like yellow apples. A computer program has no direct knowledge of Snowwhite, or that the fairytale is related to apples - therefore it tends to think out of the box, examining all possible options with equal interest. Pink apples have an equal chance of winning than do green apples.
This often results in illogical results, like a pink panther instead of a black panther. Color theory is however not rocket science, but a connotative process of binding the right colors to all concepts that surround a given subject, not just the object by itself. Therefore, illogical results are allowed, and can be viewed as creative solutions.
A computer program coming up with a panther being pink is actually picking up on the memes and trying to be creative and witty, which is a positive side-effect.
- What else powers ColorSpinner?
- ColorSpinner is built with Google AppEngine and uses jQuery for unobtrusive scripting and Pinvoke Diagona icons.