Systematics from Antiquity: An Intermediate Overview

A practice-oriented analysis of the evolution from linear to three-dimensional colour systems and their impact on today's colour professionals

Why this article is essential for your daily practice

As a colour professional, you work with colour ordering systems every day — often without considering how fundamental these systems are to your work. Whether you are specifying colours for a brand, designing an architectural environment, or putting together colour collections: each of these activities relies on centuries-old attempts to systematise colour. This article shows how the path from chaos to order influences your current way of working, and what practical lessons you can draw from this evolution.

Practical relevance: Understanding why systems such as Munsell, NCS or RAL work the way they do helps you make better design decisions and communicate more effectively with suppliers, production departments and clients.

From 10 million colours to workable systems

Human perception can distinguish an average of around 10 million different colours [1]. For centuries, this enormous complexity posed a practical problem: how do you order and communicate colour in a way that is usable in trade, art and industry?

Why systematisation became crucial: In professional contexts, colour is far more than aesthetics. Research shows that more than 80% of people regard colour as one of the most important purchasing factors [1]. Colour ordering systems provide the common language that makes this precision possible.

Colour Ordering in Antiquity

The earliest attempts to order colours date back to the time of Aristotle. He proposed a linear scale in which colours were seen as a mixture of light and darkness. According to Aristotle, colours such as yellow and blue lay closer to light and darkness respectively, with purple in the middle. This linear model formed the basis for later colour theories, although it offered limited scope for extensive colour analysis.

Multilinear Systems

In the Middle Ages, the Persian philosopher Avicenna introduced a multilinear system. He suggested that colours could be ordered along multiple paths or families lying between black and white. This idea was further developed by other researchers, such as Forsius, who in 1611 presented a diagram with straight and curved lines representing different colour series. This multilinear system offered more flexibility and precision in colour ordering than Aristotle's linear model.

Isaac Newton and the Colour Circle

In 1704, Isaac Newton published his findings on light and colour in the book “Optics”. Newton discovered that white light could be split into a spectrum of colours by a prism. This led to the development of the colour circle, in which Newton placed the spectral colours in a cyclical order. The colour circle introduced the idea that colours blend into one another in a natural way, which was a significant advance on earlier linear and multilinear models.

Philipp Otto Runge and the Three-Dimensional Colour Space

In 1810, the German painter Philipp Otto Runge proposed a three-dimensional colour space. This model featured a black-and-white scale as its central axis and a colour circle with highly saturated colours as its equator. According to Runge, any colour arising from mixing blue, yellow, red, white and black could be given a place within this three-dimensional space. This model offered a more detailed and structured way of ordering colours and formed the basis for modern colour systems.

Wilhelm Ostwald and the Colour Cone

Wilhelm Ostwald, a German chemist and Nobel Prize winner, developed an extensive colour system in the early 20th century. His system was based on the principle of the three aspects of colour: pure hue, white and black. Ostwald divided colours into two main groups: chromatic colours (pure colours) and achromatic colours (shades of grey). He created a colour solid in the shape of a double cone, in which all standard colours were given a logical place. This system was practically usable and had a significant influence on later colour systems.

Albert Munsell and the Munsell Colour Space

Albert Munsell, an American painter, introduced his own colour system at the beginning of the 20th century. The Munsell system orders colours on the basis of three properties: hue, lightness (value) and chroma. This system is still widely used, particularly in the United States and Japan, and has contributed to the standardisation of colour measurement across various industries.

Conclusion

The development of colour systems from antiquity to the present shows how human efforts to understand and order colour have become increasingly sophisticated. From Aristotle's linear scale to the three-dimensional models of Runge and Munsell, each system has contributed to our current knowledge and applications of colour. These historical perspectives offer valuable insights for today's colour theorists and designers.

In summary: the colour ordering systems you work with today are not abstract science, but practical tools that have developed over thousands of years. Understanding this evolution not only makes you a better designer, but also a more effective conversation partner at every stage of the colour process.

Sources

[1] Kotterink, Mark & Jan de Boon, Kleurvormgeving,[2] Kotterink, Mark & Jan de Boon, Uitgebreide kleurenleer, [3] Kotterink, Maas, Cursus Toegepaste Kleurtechniek, [4] Godlove, T.F., The Earliest Peoples and their Colors, [5] O’Connor, Z., Façade Colour and Aesthetic Response, 2008.[6] Arnkil, H., Color Order Systems Development, AIC Proceedings, 2013.