5. The Munsell System
• the Munsell colour system is
a colour space that
specifies colours based on three
colour dimensions
• hue, value (lightness)
• chroma (colour purity).
• It was created by
Professor Albert H. Munsell in
the first decade of the 20th
century
6. Hue
• What’s the difference between a Hue and
a Colour? Most people, even the pros, get
confused about this. Basically they mean the
same thing and can be used interchangeably.
• The words are a general terms to describe the
colour family on the Basic Colour Wheel that
your swatch is rooted in. They indicate the root
of the variations we see. To make things simpler,
think of a Hue as one of the twelve colours on
the mixing wheel.
• Most Colour Wheels only show bright colours
which can create confusion. It’s not always easy
to see that every colour, even black, has a
Primary, Secondary or Tertiary Colour as its root.
• Burgundy = the root Colour or Hue is RED
• Navy = the root Colour or Hue is BLUE
• Rust = the root Colour or Hue is ORANGE
7. Chroma
• Chroma or colour strength refers
to the amount of visual difference
from a grey of the same value.
• In short then, the system may be
said to classify any given colour
according to the closest full or
“saturated” colour
• the closest grey, and the visual
difference from that grey (F
8. Value
• value refers to the
lightness or darkness of
a color. It indicates the
quantity of light reflected.
• When referring to
pigments,
dark values with black
added are called “shades”
of the given hue name.
• Light values with white
pigment added are called
“tints” of the hue name.
