BOOKREVIEW

A Book of Colors, by Shigenobu Kobayashi, Kodansha

International, Tokyo, 1987, 128 pp. Price $9.95.
A Book of Colors is a visual exploration of the authors

Color Image Scale theory - a system in which descriptive

qualities (i.e., youthful, urbane, dreamy, energetic) are
translated into their color constellation of hue, value and
saturation.
Kobayashi bases his theory upon a measurement of
meaning study involving the general public and color and
design students who ranked colors according to their emotive attributes. The study was undertaken and published in
Japan from 1966-72 and was also presented in 1973 and
1977 at the AIC. A detailed discussion of the theory also
appeared in this journal.
The Color Image Scale is composed of colors arranged
in a chart with three axes: the first represents warm to cool
(red to blue); the second, soft to hard (from black/soft to
white/hard and from warm/soft to coollhard); and the third,
clear to shaded (from brighdclear to grayishkhaded and
from coolklear to warmhhaded).
Kobayashis anaylsis of the relations between these somewhat subjective attributes is similar to the thinking of Josef
Albers in Interuction of Color,2 LightJdark and lighdheavy
lead easily to sofdhard comparison, or quicWslow and
early/late connect with young/old, and with w a d c o o l , as
well as with weddry.
Interestingly, in Kobayashis theory, the emotional qualities are not limited to only one color association but exist
within a quadrant of color space.
Because the book is based on a well-documented theory,
it is superior to another book in this area that comes readily
to mind, The Designers Guides to Color.
A Book of Colors is quite handsome and provides a solid
resource for consumers and professionals looking for a range
of choices when making color combination decisions. Usu-

6 1987 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

344

ally, three or four color fields, in varying proportion, sequence and value, are presented for each emotional quality
listed along with a lively, descriptive text.
For example, in the section describing the attribute
youthful the author explains, . . . Shows how reducing
the amount of white and increasing the blue proportionately
highlights the yellow-blue contrast for an attractive, summery outfit. A similar effect is achieved between (fields)
#2 and #7, where peppermint green lends a gay mood to
a patio luncheon table . . . There are also application tips
for package and industrial designers.
As is evident from the quote above, the language of the
book tends to be flowery and at times, sounds almost naive.
Since this book was originally published in Japanese, this
may be a result of the translation.
Useful to the reader is a final section that shows colors
arranged by hue and sub-divided into complementary and
contrasting color combinations. In addition, the hues are
cross-referenced to the various emotional attributes listed
throughout the book.
The format of the book, intended to be consulted as a
reference, may be frustrating to the novice who may need
to understand the theory behind the selections-something
that is not clarified until the reader is more than half way
through the book.
Overall, however, Kobayashis Color Image Scale theory appears to be a sound and useful one for both the amateur
and the professional color stylist.

IRIS WEINSTEIN

1. S.Kobayashi, The aim and method of thc color image scale, Color Re.\.
Appl. 6, 93-107 (1981).
2. J . Albers, Interaction of Color, Yale University Press, New Haven,

1971.
3. Anonymous, Designers Guide to Color, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1984.

CCC 4361-2317/87/060344-06$04.00

COLOR research and application