Abstract
Simultaneous color contrast, the change in appearance of a color caused by surrounding colors, depends upon
relationships of means and extremes in the color dimensions of value, intensity, and hue. In this paper, principles
are defined and systematic methods are proposed for creating simultaneous color contrast. Combinatorial methods
for simultaneous contrast effects are applied to value, intensity, and hue individually, then expanded to include
combinations of these three color dimensions. Diagrams, formulas, and illustrations augment written descriptions,
and examples of the author’s artworks show creative applications of the ideas presented. A combinatorial approach
to simultaneous color contrast offers the artist and designer a deductive method for producing color interactions,
which can complement more traditional inductive, trial-and-error methods.
