Explore Named Colors Across Color Spaces

An interactive CodePen visualizes the distribution of named colors across many color models. Users can switch among numerous curated color-name lists and compare how they populate different spaces. The project is open-source, emphasizing exploration rather than a fixed conclusion.

Key Points

• Interactive visualization of how named colors are distributed across multiple color spaces.
• Supports a wide range of color-name datasets, from web standards to historical and cultural lists.
• Multiple color models are available (e.g., RGB, Lab/OKLab, LCh, HSV/HSL, XYZ, YUV), enabling cross-model comparison.
• Includes usability features like dataset filtering, “Best of”/short-name subsets, and dark mode.
• Open-source project with code available on GitHub for transparency and reuse.

Sentiment

Overall, the sentiment is positive and engaged. Users find the visualization 'neat' and 'tons of fun' for its exploratory capabilities, actively using its features to make observations and ponder their implications. While there is a minor point regarding its practical utility compared to other tools, it does not significantly diminish the overall appreciative and curious tone of the discussion.

In Agreement

• The visualization is 'neat' for showing how RGB space is compressed into different shapes by various color spaces.
• The tool is 'tons of fun' and provides an engaging way to explore color distributions.
• The visualization effectively allows users to observe specific characteristics of color lists, such as the abundance of off-white colors in HTML/CSS.

Opposed

• The visualization is perceived as 'less practically useful' for daily design tasks, such as generating descriptive color names for communication, compared to other dedicated tools.