Color change can occur drastically through lighting differences, but it can also occur more subtlety. For example, the elements surrounding a color can influence how the color is perceived. Even in the same light, a color will appear different depending on the colors that are adjacent to it. This is significant because it is very rare that we see a color by itself. It is much more likely to see a color in juxtaposition with another color.
The first picture depicts a paint chip of a white hue. Say you were looking to paint a room white…this selection would be as good as any. Afterall, white is white. Right? Wrong! This paint chip may appear white, but that perception will change entirely when the paint chip is shown in different surroundings. Next to a hundred other “white” paint chips (the second picture) it is obvious the white paint chip is, in fact, just one of many whitewashes (as they are called). When viewed by themselves all of these paint chips appear to be the same color as the next. However, when placed in juxtaposition with each other it’s true color becomes much more salient. These “whitewashes” are actually very light values of different hues. For instance, the color in the first picture is actually a very light value of red. When viewed next to the other whitewashes its true pink color is visible.
Understandably this is an interesting phenomenon, however one may wonder just how useful it is in design. You may ask the question, if I were not juxtaposing different whitewashes next to one another, why would it matter which whitewash I chose to paint a room? To answer this question, consider a room that is to be painted white. There is a window in this room and outside the window there are green bushes lining the exterior wall. If you selected a white wash that was actually a very light green hue (or even if you selected a white wash that was closer to a “true” white) the green bushes would reflect green light onto the wall. To your dismay, the room that was painted white would appear green.
Therefore, understanding how color interacts with its surrounds is a useful way to avoid design disaster. However, this knowledge can also be used to solve design disasters. So you don’t want a green room, AND you don’t want to do away with the landscaping? Now that very light red hue (the whitewash in the first picture) will come in handy. When not juxtaposed with other whitewashes this paint will appear white. Furthermore, it will not be affected by the reflected green light because red neutralizes green. Design problem solved, and you end up with the white room that was desired.
