Abstract
Research on the topic of colour–shape correspondences started in the early 20th century with the Bauhaus artist Wassily Kandinsky. However, more recently, the topic has been examined using the empirical framework of crossmodal correspondences research. The field remains one in which consistent results and generalisable hypotheses about the existence and nature of colour–shape correspondences are lacking. The replicability and consistency of findings concerning colour–shape correspondences are examined in three online colour–shape matching experiments using the same procedure and study design while varying the sets of shape stimuli that are evaluated. Participants matched one of 36 colours to each shape as well as made preference and arousal appraisal ratings for each of the shapes and colours. The complexities of analysing colour–shape correspondence data are discussed and illustrated by classifying and analysing shape and colours in a variety of different ways, including using continuous perceptual and objective measures. Significant colour–shape associations were found. However, as hypothesised, limited consistent results in regard to what perceptual shape characteristics predicted colour choices were documented across the three stimuli sets. This was the case both within and across different analysis methods. The factors that may be responsible for these inconsistencies are critically discussed. Intriguingly, however, evidence for emotional mediation, whereby shape and colour liking and arousal appraisals appear to influence the colour–shape correspondences made by participants, was found across all three experiments.
Highlights
The History of Colour–Shape CorrespondencesHistorical accounts of colour–shape correspondences usually begin with the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky—a pioneer of modern abstract art and a key member of the Bauhaus collective
One of the most common ways that many colour–shape correspondence studies have evaluated whether there are significant colour–shape associations is through chi-square analyses of the categorical factors of shape and colour categories
If future researchers want to deepen our understanding of the nature of colour–shape correspondences and be able to find generalisable hypotheses about what shape characteristics are predictably associated with what colour features, especially when wider arrays of shapes and colours are presented to individuals, researchers will need to engage and wrestle with a number of issues: 1. Sources of variation: disentangling how the factors detailed earlier may affect colour– shape correspondences using both between-participant and within-participant designs
Summary
The History of Colour–Shape CorrespondencesHistorical accounts of colour–shape correspondences usually begin with the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky—a pioneer of modern abstract art and a key member of the Bauhaus collective. In search of a universal visual language, Kandinsky believed that lines, shapes, colours, and even music were essential to this endeavour, but fundamentally intertwined He believed that a translation existed between graphical features (e.g., lines) and nongraphical dimensions such as colour, music, perception, emotions, and even spiritual intuition (Kandinsky, 1914, 1926/1994; Lupton & Miller, 1993). For Kandinsky, and a number of his contemporaries, a triangle was associated with yellow, a square was associated with red, and a circle was associated with blue (Gage, 1993) When colours are restricted to the three Kandinsky colours (e.g., Chen, Tanaka, & Watanabe, 2015d; Jacobsen, 2002), this means that individuals may not be able to pick the colour that they truly feel best matches the shape
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