Investigating seasonal color change in the environment by color analysis and information visualization

Abstract Color, as one of the most important dimensions of vision, plays a key role in place identity and people's experience in the environment. This study aims to investigate people's visual experience of seasonal color change in the environment, and proposes an approach for analyzing and communicating environmental colors by combining color analysis and information visualization. Employing crowdsourced Flickr photos, the approach is tested in four gardens: the Humble Administrator's Garden, Ryoanji, the Garden of Versailles, and Central Park in New York. The results show direct comparisons of seasonal color change patterns in different environments, and reflect characteristics of the environments as well as people's experience of color during the four seasons. The primary contribution of this study is to provide a way of communicating colors in landscape design and color research.