Munsell Products / About Munsell

Academia, business, and government in a wide variety of disciplines from science and technology to color classification and branding use Munsell Color products. The Munsell System of Color is ideal for a wide variety of color applications because it's organized in the way we see color and designed for the way color is produced.

Munsell products are produced to exact color tolerances making them ideal color references. Businesses trust Munsell color standards to help them accurately and consistently communicate and classify color. So whether you're grading the value of agricultural products based on color, communicating color to supply chain partners, determining fitness for use of land, or ensuring safety based on color, Munsell Color products can help.

Munsell Color products also include visual aids for learning and teaching about color based on the Munsell Color Order System. Beginning with color aptitude, Munsell color vision tests have been used for more than 50 years to evaluate the color vision of anyone responsible for evaluating color.
The mission and purpose of Munsell Color is to provide color education, tools and services for effectively and accurately communicating color based on the Munsell Color Order System. It consists of physical color references that easily and accurately support color evaluation in laboratory, production or field environments.

Munsell Color is the living legacy of artist and educator, Albert H. Munsell. His initial aim was to create an orderly visual system that would help artists communicate color more effectively. Munsell went to great lengths to ensure that his system, though visual and for the artist, was grounded in scientific principles, even developing and patenting his own photometer with which to scientifically validate his color notation system. He consulted with the world's luminaries in physics and mathematics representing leading academic institutions including Columbia University, Harvard, MIT and Tufts.

Munsell's passion for color education led to the development of numerous tools to teach his three-dimensional color order system… that all color was represented by hue (primary colors including red, yellow, blue, etc.); value (lightness or darkness); and chroma (brightness or saturation of color). A professor at the Massachusetts Normal Art School (presently MassArt), Munsell developed color education curricula for the college level down to the primary school level.

Today, Munsell's color order system remains the basis for the mathematical models used in computerized color matching systems. The Munsell Color Order System is organized for the way you see color and designed for the way color is produced.

Learn how Munsell Color can help you work with color more accurately.

2. How Munsell Color Notation Works

The Munsell Color Order System is an accepted method, worldwide, for precise color specification.

3. Who Developed the Munsell Color System?

Albert H. Munsell’s turn-of-the-century research on color still influences the way color is interpreted today.

Munsell | The Universal Language of Color

Everyone describes color differently. But there are ways to ensure that everyone understands what color you want them to see. The Munsell Color Order System is an accepted method, worldwide, for precise color specification.

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