Characteristics According to the Change in Color Field Width of Stripe Patterns - Focused on Complementary Colors

Since colors are not perceived in isolation, stripe patterns require consideration of how adjacent hues interact through contrast and assimilation effects. Visual impressions can vary significantly depending on stripe width, direction, and color combinations. To support effective design applications, this study aimed to identify the stripe width at which alternating color areas are perceived either as a pattern or as a single color, under controlled digital conditions. Two experiments were conducted using complementary color combinations based on the Munsell system. The first used pairs with identical value and chroma, and the second used combinations with differing values and chromas. Results showed that stripes with low value and chroma were more quickly perceived as a single color as the stripe width decreased, while those with high value and chroma maintained pattern visibility even at minimal widths. In combinations with varying color attributes, higher lightness difference (ΔL⁎) led to faster transitions toward single-color perception. Conversely, combinations with minimal ΔL⁎ showed little perceptual change despite substantial width reduction. These results indicate that lightness contrast plays a more decisive role than total color difference (ΔE⁎) in determining pattern visibility. The findings provide practical guidelines for planning stripe patterns in textile, fashion, and digital design contexts, allowing designers to predict and control perceptual effects through strategic color and width combinations.