Missed the live show? Catch up on our chat with Kory Stamper, where we explored color names, color science, remembering forgotten contributors, and her latest book, "True Color."
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Make sure to get your copy of True Color and catch Kory Stamper on tour: korystamper.com/true-color/
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What was the most fun discovery while researching the book? For Stamper, it was tracking down an almost invisible figure, a person with “no footprint in the archive.” Years of searching led to a breakthrough. #ThatWordChat
During the writing process, a gap became clear: scientific description versus how people actually understand color. “This is not how people think of color.” So she leans into that tension, breaking down how a reader would stumble through those definitions. #ThatWordChat
What was the most fun part of writing True Color? Stamper admits she had moments of hesitation. “Am I being too me?” She debated a more academic tone, but she leaned into her voice. “I gotta be me.” #ThatWordChat
“Think of teal… think of a duck… smash those together... A dark greenish blue that is bluer and duller than average teal, averaging teal blue drake or duckling.” #ThatWordChat
Favorite color and favorite color definitions? “I have multiple favorite colors… and they shift.” Current favorites: Purple, deep oranges, and deep blue-greens. But her favorite definition is something else entirely: Teal duck. #ThatWordChat
Some experiences, like color blindness, can be explained biologically, while others, like synesthesia, are much harder to define. “How do you translate the color that your brain produces into an actual color?” #ThatWordChat
Color is not just light hitting the eye. It also involves psychology and cognition.“That totally changed how scientists thought of color.” #ThatWordChat
In the book, Stamper touches briefly on color perception and color cognition. Her focus stays historical, but the shift in thinking is key. Early 20th-century science began moving beyond color as purely physical. #ThatWordChat
At the core is a mismatch of expertise: lexicographers focus on language while color scientists focus on perception and measurement. “We’re like, it’s all gray.. the layer of meaning was flattened.” #ThatWordChat
Readers were not thinking about spelling systems, just meaning. “They just misspelled the gray… so [we] normalized all instances.” Result: gray (A) replaced grey (E) in major dictionaries like Webster’s Second and Third. #ThatWordChat
So not just spelling variants, but different actual shades. “Gray is cooler, the color of steel. Grey is lighter, like London… like fog.” #ThatWordChat
Next audience question: gray vs grey. Are they actually different colors? In the late 1800s and early 1900s, multiple standards existed. Some explicitly treated gray (A) and grey (E) as different. #ThatWordChat
Stamper will be touring. Current stops on the schedule: Princeton, Dallas Charlottesville, and New York City. More cities planned. #ThatWordChat
NCS stands out to Stamper partly for its palette and practical use in built environments. Stamper’s takeaway: “Use whatever color system makes sense to you.” #ThatWordChat
Audience question: Stamper’s preference for Pantone, PMS, or CMYK? “I’m a fan… of the NCS system of color measurement.” NCS, or Natural Color System, is based in Sweden and commonly used in architecture and design. #ThatWordChat
At the time, color science was not driven by modern tools—no spectrophotometers nor advanced computational systems. “It was all about the human eye.” -Stamper #ThatWordChat
“Women are keener perceivers of color,” Stamper explains, and are less likely to be color blind. One standout was Dorothy Nickerson, a USDA scientist who helped develop foundational color standards for grading materials like oil and cotton. #ThatWordChat
Women were believed to perceive color more finely and were less affected by color blindness, so they were often brought into this work. #ThatWordChat
Historically, color science had notable gender parity, partly due to assumptions about perception. In the early 20th century, many women trained in science were excluded from labs. Color research became one of the few accessible paths. #ThatWordChat
Stamper shares a striking example from a high-fashion collection: “Canary” was dark red. “Brick” was gold. “Number 14” was blue. “The fancier a name, the more money people are willing to pay for it.” #ThatWordChat
“If I ask you what color is Josephine… you’re probably going to think about who the Josephines are.” #ThatWordChat
She distinguishes between inherent color names and associative ones. Associative names rely on cultural or mental connections, not direct visual cues. #ThatWordChat
“You have color science saying… it can be a whole bunch of colors. And you have… dictionaries going, no. It’s got to be one color.” -Stamper #ThatWordChat
But here is the twist: Our mental image of a color name often does not match reality. Take lime. The color people imagine is not actually the color of limes in nature. #ThatWordChat
Color names may feel tied to trends and “color of the year” debates, but some categories are stable. “There are basic color categories… red, blue, green, yellow.” And then there are “inherent” color names, drawn from nature or objects: steel, lilac, oak. #ThatWordChat
And once people learned she wrote dictionaries, they had opinions. “Oh, you gotta fix the definition of primary color.” Color people, it turns out, feel strongly about definitions. #ThatWordChat
People developing color theory, manufacturing pigments, applying color in products, and naming shades for brands like paint companies. Plus Pantone forecasters and, as Stamper puts it, “people like me who don’t fit any of those categories.” #ThatWordChat
What are color conferences like? According to Stamper, not so different from editing conferences. (Just less drinking.) #ThatWordChat