Style Theory: Color Seasons are a Complete LIE!

This test drove me crazy. Part of the issue was the color of the background constantly changing. IT MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE

I wish the background of the pictures stayed the same color, because the contrast DEFINITELY had an impact on my choices

as a general note for you on team theory, whenever you do photo-based surveys, PLEASE try to control extra variables like the backgrounds of your images. all of them should have been the same wether the outfit was color shifted or not.

One thing I noticed when I took the survey is how much the background color affected my perception of the outfit. I'm curious how much it messed with the results, overall, or if it was just me.

There are factors I think you're overlooking. The big one is the background color, which wasn't consistent. There's also eye fatigue- I suspect you'll see a stronger preference for muted and darker colors in later questions. Some shirts were so saturated they didn't look real, so an uncanny valley effect might have been present too. There are also factors like the type of clothing the model was wearing. More formal shirts seemed to be darker shades and lower intensities, while t-shirts could be lighter and brighter.

MatPat, you missed one MAJOR variable that might have skewed the votes: The participants displays. Not everyone has a display with correct color settings. Manufacturers often over saturate colors, most displays have a wrong white point, others have terrible contrast, shifted hues and the list goes on and on.

I wonder how much the backgrounds of the pictures affected people's choices. It definitely affected mine

I'm really curious about why you guys chose to change the background colours of the photos. As colours are viewed in combination with the colours around them, they play a big part, and I noticed some of the background colours sometimes made the subjects in their correct seasons look washed out, where it probably wouldn't have been the case if it was kept the same as the wrong season. From everything I know about art, I'd think a completely neutral grey for all backgrounds would be the best way to test the colours on the subjects. Many professional artists use grey-ish neutral background when creating character design and concept art for the exact that it gives the best idea of how the colours work together on their own without any interference of colours around their drawings. If you had a reason for not doing this, I would love to hear it! Also, as you mentioned the results might change if asked in other seasons, I hope this is something you will test out in the future! ^^

One of the things that was confusing me when taking the survey was the hue shift of the background on the photos

One thing that bothered me about the photos was that photoshopped colors don't look the same as changing the color in real life. If you swap out a shirt in real life, the light bounces off that shirt and onto your skin, affecting the way your skin looks, but when you just swap the color of the shirt in photoshop, the reflected light stays the same. I honestly think the reflected light from colors near your face is what gives the biggest effect.

I have a slight factor to possibly add into the results. The color of the background. The beige vs white might be affecting how the individual looks in the colors.

I didn't get a chance to do the survey, but one thing that is hard for me to miss is each choice not only has a different color for the clothes, but also different background colors. I could see that being a factor too.

The main flaw I found in this survey was it was just way too long. I got really tired of making choices towards the end and just kinda being a lot less discerning and just picking whatever grabbed my attention first (probably the brights). I’m sure this skewed the results

I'm curious if there was any analysis related to the background colors of the photos. I remember thinking some of the shirt colors didn't look great against that peachy background, which was impacting some of my choices.

I know for me, the backgrounds really effected which image I liked best. I was looking for at the image on the whole not just one part, maybe that was wrong but ADHD made me look at the whole thing

Has anyone mentioned how upset we all are about the background colors? Oh they have? 🎨

I don't know how much it mattered, but the color of the background played a difference with how I picked during the survey in question. Whether that was intentional or not just thought I'd throw it out there

I was waiting for this FINALLY. Can't believe that style theory became one of the channels I watch on the regular now

I still feel like the results of the surveys were skewed due to the variable of the background colors. The background makes a HUGE impact on how the color of an outfit appears to the viewer. You only have to remember the blue/black vs white/gold dress controversy of a few years ago to realize that.

I wonder if the results would change if you were to look at only the first half of the survey answers 'cause let's be honest by the end of it I was having decision fatigue and just wanted it to end (altho I tried my best to not pick randomly until the end)