The Interplay of Color, Material and Finish
The science behind the design: uncovering complex relationships in CMF
Sometimes, the term CMF can be misleading. The acronym for “color, material, and finish” may sound like each of these are a category of its own, unrelated to one another other than the fact that they make up the main cosmetic characteristics of products.
You might ask, “but isn’t that true?”
In some respects, yes. In other respects, not so much.
In this post, we’ll cover the intricacies that exist between color, material, and finish and how they impact CMF work for designers:
01. How are they different?
02. How do they relate?
03. What does this mean for designers working in CMF?
How are color, material, and finish different?
Each of these categories are described and evaluated based on its own unique set of parameters and characteristics. For example:
Color
Color can be described in terms of hue (the identity of a color, such as red, blue, green), saturation (the intensity or purity of a color), and brightness or lightness (how much light a color reflects). Additionally, color can also be described using numerical representations, such as RGB (red, green, blue), HSL (hue, saturation, lightness), or L*a*b* (lightness, red/green, yellow/blue, but more on this later) values.
Material
Material can be described in a wide range of ways, including physical properties (density, weight, strength, hardness, elasticity, conductivity), chemical properties (reactivity, flammability, toxicity), microstructure (the arrangement and composition of molecules, atoms, or other structures within a material), classification (material type based on physical properties, such as metal, plastic, or composite), composition (the materials and elements that make up a material, such as polycarbonate, steel, or glass), and production process (the method used to produce a material, such as casting, forging, and molding).
Finish
Finish refers to the surface texture and appearance of a material, and can be described in several ways: by gloss level (the shininess or reflectiveness of a surface, often described as high gloss, medium gloss, or low gloss), texture type (the surface roughness or bumpiness of a material, such as smooth, rough, sandblasted, or brushed), and finish process (the type of treatment applied to a material's surface, such as anodized, powder coated, or electroplated)
How do color, material, and finish relate to one another?
Where these characteristics start to intermingle is how they influence each other.
To start, materials influence colors and finishes in a few ways:
Light Reflection and Absorption
The color of a material is largely determined by the way it reflects light. Different materials have different reflectivity properties, and some materials are more reflective than others. A material that is more reflective will tend to appear lighter in color, while a material that is less reflective will tend to appear darker. That makes reflectivity a factor in how color and finish are expressed in a material.
Different materials absorb different wavelengths of light, which results in a specific color being expressed. For example, chlorophyll absorbs blue and red light and reflects green, giving plants their characteristic green color. Glass and water has no absorbing properties and therefore appear transparent. Coal appears black because it absorbs most visible light.
Transparency
The translucency or transparency of a material affects the way light passes through and the color that is expressed in the material. A material that is highly transparent will allow more light to pass through, while a material that is less transparent will allow less light to pass through, making it more opaque. Transparency not only impacts light transmission, but is also influenced by its surrounding colors.
Surface texture
The texture of a material can also influence its color and finish, as light is scattered differently depending on the surface roughness. A rough surface will scatter light in many directions, appearing dull and matte, while a smooth surface will reflect light more efficiently, appearing shiny and glossy. In each of these instances, texture influences both color and finish.
Equally, color and finish selection can also impact how a material is processed, how it is expressed, how it performs:
Color and finishing processes
The desired color and finish of an object can affect the choice of material used to create it. For example, a bright, highly saturated color may require a material that is easily pigmented and has high light-fastness to prevent fading over time. A designer who wants a part to look matte black would not likely choose to use a smooth, polished piece of metal to achieve that look. Someone who wants to have light glowing through a semi-translucent material would likely consider amorphous polymers, a specific type of plastics.
What does this mean for designers working in CMF?
So based on the topics we covered so far, the CMF acronym may appear to call out individual qualities of an object, when in reality, they are actually very much interrelated.
Materials play a central role in CMF and can establish a baseline for what color and finish applications are achievable with a given material. In some projects, perhaps in researching new material technologies, a team can start with a desired material and study how much its properties can be leveraged to achieve a desired look and tactile experience.
In other processes, perhaps in building a new type of product, a team might start with characteristics that are needed for a specific part and work from there to figure out what kinds of materials best suit that set of physical properties.
Within the trifecta of CMF, such material properties impact the way colors and finishes can be expressed. Inherent material properties influence how we experience products, and ultimately, how designers create successful products.
We’d love to hear your thoughts after reading this post.
Does this fascinate you? Is any of this unexpected? What questions come up as you discover how technical and scientific CMF can get?