FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present specification relates generally to color palettes, and more particularly to a system and method for generation of an interactive color workspace.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

Color has been shown to impact human cognition and behavior, as well as influence emotion. Unsurprisingly, color plays a central role in many creative visual domains, including graphic design, visualization, user interface design, illustration, and beyond. Because of its importance and its subjective nature, the choice of color can be challenging. Perhaps for this reason, there are dozens of books on color inspiration, as well as websites for creating, browsing and sharing color palettes (also known as color themes). While a color theme is important to any visual creation, conventional “color palettes” can be inefficient and not particularly user-friendly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method for generation of an interactive color workspace, the method comprising: generating a workspace; receiving successive inputs from a user to create two or more controllable color swatches, the controllable color swatches comprising an associated color; generating the controllable color swatches on the workspace; and upon receiving input from the user to select and associate at least two of the controllable color swatches, generating a gradient of colors comprising the colors of the selected controllable color swatches as endpoints to the gradient.

In a particular case of the method, the workspace comprises a grid, and each of the controllable color swatches comprise separate cells in the grid.

In another case, the gradient of colors comprises a step gradient, each step in the gradient comprising a separate cell in the grid.

In yet another case, associating two of the controllable color swatches comprises receiving input of one of the controllable color swatches moving within a predetermined proximity of the other controllable color swatch and receiving input of the controllable color swatch separating from the other controllable color swatch, wherein the gradient of colors is generated between the separated controllable color swatches.

In yet another case, granularity of the color gradient is proportional to the distance of the endpoints relative to the workspace.

In yet another case, granularity of the color gradient is selectable by the user.

In yet another case, the method further comprising generating a secondary gradient of colors after receiving input from the user to associate the gradient of colors with a first-additional controllable color swatch, the secondary gradient of colors having endpoints comprising the first-additional controllable color swatch and one of the endpoints of the gradient of colors.

In yet another case, the method further comprising generating a tertiary gradient of colors after receiving input from the user to associate the secondary gradient of colors with a second-additional controllable color swatch, the secondary gradient of colors comprising an area bound at least by the first-additional controllable color swatch, the second-additional controllable color swatch, and one of the endpoints of the gradient of colors.

In yet another case, the method further comprising receiving a design from the user, and associating one or more colors in the workspace each with at least one area of the design.

In yet another case, the method further comprising receiving further input from the user to change the associated color of at least one of the controllable color swatches, and changing the associated colors in the workspace.

In yet another case, the method further comprising: receiving input from the user to select the associated color of one of the controllable color swatches; displaying a neighborhood color map centered at the associated color of the selected controllable color swatch, the neighborhood color map comprising a gradient of colors distributed radially around the center; receiving a selection from the user of a color in the neighborhood color map; and modifying the color of the selected controllable color swatch to the selected color.

In yet another case, the neighborhood color map is a two-dimensional (2D) visualization of a three-dimensional (3D) neighborhood color map, the 2D visualization being manipulatable with respect to the 3D neighborhood color map via input from the user.

In another aspect, there is provided a system for generation of an interactive color workspace, the system comprising one or more processors and a data storage, the one or more processors configured to execute a workspace module to: generate a workspace; receive successive inputs from a user to create two or more controllable color swatches, the controllable color swatches comprising an associated color; generate the controllable color swatches on the workspace; and upon receiving input from the user to select and associate at least two of the controllable color swatches, generate a gradient of colors comprising the colors of the selected controllable color swatches as endpoints to the gradient.

In a particular case of the system, the controllable color swatches are moveable to different areas of the workspace, wherein associating two of the controllable color swatches comprises receiving input of one of the controllable color swatches moving within a predetermined proximity of the other controllable color swatch and receiving input of the controllable color swatch separating from the other controllable color swatch, and wherein the gradient of colors is generated between the separated controllable color swatches.

In another case, the workspace module further generates a secondary gradient of colors after receiving input from the user to associate the gradient of colors with a first-additional controllable color swatch, the secondary gradient of colors comprising endpoints as the color of the first-additional controllable color swatch and the color of a selected color in the gradient of colors.

In yet another case, the workspace module further generates a tertiary gradient of colors after receiving input from the user to associate the secondary gradient of colors with a second-additional controllable color swatch, the secondary gradient of colors comprising an area bound at least by the first-additional controllable color swatch, the second-additional controllable color swatch, and the selected color in the gradient of colors.

In yet another case, the one or more processors further configured to execute a mapping module to receive a design from the user, and associate one or more colors in the workspace each with at least one area of the design.

In yet another case, the workspace module further: receives input from the user to select the associated color of one of the controllable color swatches; displays a neighborhood color map centered at the associated color of the selected controllable color swatch, the neighborhood color map comprising a gradient of colors distributed radially around the center; receives a selection from the user of a color in the neighborhood color map; and modifies the color of the selected controllable color swatch to the selected color.

In yet another case, the neighborhood color map is a two-dimensional (2D) visualization of a three-dimensional (3D) neighborhood color map, the 2D visualization being manipulatable with respect to the 3D neighborhood color map via input from the user.

In another aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method for generation of a color picker, the method comprising: receiving input from a user to select a color swatch, the color swatch comprising an associated color; displaying a neighborhood color map centered at the associated color, the neighborhood color map comprising a gradient of colors distributed radially around the center; receiving a selection from the user of a color in the neighborhood color map; and modifying the color of the selected controllable color swatch to the selected color.

Other aspects and features according to the present application will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

