Color Profile
The Right Color / It All Starts Here
Color is incredibly important. In natural stone, it can be difficult to accurately specify.
We describe a stone’s color profile by:
Combining these factors produces a color profile.
Color Theme
Dominant color refers to colors that make up approximately 30 percent or more of a natural stone’s surface.
Secondary color refers to colors that make up less than approximately 30 percent of a natural stone’s surface. For example, we may describe a certain granite as having beige dominant colors with blue and purple secondary colors.
Unlike paint, perceived color in natural stone is highly fluid, depending on surface finish, moisture, and sun angle. Therefore, we reference color themes rather than specific color names or numbers.
Color Pattern
Color pattern refers to the way in which colors are distributed over the surface of the stone. For example, we may refer to the granite as having a regular color pattern with some speckles and swirls. We’ve adopted many of our color pattern terms from other materials, such a wallpaper and carpet.
Feeling
Feeling refers to an overall warm or cool color composition or exhibits a feeling of movement.
Inclusions
Inclusions refer to the presence of additional minerals, such as mica, that can change the perceived color of natural stone. Inclusions can create dramatic movement when they are linear, streaked, swirled or veined.
Surface Finish
Surface finish processes can change the perceived color of certain stone. Keep this in mind when creating a stone curation specification.
Mountain Hard Limestone Beige / One Stone. Eight different finishes.
Mountain Hard Limestone Beige /
One Stone. Eight different finishes.
Bush Hammered
Split-Face
Adze
Antiqued
Flamed
Flamed & Tumbled
Sandblasted
Sandblasted & Brushed
Even though the individual elements of a color profile are closely related, dominant and secondary color, color pattern and inclusions can be specified independently in a stone curation specification to achieve specific design goals.
A growing trend in natural stone design is to use different products, with different color profiles, surfaces, and textures, in a single design pattern. It’s important to note that certain surface finish processes can change the color profile of certain stone.
