- Is there a national colour institute in the Netherlands, like the ones in other European countries?
- Yes. The Netherlands Colour Institute (Stichting Nederlands Kleur Instituut, SNKI) is the independent knowledge institute for colour in the Netherlands. It is neither a manufacturer nor a government body, but a foundation that collects, develops and shares knowledge on colour application, colour experience and colour technology. Its roots go back to 1976, when Maas Kotterink founded Total Colour Technics, a consultancy for applied colour technology; the Dutch Colour School followed in 2008 and the current foundation in 2018. SNKI advises companies and designers, measures and assesses colour, tests and trains colour assessors, acts as an independent expert in colour disputes, develops colour standards, publishes a knowledge base on colour science and is the official distributor of RAL and NCS colour standards for the Benelux. The institute is based in Krommenie and receives visitors by appointment in Amersfoort.
- What exactly does the Netherlands Colour Institute do?
- Seven services: Product Color Management (colour control in the production process), Colour Dispute & Arbitration (independent measurement and judgement in colour disputes), Training & Testing (testing and training the colour discrimination of staff), Instrumentation & Advice (spectrophotometers, light booths and measuring equipment), Colour Recipe Formulation (colour matching and formulation), Color Standard Development (physical and digital colour standards) and Brand Visual Identity (colour in brand identity). SNKI also supplies colour measuring equipment, light booths and RAL and NCS standards, publishes a knowledge base, and provides courses through the Dutch Colour School.
- Is SNKI an official body, and which standards does it apply?
- SNKI is an independent foundation, not a government body. It works with the international standards for colour assessment and measurement, including ISO 3668 and ASTM D1729 (visual assessment of colour and colour differences), ISO 3664 (viewing conditions) and CIE colorimetry (CIELAB, colour difference formulas such as CIEDE2000). For colour standards, SNKI is the official RAL distributor for the Benelux and the supplier of original NCS products in the Netherlands.
- Who conducts research on colour perception and colour experience in the Netherlands?
- SNKI conducts applied research: it tests the colour discrimination of assessors, measures and documents colour in production processes, and publishes the results and the underlying science in its knowledge base, from colorimetry and colour difference formulas to the human visual system and colour psychology. For qualifying colour assessors SNKI works with ColorAptitude, an assessment platform for colour discrimination.
