User guide

On the top-left of the window is the search field.

All the keywords in the graph can be looked up.

When a keyword is selected, the information panel opens at the right of the window.

The panel covers three main parts: the icon (1), the keyword properties (2), and the keyword relationships (3).

You can open the information page full screen via the three dots at the top right. Select "view node page" from the drop-down menu. 

The information page covers two tabs: Overview and Relationships. The Overview tab shows the properties connected to the keyword.

The Relationships tab reveals the connections between other keywords.

The icon illustrating a keyword seeks to capture the essence of the meaning, drawn in the color or color combination connected to the keyword.

Below the icon in the keyword information panel are a number of properties associated with the keyword. These may differ depending on the level of meaning and whether the information concerns a node (keyword), or an edge (connection). 

In this example, the properties of the Level-3 keyword "friendship" are shown. Here you find the validation of a keyword, the code, a color suggestion in Hex value, the culture in which the validation is valid, as well as the context and design application.

In the information panel below the Icon and the Properties sections are listed the keyword's connections to other keywords, as shown in the graph. 

Each connection can have properties attached. You can retrieve this information by clicking on an edge line, or by clicking - on the right of a connected keyword in the Information panel - on the three dots and Select Relationship in the dropdown menu. 

The properties of a connection may differ according to the kind of relationship. Read about all the different relationships a keyword can have in the Relationships section in this User Guide.

The Information panel shows the properties for this connection.

The thicker the line between two keywords in the graph, the more sources there are that validate this connection. The thinnest line means that there is a presumption of a connection between two keywords, but (for now) without validation.

To look for color parameters, type in the parameter in the search field. Color parameters are: dark or light, heavy or lightweight, dull or vivid, soft or hard, warm or cold. 

The properties and the listed connections for these parameters are shown in the Information panel.

Type in "primary color" in the search field. Eight primary colors can be looked up: blue (000), black (001), green (010), purple (011), brown (100), red (101), white (110), and yellow (111).

The properties and the listed connections of the primary color are shown in the Information panel.

Type in "color-on-color", where "color" must be one of the primary colors: blue, black, green, purple, brown, red, white, or yellow. Ex. "red-on-blue", "green-on-yellow", guides you to the red-on-blue cluster and green-on-yellow cluster of meaning respectively. 

The properties and the listed connections of the color combination are shown in the Information panel.

An overview of the 64  two-color combinations in the graph.

Type in one of the primary colors: blue, black, green, purple, brown, red, white, or yellow, followed by "-" and a number ranging from 0 to 7. Example: "red-5" shows a light red tint. 

The properties and the listed connections of a selected color are shown in the Information panel.

Find an overview of the 64 colors and their notation below.

To look for shape parameters, type in the parameter in the search field. Shape parameters are: few or many, angular or round, straight or curved, open or closed, thick or thin, large or small, rounded or sharp, unordered or ordered, asymmetry or symmetry. 

The properties and the listed connections for these parameters are shown in the Information panel.

Type in "primary shape" in the search field. Primary shapes can be looked up with there codon code: 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, or 111.

The properties and the listed connections of the primary shape are shown in the Information panel.

The network is modularly structured along the lines of the three-dimensional Semantic Color Space (Alpaerts & Michiels, 2001). What is innovating about this model is that it distinguishes between different levels of meaning. Level-1 (dimensional level) contains only basic polar opposite terms such as dark/light or heavy/lightweight. These form the constituent components for primary keywords, colors, and shapes in Level-2. Simple concepts such as enlarge, mass, and primary colors and shapes such as blue and black, circle and square, fall under this category. In turn, these concepts provide the components for the more complex concepts at Level-3 with keywords such as powerful, expensive, abundance, or the colors or color combinations dark blue, black-on-green etc. 

Example: "bravery" a Level-3 keyword is classified under color red-2 with code 101-2. This is a dark red color obtained by mixing red with black. Bravery is composed of a.o. the Level-2 keyword "danger" (code 101), this way delivering the red part of the red and black mixture. In turn, danger is composed of several Level-1 parameters such as "fast" (dimension DEPTH 1), "tense" (dimension HEIGHT 0), and "unstable" (dimension BREADTH 1) . As such providing the code 101 for the keyword "danger".

The basic framework of the Semantic Color Space is modeled by the three dimensions depth, height, and breadth.

Dimensional keywords are the most basic terms in language and are close to logic signs such as indirect-direct, dark-light or open-closed. These words are the elementary markers of meaning.

They are the basic parameters of entities such as semantics, emotion, but also color, shape, composition, etc. As such they make synaesthetic translations possible. They always appear in opposite pairs of antonyms. 

Type in "dimension" in the search field. Six options are available corresponding with the three dimensions Depth, Height and Breadth, and the coding 0 or 1.

Example: The cluster for the "dimension Breadth-0".

Primary Level-2, 8 categories

As they are constructs of three-dimensional keywords, primary keywords are more complex in meaning and less abstract. But still they are basic words such as ‘to know’, ‘to sit’, ‘food’, or basic emotions such as fear, disgust, joy. Primary color names such as ‘blue’, ‘green’ etc. are also classified on Level-2.

Compare for example the dimensional keyword ‘hard (material)’ (coded Height 0) against the primary keyword ‘mountain’ with codon code ‘100’. As such, ‘hard’ is a quality of ‘mountain’. Most of these Level-2 keywords also have an antonym, but not all of them.

Primary keywords are classified within eight basic clusters of meaning.  Some examples:

• primary keywords (power, stiff, energy, ...)

• primary emotions (fear, disgust, joy, ...)

• primary colors (blue, black, green, purple, brown, red, white, yellow)

• primary shapes (irregular pentagon, blob, crossing, spiral, circle, block, point, arrow)

Combined keywords, 64 categories

Level-3 keywords are formed by combining Level-2 keywords, thus making them more complex in meaning. Here you can find combined words such as "groundwater" (code: 000:010, blue-on-green), where the primary components are still clear:  ‘ground’ (000, blue) and ‘water’ (010, green). 

But also words such as ‘ascension’, ‘pause’, ‘increase’ etc. are Level-3. Here specific colors can be found such as white-2 (lilac), blue-7 (aquamarine), black-3 (khaki), red-5 (fuchsia), as well as color combinations such as red-on-blue, white-on-green, etc.

Two types of coding

• combining 64 double codons. ex. 000:001, 101:100, ... 

• mixing 64 codons + operations 0 to 7. ex. 000-5, 101-2, ...

Examples 

• keywords (ascension, pause, groundwater, ...)

• emotions (proud, sadness, ...)

• color combinations (green-on-blue, red-on-white, ...)

• color mixing (101-5: red-5 (fuchsia),  000-4: blue-4 (marine blue), ...)

Indicated by a black to gray connection line, in accordance with the level.  The higher the level, the darker the line.

Words that have a shared conceptual meaning are clustered, as e.g. rising sun, progress, and expansion, have a dynamic aspect in common, expressed by the color combination red-on-blue. That is why they have the same code (101:000).

A word opposite in meaning to a specific other word.  The color of the connecting line is purple.

Fast is an antonym of slow.

The same word in one language can have different connotations and thus have a different code in a different language. The color indicating a comparative connection is grayish blue. 

In the case of “friendly” for example, the peaceful friendliness with color code blue-on-yellow (000:111) can be misunderstood by the soft caring friendliness with code white-5 (110-5).

A divergence of meaning on only one dimension or axis in the semantic space.  The color indicating a code-shift relationship is green. 

‘Flame’ with code RED (101) is connected to ‘energy’ with code YELLOW (111). Only one dimension switches, in this example it is the height dimension that switches from 0 to 1. The code shift can go in two directions.

The 64 colors on Level-3 are samples covering the entire CIELab color space.  Within this color space, shifts can be observed.  The color indicating a color-shift relationship is light green. 

Take for example the pastel color rose (White-5). This is a mix of white and a small amount of red. This color is connected by a color shift relationship to fuchsia (Red-5), a mix of red and a little white.  

Component connections show relations between the levels. The color of the line is brown. Depending on the level, the brown color is lighter (low level) or more vivid (high level).

LEVEL 1 to 2

Dimensional keywords (Level-1) form the components for the primary keywords (Level-2). F.e. ‘Heavy’, a Level-1 keyword, is classified in the TOP height dimension with code ‘0’. As such, ‘heavy’ applies to all the Level-2 concepts that are contained within this same dimension and code.

The primary Level-2 concept of ‘block’ with code BROWN (100) has the quality of being heavy. ‘Heavy’ is thus connected to ‘block’ as a primary component.

LEVEL 2 to 3

Two primary keywords (Level-2) can function as building blocks, resulting in a combined keyword (Level-3). For example, the primary keywords ‘ground’ with code BLUE (000) and ‘water’ with code GREEN (010) together constitute the combined concept of ‘groundwater’ with the codon combination BLUE-on-GREEN (000:010). As such ‘ground’ and ‘water’ are connected to ‘groundwater’ as combined components.

Switch connections show relations between three level-2 concepts and three level-3 keywords. The color of the line is red. 

The switches indicate a movement of code involving three primary colors and three color combinations.  One primary color from a color combination functions as the turning point, while the two others are starting and ending color. 

In the example below, the primary green aspects such as "water", "alive", and "flourishing" function as the turning point of the switch. The primary black aspect of "dead" is the starting point of the switch and primary blue with aspects such as "earth" is the end point. Death with code black-on-blue, 001:000 reflects the movement between "flood water" (code 010:001) and cosmic life (code 010:000). Both are universal themes in creation myths. The direction of the movement is important. The arrow shows that the movement goes in the lateral dimension from black (001) to blue (000). These relationships are shown in the information panel of each keyword.

Pathways form routes through the network. The color of these connections is orange. 

Throughout the network routes can be mapped out that constitute the basis for storylines. Routes can have a beginning and end or be cyclic, running into one direction, or can be taken both ways.

For example, the months of the year (Northern Hemisphere) draw a route that is cyclic, starting from January, via February, etc. towards January.