OreKehStrah
Member
Hey everyone!
I thought since I use a non-standard color scheme I would make a thread to share custom color schemes if there's anyone else who also uses a custom scheme. I checked before I started this post and I didn't see any threads of this sort, at least that have been commented in recently.
Also, I'd like to talk about my custom color scheme for anyone who's interested in how I decided on it and the thought behind it.
The start of my custom scheme had two initial ideas behind it.
It actually started on squan. I really liked the high contrast between black and white, so like a lot of other people, I started using black/white on my stickered square-1. So having black opposite white was the first idea.
Now, because I had displaced yellow, it became a color I could use on another side if I wanted. Because of how bright and easily recognizable yellow is, you can see a lot of different safety/caution/street signs in yellow, so I though why not use yellow on a non-UD side for better recognition. I looked at how green/blue and red/orange contrast against each other in a checkerboard and I realized that red opposite yellow has a much higher contrast than red opposite yellow and looks better in my opinion.
This unfortunately means I can't use this scheme on a stickerless squan, but it does lead into the next consideration for the scheme.
I specifically chose these colors to also allow for stickerless construction of most NxN cubes since a lot of puzzles are released in both a black and a stickerless version. As a result, I have the option to use my custom scheme for stickerless cubes more than any other scheme aside from just a pure rearrangement of the colors on a cube. I had considered using pink instead of red, but typically most puzzles won't have that option, especially not in a shade of pink that will contrast/look nicer than red imo.
The next reason behind this scheme is three-fold:
The first was a minor consideration, but because I only removed orange, moved yellow, and added black, the white-green-red orientation is preserved, so if I ever decide to go to a comp it minimizes the headache for a scramble since it preserves the standard scrambling orientation.
The next reason is that if I was going to change to a non-standard scheme, it needs to be for a good reason and not just for change's sake, since deviating from the standard scheme can doom you to only being able to use a stickered cube for some puzzles. I didn't want to make a scheme that would cause problems to switch to. This is designed to be a high-contrast, potentially better recognition scheme that is also easy to transition to. I'll talk more about the transition and observations later, but it's a pretty easy and smooth transition.
Finally, I was focusing on megaminx quite a bit a the time I was planning the scheme. I also specifically placed yellow to the left of blue and op red when doing white cross to align with the standard megaminx F2L scheme as much as possible so that practicing F2L for either puzzle will transfer ever so slightly better.
The final consideration for the scheme is that it's also designed with white cross only and Roux solvers in mind. I'm personally working on CN and am at the stage where I can take advantage of lucky cases on any side but average better on white since I solved only white for about 4 years. However, who knows if it's actually possible to become fully neutral at this point so it also keeps in mind that for me, I will likely end up doing white cross primarily unless I see a lucky case on another side. As a result, this was designed to also have maximum contrast when solving only white like most people do, or for Roux users since recognizing EO is probably faster with white/black top and bottom.
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As you can see, quite a lot of thought and planning went into my custom color scheme. I don't know if this scheme is universally better for everyone, but I would bet it could be for some. It was designed specifically with speedsolving in mind, and I would love it if other people give it a shot!
Like I mentioned before, I figured I would also talk about the transition period and some observations I noticed.
The transition period for me was about a day or two. I started with a few slow solves just to give my brain a bit of an adjustment phase, and then just did a bunch of solves. After roughly two hundred solves my times started to normalize, and by the next day I was averaging my normal time so I don't think the adjustment phase is bad at all.
Now after having switched to the scheme for several months now I figured I would end the post with a few interesting things I've noticed.
1. I almost have 2 systems that work in tandem for recognized OLL when I do a white cross, IE black last layer. Maybe it's just a me think, but I noticed the black pieces are really eye catching, especially when I transitioned, so I'm able to recognize OLL patterns like normal, but also recognize the case by the pattern of color compared to the black pieces. It's a bit difficult to explain through text but if you try it you'll know what I mean.
2. Because it's a high-contrast scheme, cubing in low-light situations is obviously a lot easier. It's a pretty nice side-benefit.
3. I also have a 4x4 and recognition is fine there too. I don't do a ton of big cube solves, but I would guess that this scheme could be more beneficial on bigger cubes.
4. Finally, when doing CN solves, the only thing that is a little bit strange is seeing white adjacent to yellow. I don't think that looks super great but it is by no means a deal breaker for me. It just doesn't look super great yet to my non-adjusted brain. I don't think it's a problem since this also occurs naturally in the BOY color scheme.
-----------------------------------
anyway, that it as far as my scheme goes! If anyone has any question about it let me know. I'll probably post some pictures of actual cubes at some point. If you have a spare black stickered cube, you could carefully peel the yellow stickers and replace orange and try it!
I thought since I use a non-standard color scheme I would make a thread to share custom color schemes if there's anyone else who also uses a custom scheme. I checked before I started this post and I didn't see any threads of this sort, at least that have been commented in recently.
Also, I'd like to talk about my custom color scheme for anyone who's interested in how I decided on it and the thought behind it.
The start of my custom scheme had two initial ideas behind it.
It actually started on squan. I really liked the high contrast between black and white, so like a lot of other people, I started using black/white on my stickered square-1. So having black opposite white was the first idea.
Now, because I had displaced yellow, it became a color I could use on another side if I wanted. Because of how bright and easily recognizable yellow is, you can see a lot of different safety/caution/street signs in yellow, so I though why not use yellow on a non-UD side for better recognition. I looked at how green/blue and red/orange contrast against each other in a checkerboard and I realized that red opposite yellow has a much higher contrast than red opposite yellow and looks better in my opinion.
This unfortunately means I can't use this scheme on a stickerless squan, but it does lead into the next consideration for the scheme.
I specifically chose these colors to also allow for stickerless construction of most NxN cubes since a lot of puzzles are released in both a black and a stickerless version. As a result, I have the option to use my custom scheme for stickerless cubes more than any other scheme aside from just a pure rearrangement of the colors on a cube. I had considered using pink instead of red, but typically most puzzles won't have that option, especially not in a shade of pink that will contrast/look nicer than red imo.
The next reason behind this scheme is three-fold:
The first was a minor consideration, but because I only removed orange, moved yellow, and added black, the white-green-red orientation is preserved, so if I ever decide to go to a comp it minimizes the headache for a scramble since it preserves the standard scrambling orientation.
The next reason is that if I was going to change to a non-standard scheme, it needs to be for a good reason and not just for change's sake, since deviating from the standard scheme can doom you to only being able to use a stickered cube for some puzzles. I didn't want to make a scheme that would cause problems to switch to. This is designed to be a high-contrast, potentially better recognition scheme that is also easy to transition to. I'll talk more about the transition and observations later, but it's a pretty easy and smooth transition.
Finally, I was focusing on megaminx quite a bit a the time I was planning the scheme. I also specifically placed yellow to the left of blue and op red when doing white cross to align with the standard megaminx F2L scheme as much as possible so that practicing F2L for either puzzle will transfer ever so slightly better.
The final consideration for the scheme is that it's also designed with white cross only and Roux solvers in mind. I'm personally working on CN and am at the stage where I can take advantage of lucky cases on any side but average better on white since I solved only white for about 4 years. However, who knows if it's actually possible to become fully neutral at this point so it also keeps in mind that for me, I will likely end up doing white cross primarily unless I see a lucky case on another side. As a result, this was designed to also have maximum contrast when solving only white like most people do, or for Roux users since recognizing EO is probably faster with white/black top and bottom.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, quite a lot of thought and planning went into my custom color scheme. I don't know if this scheme is universally better for everyone, but I would bet it could be for some. It was designed specifically with speedsolving in mind, and I would love it if other people give it a shot!
Like I mentioned before, I figured I would also talk about the transition period and some observations I noticed.
The transition period for me was about a day or two. I started with a few slow solves just to give my brain a bit of an adjustment phase, and then just did a bunch of solves. After roughly two hundred solves my times started to normalize, and by the next day I was averaging my normal time so I don't think the adjustment phase is bad at all.
Now after having switched to the scheme for several months now I figured I would end the post with a few interesting things I've noticed.
1. I almost have 2 systems that work in tandem for recognized OLL when I do a white cross, IE black last layer. Maybe it's just a me think, but I noticed the black pieces are really eye catching, especially when I transitioned, so I'm able to recognize OLL patterns like normal, but also recognize the case by the pattern of color compared to the black pieces. It's a bit difficult to explain through text but if you try it you'll know what I mean.
2. Because it's a high-contrast scheme, cubing in low-light situations is obviously a lot easier. It's a pretty nice side-benefit.
3. I also have a 4x4 and recognition is fine there too. I don't do a ton of big cube solves, but I would guess that this scheme could be more beneficial on bigger cubes.
4. Finally, when doing CN solves, the only thing that is a little bit strange is seeing white adjacent to yellow. I don't think that looks super great but it is by no means a deal breaker for me. It just doesn't look super great yet to my non-adjusted brain. I don't think it's a problem since this also occurs naturally in the BOY color scheme.
-----------------------------------
anyway, that it as far as my scheme goes! If anyone has any question about it let me know. I'll probably post some pictures of actual cubes at some point. If you have a spare black stickered cube, you could carefully peel the yellow stickers and replace orange and try it!
