The Science of Shingle Colors

Shingle Colors Have Never Been More Important

Never before has there been such a range of colors and materials used in home exterior designs. And when you consider your roof can be up to 40% of what you see from the curb, you need an equally wide range of shingle color options to perfectly pair with other exterior elements.

Yet not so long ago your choices in shingle colors were rather limited. Owens Corning knew that had to change.

Growing a Unique Palette of Shingle Colors

To grow a palette that now includes more than 100 unique colors, our roofing team leans on its color expertise. Look closely at a shingle and you’ll see its top layer is covered in tiny colored granules. Most homeowners don’t realize that these granules are manufactured as a standard set of limited highly saturated colors. We use our expertise to blend granules together to make other colors.

Creating the Industry-Leading Midnight Plum

Think back to grade school art class. By mixing red and blue paint, you get purple. Except when mixing red and blue granules, they don’t become purple, they give the illusion of purple when you see them on a roof. It’s how we achieved the alluring purple shades of our popular Midnight Plum shingle color.

Adding Depth and Dimension to Your Roof

Applying these same principles is how we create a dimensional look. Shingles don’t have flat color. They are purposefully designed with a variety of similar colors to help showcase depth and texture on the roof. For example, a “gray” shingle is actually a blend of granule colors—like black and various shades of medium and dark gray. This is what gives the shingle dimension.

For a Roof You’ll Really LoveTM

Watch our “Science of Color” video to learn more about how we’ve used our deep experience in design and manufacturing to develop the exclusive TruDefinition® color platform of unique shingle colors. Our goal is to offer a shingle that matches every exterior color trend for a roof you’ll really loveTM.