CIE L*, a*, b* is a rectangular coordinate system used extensively for numerical color communication and quality assurance. Often the a*, b* coordinates are rotated to cylindrical polar coordinates of C-ab* (radial distance) and h(ab) (angle measured counterclockwise from the a* axis), reasonably relating to chroma and hue. When each coordinate is considered independently, it is observed that colors in our daily experiences do not change in a similar independent fashion. Changes in concentration for mixtures of colorants result in changes in both chroma and lightness. Directly illuminated three-dimensional colored objects change in both chroma and lightness between direct illumination and either shadow or highlight. Two new coordinates are defined for CIELAB: vividness, V-ab*, and depth, D-ab*. Each represents a Euclidean distance from a color defined by L* and C-ab* to C-ab* of 0 and either L* = 0 for vividness or L* = 100 for depth. Image-based visualizations were made to demonstrate how changes in these variables led to color changes more representative of our daily experiences. For cases where a color and background had the same lightness, it was observed that colors became less distinct with a reduction in chroma. A third dimension was defined, clarity, T-ab*, a Euclidean distance from a color defined by L*, a*, and b* to its background color, similarly defined. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.