Abstract: A color identification and selection display for use in connection with the retail sale of custom-tinted architectural coatings and paints is based on lightness values or levels and is assembled from a plurality of take-home cards in the form of elongated strips that are placed with their longer axis in horizontal rows, each strip containing a plurality of color fields arranged in stripes separated by narrow neutral bands. Adjacent color stripes in a given row are of closely related hues that preferably decrease in wave length when moving from left to right along any given horizontal row. Since each strip contains a plurality of closely related colors, only one, or perhaps two, take-home cards need be removed to assist in the final selection of the desired color. Each horizontal row includes a family of colors formulated from a single type of base, i.e., a tint base, a pastel base, a deep base or an accent base.