Color Makes a Comeback for Summer 2013

Oscar de la Renta

Whether graphic designers are willing to admit it or not, fashion does make it's way (sometimes unconsciously) into our design solutions. The cut of a fabric or the way it hangs off a model—important but not as impressionable as color hitting our eyes as it makes it's way down the runway. The choices of hues by fashion designers for an upcoming season can filter down and get picked up in an item such as label on a bar of soap, or a swinging hang tag attached to a garment. Color is always there to arrest us into refocusing on what may or may not be important within our visual sphere. A good designer admires, absorbs and bends it to their own purpose to get their work noticed.

If Vogue’s September issue of 916 pages, didn't seem to satisfy the fashionista within—look no further. Fashion Week is in full swing to help fill the need of those wanting more of the like. Having never really been too caught-up in the overall high-heeled runway madness that grips NYC this time of year, I do manage to monitor the news on color trends for upcoming seasons.

Fashion Week continued its kicked-up a positive stride by showcasing saturated colors with punchline precision. The 1980's fluorescent hues that were reintroduced this summer (on sport footwear, and the like) will have to allow make room for the eye candy colors arriving this upcoming summer.

Lemon-drop yellows (Oscar de la Renta), hot oranges (Narciso Rodriguez), and electric blues (Vera Wang) will all make a bold statement on the streets, in the office and at that vacation venue. Color is the new black! Click here for a more in depth report...

Making a Color Exclusive

Logos, slogans, and colors, become synonymous with a product, company, cause or sports team over time. Studies to support consumer driven responses to color are constantly being monitored by the marketplace to maximize data on current and future color trends. Because color can stand independently of words, it is capable of being recognized on its own —devoid of any reinforced logo or text. With this in mind, should an organization strive to protect their color assets through trademark? Not unlike a logo or company slogan, colors can also be protected under the umbrella of trademark. But can these measures extend to the name of a color as well? Syracuse University filed a federal trademark for the exclusive rights to the word “orange”. From the university’s perspective it was a logical move toward protecting their sports team name (which in 2004 had been edited down from “Orangemen” to simply “ Orange ”). Even though the official filing was done in 2006, several colleges have ...

Frappuccinos Minus Bugs

The vegan community can rejoice today. Starbucks will no longer use cochineal ( koch-i-neel ) extract in their Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino® and Strawberry Banana Smoothie. Other products such Raspberry Swirl Cake, Birthday Cake Pop, Mini Doughnut with pink icing, and Red Velvet Whoopie Pie will continue to be produced with the ingredient until June of this year. The tip-off that lead to an online post (hosted by the website thisdishisvegetarian.com ) was given last month by a barista working at a midwest Starbucks. A petition was posted on change.org and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) also joined the fray to show their support. All aforementioned parties later applauded the policy change today on their respective blogs. Fleeting as some stories are, time will be the final judge on whether this story has any lasting impression on consumers. Approved by the FDA , cochineal has a long and illustrious history . With a positive nod toward social respons...

Munsell’s Crusade to Instruct the Masses

We often take for granted the past work done by pioneers such as Albert H. Munsell. Painter, teacher, and inventor, Munsell created the most influential color-modeling system for its time. His efforts devised a “rational way to describe color” through the of use clear decimal notation; using hue, value, and chroma into uniform yet independent dimensions within a three-dimensional space. This idea broke with the traditional approach of identifying colors through a naming scheme, which Munsell thought was “foolish” and “misleading”. Munsell Color System, Atlas of Color Charts. The color system Munsell built back in the 1900 ’ s continues to serve educators, visual artists, and the industries who depend on color matching technologies to produce their products and services. The Munsell Color Company website has a historical overview of Munsell’s legacy as well as examples of company projects that continue to advance the process of achieving accurate color. To peer inside the...

All Color Matters

Search This Blog