All Color Matters

Branding executives will once again be monitoring the latest foray in the battle to make a color exclusive to a product. Christian Louboutin will argue their case this week via federal appellate to demonstrate that Yves Saint Laurent has been stepping onto their turf by manufacturing their own version of red-soled women’s shoes. Not easily discouraged, Louboutin’s original request (while denied last summer) has moved on to the appeals court. Their burden of proof lies in showing that their federally registered trademark; Red Sole Mark is protected and is recognized as being synonymous with their brand. This is not the first time that a color has been fought over. Several instances have made their way through the court system over the years with the most recent being this summer, over Best Buy’s blue polo shirts worn by their employees. Color conflicts are not mutually exclusive to the fashion or retail worlds. Universities have also had their turn at defining and defendin...

The annual hue-of-choice made its début this past week. World renowned color authority  Pantone  named  Tangerine Tango  2012's color of the year. Pantone believes that this vivacious orange can “...provide the energy boost we need to recharge and.” Perceived more often as an autumnal choice, orange was seen on the runways of Fashion Week this year amongst other robust colors. Dubbed by Women's Wear Daily  “..as the most popular color at spring Fashion Week”, tangerine like any other color has the potential to leave the catwalks and make its way into the likes of retail sectors which include areas of industrial design. The last time orange was used with abandon, was during the late 70’s. The avocado/harvest gold/brown combinations reigned supreme in kitchens across America. Often incorporated into Formica counter tops, vinyl flooring, and matching appliances, fake as well as real wood-grain themes was the style that permeated home furnishings. ...

Selecting web colors for the general population and color vision deficiency users can present some challenges. In order to satisfy both audiences (as well as client needs), the web boasts some free tools to help designers make sound choices. Using the accessibility standards set by the WC3 ( World Wide Web Consortium )  Contrast-A  (a.k.a. Dasplankton) is a website that provides tools to build, preview, save and print custom color combinations all on-the-fly. With a highly functional and well designed interface, Contrast A offers a feature for producing hardcopy of your chosen swatches with a key indicating proper contrast for WC3 compliance. The site also displays text sampling of body copy and the ability to save custom palettes. For launched websites, checkmycolors.com will do an audit on foreground/background colors as well as DOMs (Document Object Model). After the review, the website builds a laundry list of all hex colors with their corresponding HTML usage. ...

Dulux and UNICEF ( The United Nations Children's Fund) have partnered together in a unique fundraising website. Ownacolor.com allows the public to purchase a color to finance initiatives for the non-profit children's organization UNICEF . Users can select a color from a rainbow of hues for purchase on behalf of a friend, family member, or themselves. The site gives you the option to name the color of your choice and write a brief description of your selection. For as little as a £1 ($1.54), your donation can buy enough polio vaccines to immunize ten children. Purchases can be made via mobile phone or computer web browser. All proceeds go to aid underprivileged children around the globe.

Commenting on the cuteness of a newborn can sometimes offer a risk in testing our abilities to deduce gender. To reassure the observer, that it is in fact a she, not a he—parents often use color cuing through clothes, blankets or a cuddly stuffed toy. Decades ago however, gender confusion was the norm since fashion had a more homogeneous approach that lasted till young adolescence. From the 1800’s to 1890’s both girls and boys dressed in white, up until they began to walk. To confound the onlooker even more, both sexes wore dresses or short skirts beginning at age six till their seventh birthday. With a nod to an underlying connection to innocence, white’s practical use allowed for bleaching with abandon to remove stains. The actual ritual of assigning color to gender (in Western culture) didn’t occur until the 1920’s. Pink was considered a suitable color for boys because of its close relation to red—a more masculine color to wear. Blue was thought to be more appropriate for g...

Graphic designers frequently encounter challenges to test their abilities when communicating to the masses. Barring Twitters or print ads, the theater poster still remains a viable promotional tool for stage productions. The Tony Award winning play Red is scheduled to appear in 30 regional playhouses for 2011-2012 season. So how does a designer interpret this Broadway hit (about the Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko ) in a poster for each locale? The NY Times ran a sampling of some the unique approaches used to advertise the play's opening. Designs ran the gamut from representational figures (reminiscent of Saul Bass) to pure text treatments surounded by pulsating reds. Each solution is worth checking out for their visually compelling, yet restrained statement at tackling the complex intent of an artistic vision performed by this two man ensemble.

As an expanded 2nd edition, Contemporary Color : Theory and Use continues to serve as an important foundational survey for current undergraduate curriculum. Written in an easily understood manner, Bleicher avoids the pitfalls of covering fundamental topics like a dry textbook. Fine artists will find a chapter on pigments, colorants and paints—graphic designers will be satisfied with a section on color and design. Other sections included in the book review theory, harmonies, and cultural influences. A chapter titled Color Psychology makes good use of contemporary and historical illustrations to reinforce the content. Bleicher does however fall a little short in the art history section. Even though art movements are mentioned (Impressionism to New Media in 14 pages), they are all too disappointingly brief. What Bleicher does include (missing from most texts), is a chapter titled The Future of Color . This section explores recent up-and-coming technologies presently making t...