All Color Matters

There are quite a few online tools that will audit an existing website for color accessibility or will aid in creating text/color palette choices. What these tools don't do, is allow the flexibility to select color right at the application level. Color Oracle is a free, cross-platform full screen color simulator that reproduces the three forms of color deficiency in real time from any application, windows, etc. independently of the software that you may be using at the time it's enabled. The Mac version can be launched directly from the desktop's menu bar, making the application always available until you physically quit out of it. You can also configure Color Oracle to start up on log in, and customize it to accept F key commands to dynamically navigate through the 3 types of color deficiencies. With color deficiencies affecting approximately 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women in the world , there's no excuse not to make this seamless tool a part of an interf...

Computers forever changed the way graphic designers create their work. When it comes to color selection however, the low tech method still applies. Having a standard practice for creating color for the print industry (regardless of country of origin) was a task not easily solved prior to the 1960’s. Lawrence Herbert pondered this issue while producing a retail display card for a client. Herbert’s solution not only influenced how color was conceived for print, but has since spread to industries such as textiles, food science and industrial design. Read more...

There are a number of ways we can acquire inspiration for building color palettes for the web. Some tools offer pre-made color swatches or the option to make selections on-the-fly. Since we now have the ability to snap good quality photos with our phones, we can capture color anytime from our pocket and then pull what we need, when we need it. Photos can give us both unlimited and limited color palettes. Like the muted tones of a sunset, or colors seen in your favorite vacation picture?  The below tools, extract, average, and build palettes based on whatever photo you upload. You can save color combos for later use, or share them with a community of the like-minded. And best of all, all below online tools are free. Color Explorer This site hosts a number of color tools including the option to upload a photo (no larger than 250k) and extract anything from 3 to 50 colors from a given file. Individual color swatches give RGB and hex values, and can be combined with other swatche...

Heading towards the cooler end of the color wheel Pantone has chosen Emerald as it’s pick for 2013. Not a color to recede or take a back seat in vibrancy, Pantone 17-5641 makes a bold statement like it’s predecessor Tango Tangerine . Where Tango Tangerine was meant to wake-up and energize, Emerald’s glow sends a more ethereal message of well-being and balance. Considered a highly fashionable color to use in the 18th century two forms of verdigris , was painted on the walls of two dining rooms in George Washington’s home—Mt. Vernon. Most often seen as a byproduct or “corrosion” seen on copper, verdigris was used in Pompeian frescos, during the Middle Ages in oil paintings, and extensively in the monastic environment as a pigment for illuminated manuscripts and books.  The “new room” (dining room) is the largest, most public, and most elaborately decor- ated room at Mount Vernon. Washington believed the color to be ...‘grateful to the eye’ and less likely than ...

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 gr...

The 4th edition of Color Workbook by Becky Koeing, maintains it’s place on the list of good general texts for color/2D design course use. Some small updates have been made ( Computer Color chapter is now Digital Color ) but none that have significantly changed the overall direction of the material given. I hoped that this new edition would offer a more expanded and accurate explanation on color management. This topic is just as important as color theory, materials, and interaction.  Color management can present many pitfalls if not understood and applied correctly. Given the gravity of this topic, the all too brief mention lacks detail and accuracy. For example, emphasis should be given to the importance of calibrating each device in the workflow to an established “standard”. That standard is then used as the benchmark by which all devices are to be matched. This text misleads the reader by not putting this important subject in the first paragraph of the Computer Color ch...

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...