Posts Tagged ‘color’

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The Trend Effect

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

I’ve been living on Pinterest since I first signed up and I am constantly getting a first hand look at some great trends in action. With Pinterst you see all types of images that members are bookmarking across the internet, from fashion, interiors, to graphic design. It allows you to get a first hand look at what’s popular and new.

There is always a trickle effect in design trends. I’ve said it before, that what you see in fashion effects the world of interior design and finally touches on graphic design. These effects can be seen through color, pattern, shape, balance and even texture. Keeping up with the trends in all three areas is important. It allows us to see design trends from a different angle and lets us evolve our own designs.

On Pinterest you may need to do some wading, but there are definitely some great current trends that you can pick up on. Below are a few trends I’ve been noticing in the fashion and interior realms and how these trends may effect design choices for current graphic design.

Industrial: Industrial design is everywhere in interior design. It’s a mixture of clean lines, heavy metals, warm woods and simple shapes. Industrial is all about form and function without any fluff.

How it translates to graphic design: Minimalist designs, heavy gritty textures, shiny and smooth surfaces, dark moody grays, taupes and blacks, chunky slab serif and modern serif fonts, simple icons, and geometric forms.

Industrial Design

Pattern: Geometric, tribal and Southwest patterns are all over fashion and interior spaces. Patterns are generally a wonderful mix of rich vibrant colors combined with neutrals like soft gray, white and black.

How it translates to graphic design: Exciting geometric designs, bright colors and contrasting neutrals. Subtle patterned backgrounds and unique color pallets.

Mod/Mid Century: The 60s are coming back with tailored clothing, contrasting stripes, warm leathers, rich wood tones, and pops of vibrant color paired with charcoal grays and blacks.

How it translates to graphic design: Bold geometric shapes. Vibrant mix of muted warm colors paired with strong dark neutrals. Heavy use of typography and a mixture of font types.

Romantic / Organic: Softer shades are emerging. Dusty Rose is back in along with nudes, taupes, and creams. Gauzy fabrics, organic materials, tufted furniture, velvet, reflective mirrored surfaces and elegant shapes and lines.

How it translates to graphic design. Heavy use of neutrals, soft organic shapes and textures. Hand drawn calligraphic fonts. Light and subtle textures. Thin lines, natural shapes and soft curves.

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Tutorial: Tilt Shift Photography

Friday, June 10th, 2011

I have an obsession with small things. Starting at a young age, I can remember building tiny cities and farms with my brother with wood blocks and small plastic figurine pigs. I continuously checked out the same book on making my own miniature doll furniture, and was way obsessed with decorating Barbie’s dream house with all of her miniature accessories. Even a bit more grown up, I still find myself in love with small things, from miniature brass figurines to tiny tiny lamps and, as most here know, dogs with short legs.

Tiny is just too cute, and so I love the emergence of Tilt Shift Photography. I can now make everything appear at a smaller scale. Tilt shift photography gives the appearance of a scaled model, with a shallow focus, high-contrast, and vibrant colors. Today, I’m sharing a fun way to create this look in Photoshop, so you too can start shrinking your world.

1. Select a Photo. Generally a model is seen from above, so make sure you’re choosing a shot from a high and wide angle, this will give you the best results. For this tutorial, I choose a photo taken out of my upstairs window of the street below.

2. Enter Quick Mask Mode. Open the image in Photoshop and enter Quick Mask Mode. You can do this by pressing Q on the keyboard, or select the Quick Mask icon at the bottom of your tools palette.

3. Draw a Gradient. Select the gradient from the menu by pressing G. Choose the reflected gradient. Draw a line where you want your main focus to be on the image. In this picture I choose the car to be the most in-focus element. If you look closely, I drew a line from the bottom of the car wheel to the top of the car. Keep using the gradient until you get the placement you’d like.

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Tutorial: Subtle Web Backgrounds Using Photoshop Texturizer

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Subtle web background textures are extremely popular in current web design. They can be used to give a site depth and and add richness in a way that isn’t too overwhelming. I’ve been really into using these subtle textures in my web designs and I’ve been on the hunt for how to create my own textures from scratch. Today I’m going to share one way to create these patterns for your own web designs.

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a repeatable pattern in Photoshop and then use Photoshop’s texturizer to make a unique subtle and repeatable web background (as seen on the left). The texturizer’s great, because it allows you to add texture to an image without altering the image below. If you’ve already got a repeatable texture, you can jump down to section B to get started with the Texturizer!

A. CREATE A REPEATABLE TEXTURE

1. Find a Photo. Start with finding a high-res pattern image. I choose to work with a great fabric texture found here, but you could easily use a different photo or create your own.

2. Convert Texture to Grayscale and Resize. Bring your texture into Photoshop and convert to Grayscale. To do this go to, Image > Mode > Grayscale. Resize your image as necessary. I scaled mine down to create a more subtle look. Go to Image > Image Size to adjust the scale of your pattern.

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Get up and Goe

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Just introduced in 2007, Pantone Goe System has finally made it’s way into our grasp! Today we received a large box with coated and uncoated swatchbooks, as well as a set of coated GoSticks (sticky backed color chips). The Pantone system, if you are unfamiliar, allows for a precise and reliable way to print color during the offset printing process by the use of specified inks. It felt like Christmas morning, opening the box and discovering the magic inside. The Pantone Goe system offers more than 2,000 NEW colors in addition to the original Pantone Matching System. In the past, the old pallet could feel very limiting; I couldn’t quite get just that right shade of orangy-red, soft green, or 50′s sea-foam blue. It’s great to have such a new and large selection of colors to play around with. I’m definitely excited to see a HUGE array of green and blue hues (my favorite!). Better yet, they are now arranged in an intuitive, chromatic order, simplifying the process of selecting the perfect shade without having to jump through the color palette. The new chip books also have nice sticky backs, so we’ll easily be able to play and experiment with colors, and then attach and share with fellow Zoomers and clients. I just can’t wait to start experimenting!

My current top picks from the Goe System:

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Pantone 2011 Color of the Year

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Pantone recently released its 2011 Color of the Year; Honeysuckle, a bright reddish pink. While I am personally not a huge fan of the color pink, I really like the spirit of the color. I like the idea that 2011 will be brave, confident and dynamic. I love the 2010 Color of the Year (PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise) and am still dreaming of painting my bedroom with a nice pop of turquoise. However, I am looking forward to year that does not call for a color of escape but calls for a color that is lively, energetic and courageous.

Below is an excerpt from Pantone’s web site announcing their choice for the color to represent 2011. To read the full article click here. Enjoy and cheers to a bold, brave new year!

A Color for All Seasons
Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it.

While the 2010 color of the year, PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise, served as an escape for many, Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.

“In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.”

Eiseman continues, “The intensity of this festive reddish pink allures and engages. In fact, this color, not the sweet fragrance of the flower blossoms for which it was named, is what attracts hummingbirds to nectar. Honeysuckle may also bring a wave of nostalgia for its associated delicious scent reminiscent of the carefree days of spring and summer.”

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Color Trends: The Economic Effect

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Earlier this year, Pantone named Turquoise as the color of the year and it can now be found all throughout the fashion, interior, and graphic industries. The color was chosen because it “evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and an escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of well being.” Color trends for all areas of design are most often chosen based on our current economic and social trends. We have been living in a world economic crisis and it’s no wonder a color was picked to represent an escape from our everyday lives.

The current economy continues to haunt us and that translates into a desire for the better days of the past. We are saving money, and trying to go green by repurposing, recycling, and reusing the materials available around us. For 2011, with money on the back-burner, there will be a foreseen focus on family and preserving and exploring the past. What does this mean for design? Picture old, heirloom colors, distressed finished and earthy hues of brown, green and blue. We’ll seek styles that bring us comfort, reminiscent of our heritage and roots. Trend analysts are forseeing a large interest in patterns, textures and colors that have a global influence. Renewed Aboriginal, Tribal and bold geometric patterns will be set off with amber tones, tomato reds, and sea blues, balanced by earthy neutrals like putty and sand.

To keep money in our wallets, we will also crave to keep things simple. Tones of gray and white will be the hottest neutrals and will be popped with warm butter yellows and taupes. To keep things sophisticated, understated washes of gold and champagne metallics will make their way into this upcoming 2011 season’s pallet. We should find all of these trends reflected in paint and fabric, and we will probably find overlapping in graphic design, by the use of simple and warm-colored hues, printed textures, and a mixture of patterns throughout collateral. Curious about how this might look? Check out these examples below of how this may effect design in the upcoming year:

Reference:
 Pantone Unveils Color of the Year for 2010:PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise
Pantone Must-Have Colors for 2011
Interior Design Trends for 2011
Interior design trends for 2011 will reflect on ancestry

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Non-Ghoulish Pumpkins

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

We’re coming up on Halloween and most years I like to try out a new technique with my pumpkin carving and decorating. I’ve seen ton’s of scary faces, black cats, and ghouls in the past, so this year I’m ready to go non-ghoulish with my pumpkins. I’m in love with the non-traditional white and colored pumpkins for this years decor and can’t wait to try out some new tricks this Fall. Today I’ve put together a collection of great new pumpkin decorating and carving ideas to get your creative juices pumping for the upcoming holiday:

Mum Flower Pumpkin
Begin carving as you would with a jack-o-lantern. Carefully cut a lid (keep the stem!) and remove the seeds and pulp. Using a drill or nail, poke small holes around the shell, just wide enough to insert flower stems. Select mums in oranges, reds and golds. Cut the stems about a half inch from the flower head, long enough to poke into the hole. Space holes so adjoining flowers cover the pumpkin flesh. Start at the top, and work your way down until the pumpkin is covered. The number of mums you need depends on the sizes of the blooms and your pumpkin. Keep the inside of the pumpkin moist; flowers will last two or three days.

Nail Head Pumpkin
Use white, gray or spray painted pumpkins. Make dots on your pumpkin where you would like your nail heads to be in the pattern of your choice. Push in your decorative nails or tacks. Decorative nails available at DIY Upholstery.

House Number Pumpkin
Stack small, medium and large pumpkins (remove stems, except for the top one). Then use a stencil and crafts knife to trace the outlines of your address numbers. Scrape the pumpkin skin out of the stenciled numbers, revealing the lighter pumpkin flesh underneath.

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Spring Color 2011

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Fashion is only a hop skip and a jump from graphic design, so checking on upcoming trends in color and pattern is always a good idea. Today I started looking into color trends for Spring 2011 to help stay a bit ahead of the game. According to Pantone Color Institute executive director Leatrice Eiseman, new spring hues will keep harmony, proportion and balance in mind. In the article by WSAToday, she offered up three color pallets that will be very important in the upcoming season:

Focus

Complementary

Branching

“Focus”
A color pallet that works off of neutrals (which include graphite blues and grays) that are infused with hotter hues like yellow, orange and red. The pallets focus is to combine practability with something a little more exciting.

“Complementry”
This pallet uses complementary colors, taken from nature, to create vibration for the eye (think blues and reds).

“Branching”
A sophisticated and quiet pallet that uses both warm and cool shades together, almost mimicking the seasons changing weather.

Color has a unique ability to capture the attention of the audience, bring on emotion, and enhance the look of a product or design. So, if you’re just shopping for the next trend or starting early on those spring designs, it’s smart to keep these tips in mind to make sure we are continually tempting the consumer, making a sale or giving off the appropriate message.

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Cooking with Legos

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

In my search for a topic for today’s blog post, I came across this great kitchen island created from one of my favorite childhood toys, Legos. I’ve built tiny Lego kitchens in my past, but can’t imagine the time put into creating this huge masterpiece. Designed by Munchausen, a duo formed by Parisian designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti, the island was built around a standard Ikea kitchen cabinet . The project took over a week to assemble the more than 20,000 individual Logo pieces. The design is smart, because it functions as a beautiful art piece for the room, but also serves the functionality of a standard island. My favorite part is the Lego head cookie jar on the counter, which is just the icing on the cake. I just hope they were able to get the Lego blocks on wholesale, because each 2×6 block is about $.26, making the island a whopping $5,200 dollars just in Legos. At that price, I don’t think I’ll be building any Lego furniture in the near future.

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