Colour Perfect.

For me, a design must work in black and white first. Colour is then a bonus. An influencer. A mood generator. Of course we don’t all see colours the same way. Some are colour ‘blind’ so they say - but it may be that we all see the same colours in slightly different ways. Maybe that’s why we each favour different colours - we perceive them differently, whether a trick of the eye or memory or association or a myriad of different things that cause us to like a colour. 

In book production, particularly art catalogues where colour accuracy is so important, go through many processes to ensure the perception of the reproduced image is as close as possible to the perception of the original. 

But otherwise, how do we choose the colour where the palette is unrestricted, for a logo or a colour scheme, perhaps? Sometimes it’s very logical. Many times it’s simply subjective. Once I tried many colour schemes in a logo design for a client. None of them suited. Then I looked around his office. His colour taste became apparent. He approved the next design.

There are ways to create colour palettes, such as Kuler from Adobe. But they are very logical. I prefer to mix logic with emotion. All around us there are colour palettes that work well together. Often I use these micro situations to create micro palettes. They are everywhere for sausages to seascapes. The palettes in this post come from images I like, colour situations the just… …work. For me. 

Try it yourself with this tool from Canva that mixes a bit of the logical and the subjective. It’s not perfect. But what is ‘perfect’? What is your 'perfect'?

Images: Woman In Library, Metal & Wood (Bookbinder's Tools), Williamstown Pier, Sausages In A Pan.

(First published September 2017)