Apr 7
Color
UNIQLO is a company based in Japan that is fairly new to the United States. It positions itself at a provider of “high quality, basic casual wear at the lowest prices in the market.” Their site was designed by Yugo Nakamura who employs the color palette Roger Black made famous (at least to me): red, white, and black. It relies heavily on a combination of stark contrast, powerful typography, and bold images. Love it.
The is the company's site...
This is the site used to tease the arrival of the store in NYC...
In case you missed it previously, Roger Black's page...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed...
Jan 28
Color
I happened upon truthdig.com recently and was impressed by their color palette (my interest is entirely apolitical). It uses a wide range of muted colors to visually organize the subject categorys—A/V BOOTH, ARTS & CULTURE, REPORTS, and so on. Click on a subject and you'll see the designer carries the color into the category section. Notice how the background colors of each article darken as you scroll down the page—giving you a sense of a difference between the top and bottom of the listings—another nice touch.
The truthdig.com color palette...
Dec 24
Color
Black and white is beautiful. The limited use of color combined with a series of powerful black and white images builds the story-quality of this site.
A great example of a “less is more” palette...
Oct 1
Color
There is some news in the world of color worth noting. Pantone, keeper of the keys to the industry standard color matching system, is introducing the first significant upgrade of its 45 year old system—the Pantone Goe System. It includes a new range of solid colors, software, new color guides, and so on.
The other side of the news is that Pantone is being acquired by x-rite, a color conglomerate traded on the NASDAQ. Among their products are all manner of color calibration software and hardware used by many different industries around the world. I thought it was particularly interesting that one of their holdings is the Munsell Frozen French Fry Color Standard for the USDA.
Seriously though, these are the types of transactions that effect us as designers in significant ways—not the least of which is the cost of upgrading to a new system.
The Pantone Goe System...
The xrite press release...
The Frozen French Fry Color Standard...
Sep 12
Color
Among other things, the Web provides space for nuance—the subtle shades of meaning and feeling. ColourLovers.com is that type of forum. It is tagged as “a resource that monitors and influences color trends.” It provides a place to invent and compare color palettes, submit color-oriented news and comments, and read color related articles and interviews.
The front door...
Their blog...
Tracking color trends...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Aug 17
Color
Sit through a couple of cycles of the color changes here to see how they influence the mood and emphasis of the subjects.
The Asia Society...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Jul 11
Color
Here's proof that color contrast can produce real drama. The bright colors here juxtaposed with a deep, dark background struck me as having an almost neon-like quality (similar to the fluorescent ink colors that made Wired Magazine covers so distinctive).
Fluorescent colors at inkymole.com ...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
Oct 18
Color
Here is an elegant little tool for brainstorming RGB color ideas.
http://www.steeldolphin.com/color_scheme.html