Color A-Z

Knowing something A to Z's means you have a full range of fundamental knowledge relating to the subject. My COLOR A-Z won't give you a full range of knowledge but it does give you 26 color ideas from fun and fundamentals to think about. Enjoy!

A

Know how to create color harmony. One way is with Analogous colors, which are any three to six colors that are adjacent on the color wheel.

B

Bauhaus color theory formed the foundation for much of what we understand about color today.

C

Learn to see and describe the Characteristics of Colors.

D

Would you be surprised to learn that people basically Describe all colors with only eleven words.

E

Earth tones include an entire array of colors based on the pigments found in the natural environment.

F

Color Forecasting is the educated prediction of colors that will be on trend in the future.

G

Each color has its own meaning and message. Gray is the color of intellect, knowledge, and wisdom.

H

A Hue is the purest form of a color.

I

Johannes Itten was one of the first to associate different colors with specific emotions and study the impact of color on our mood.

K

Don't forget to think about the color Key when creating a design.

L

Don't be in the dark about how Light affects color.

M

Color sets the Mood in a design.

N

Today Neutrals are more than just gray and beige. Now we call an entire range of toned down, complex colors, neutrals.

0

The Origin of color words is fascinating. Etymologists, or word detectives, tell us that the word red is a link to some of our most ancient ancestors and researchers say that humans didn't see or have a word for the color blue until modern times.

P

Always use the word Palette when talking about color not one of these other words.

Q

There are hundreds of Quotes about color to inspire you. Here is one for today - “Some of us come on earth seeing – some of us come on earth seeing color.”

R

John Ruskin had quite a bit to say about color including, “The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.” I think he's right.

S

In color theory, a Shade is a hue mixed with black. In common language shade has come to mean, a color slightly different from the one under consideration or a color, especially with regard to how light or dark it is or as distinguished from one nearly like it.

U

Always look for the Undertone of whites and neutrals.

W

The Color Wheel is a color harmony "cheat sheet" not a color selection tool.

X

Did you know that there is a color term that begins with the letter X? Yes, Xanthic and it means "of or relating to a yellow or yellowish color." Now you know a word that could come in handy the next time you play Scrabble.

Y

WhY color? Because it makes the world bigger unveiling all that is possible.

Z

Zomp is the name of a green color on the Resene color list and is widely popular in Australia and New Zealand. It can be produced by the hex triplet #39A78E. In early March 2018, the color began appearing in photoshops and image macros on Facebook after being referenced in a tweet published by Vsauce.[1]

Did You Enjoy the Color A-Z? 

Leave a comment below to let us know what you most enjoyed or what you learned about color.

Read Time: 3 min
author avatar
Kate Smith
Kate Smith is an optimistic, expressive, artist, designer, writer and color fanatic. With her warm and witty style, Kate teaches you to clearly see, understand and be inspired by color. Then she guides you step-by-step to develop your own unique color sense-ability and achieve results you never dreamed possible.
  • Roy says:

    Your blog is more than thrilling! It is breathtakingly wonderful! Congratulations and more power!

  • Linda says:

    I love this list! It was fun to read through. I learned many new things but especially enjoyed P, Q, X, Z

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