Sensational Color Pro Kate Smith » orange

Color Quote of the Day: March 20th

Kate Smith — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:05:29 +0000

“If we were to imagine an orange on the blue side or green on the red side or violet on the yellow side, it would give us the same impression as a north wind coming from the southwest.”

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein

JCrew Savings Inspired

Kate Smith — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:34:06 +0000

I regularly see articles or books that talk about looking to fine art or photographs of nature for color scheme inspiration and these are great places to find beautiful combinations however color inspiration can come from anywhere that there is color.

My inbox seems to be ripe recently with ads filled with color inspiration. This email advertisement from JCrew caught my eye this evening because it uses a variety of red and orange hues in a way the I found particularly appealing.

They have taken the trend of combining red and orange that has been quite popular this holiday (especially among their target audience) and and subtly used it to add interest to this mostly red and white ad.

If i hadn’t already overloaded my UPS delivery person with JCrew packages this holiday season I think this ad would entice me to check out what’s on sale…and if I don’t back away from the computer right now it still might.

Happy shopping!

The Colors of Carolyn Gavin

Kate Smith — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:01:53 +0000

I opened up my email to find this absolutely adorable group of characters on an ad for Licensed Products at Printsource in January. The artwork is by Carolyn Gavin and it simply made me smile.

I like the combination of colors she chose and decided to take a closer look at the palette that has a youthful energy with grown up appeal.

Here are a few more designs by Carolyn Gavin. I think she has an incredible sense of color. Each of her palettes is just delightful and anyone of them could inspire me.

This is a close up of one of her designs on a notebook that I found at Journals and Books.

Visit Lilla Rogers Studio where you can find Carolyn Gavin’s portfolio, bio and pictures of her studio.

Learn more about Printsource: The World of Textile and Surface Design

Happy Friday,

Tree at Williamsburg Inn

Kate Smith — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:29:32 +0000

I was in Williamsburg over the Thanksgiving holiday and during a stroll in the garden behind the Inn I was taken with the pattern and colors in the bark of this tree.

The gray and orange combination would make a very sophisticated color palette for either an interior and exterior of a home.

Quite a different look than the orange in yesterday’s Etsy Inspired color palette. These tones of orange are much more sedate and complex.

With gray moving to the forefront in 2009 we will see it being used with many complex neutrals and looking at nature for inspiration is a perfect way to find neutral schemes that are breathtaking rather than boring.

Etsy Inspired

Kate Smith — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:12:56 +0000

I was on Twitter today when i clicked a link to view a treasury on etsy.com. Carol Langston of Designingit had put together this collection of blue and orange items that caught her fancy and it inspired me to think about this color combination.

This complementary scheme can take on many variations and here are three I pulled from the photos above. The first orange and blue combination has yellow orange with blue green. I really liked the use of variations of this blue as the background in the goldfish picture. It makes the goldfish come alive.

This truer orange works well with a medium blue quite nicely and you can see this combo in many of the items above.

A redder orange works paired with a tint of blue works well too while being just slightly less vibrant.

If you find you are drawn to a particular pair of colors it is fun to look at the many options you have when using this combination whether in advertising or decorating.

Give it a try by creating your own etsy treasury or flickr photo collection or start collecting clippings of your favorite combinations in a color journals. Having color references is great for sparking your creative imagination.

PS: Just added some orange and blue ideas on Color For Your Home.