Sensational Color Pro Kate Smith » purple

The Meaning of the Color Purple for ‘Team Obama’?

Kate Smith — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:32:45 +0000

There is always lots of chatter about any State of the Union address but this week the conversations included the color purple. Why was purple the color of the day for ‘Team Obama”?

A question Georgea Kovanis attempts to answer in her article, Did purple apparel send a message at the State of the Union address? I was quoted in the article.

“Color sends a message,’” says Kate Smith, a color expert who works as a corporate color consultant. “There’s some message on our mind, whether it’s conscious or unconscious.”

So, what does purple mean when it comes to politics?

Because it is a combination of red and blue, it carries some meanings from both colors. “You’re communicating the trustworthiness from blue as well as some red, the power, the in-charge side of red,” says Smith, who owns Sensational Color, a company based in Washington, D.C. “They’re unifying.”

And unification was one of the points of Obama’s speech.

And a bit further into the article:

AKA ‘Goofy Grape’

Kate Smith — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:32:57 +0000

Forget the technical or factory name. Once a color has been dubbed with a moniker by the masses you might as well just go with it.

I was reminded of this as I was searching for something today and came upon Smokin Joe’s comment on the forum board at JalopyJournal.com and it make me smile so I thought I’d share with you.

Ford has always come up with colorful names for their paint. Most of them give you NO idea of what the paint’s supposed to look like. Other factories followed suit. Mopar had some really strange colors for the cudas and challengers back in the 70’s. I tried to get some of the purple from a paint store once for an AAR cuda using the factory paint name and the guy didn’t know what I was after till I told him I wanted “Goofy Grape”.

Welcome Karen Platt: Gardener Extraordinaire

Kate Smith — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:32:43 +0000

I have been a big fan of Karen Platt ever since she ignited gardener’s desire for dark plants with her much acclaimed book, Black Magic and Purple Passion. I believe that she was the catalyst that brought about the black plant phenomenon first in the UK then worldwide. You can just imagine how thrilled I was when Karen agreed to be a featured contributor to Sensational Color. Karen will be writing articles based on her color book series that represent all colors used in the garden. Each of Karen’s books offers a blueprint on which plants to choose and how to use them and I think we can look forward to her keen insights on how to bring new colors into our gardens. The first article is Color in the Garden – Black and if you’re like me by

Color Quote of the Day: February 15th

Kate Smith — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:05:55 +0000

“The man who can see all gray, and red, and purples in a peach, will paint the peach rightly round, and rightly altogether. But the man who has only studied its roundness may not see its purples and grays, and if he does not will never get it to look

Color Quote of the Day: January 24th

Kate Smith — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:05:00 +0000

“The range in brightness from the purple glow [of the sunset] to the dark sky above is too great for most films, and naturally it is beyond the range of printed pictures.” James Elkins

Color Quote of the Day: January 20th

Kate Smith — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:05:51 +0000

“Mauve? Mauve is just pink trying to be purple.” James Abbot McNeill Whistler

Quilt of Many Colors

Kate Smith — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:29:25 +0000

Eddie Ross put up a post of how he created a color scheme for an apartment from a vintage quilt. One of my favorite schemes was this grayish green and lavender with deeper accents. He pulled six different schemes and

Color Quote of the Day: January 1, 2009

Kate Smith — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:30:06 +0000

“Don’t order any black things. Rejoice in his memory; and be radiant: leave grief to the children. Wear violet and purple. Be patient with the poor people who will snivel: they don’t know; and they think they will live for ever, which makes death a division instead of a bond.”

George Bernard Shaw Irish born playwright who lived most of his life in London, England, 1856-1950

Deer Me

Kate Smith — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:08:57 +0000

The wonderful thing about working with smart, creative people is that they are a great source of inspiration. As usual Julie finds the best products and I’m stealing this one for my own color inspiration for today.

It come from a post Julie wrote today on creating a December fete where the mood is festive- yet nothing is quite as it seems. Her inspiration began with designer Caroline Gardner’s not so typical holiday palette and a deer motif that feels more ‘optical illusion’ then ‘yuletide cheer’.

This is an unusual combination of color especially for the holidays but shows how unexpected combinations

Color Quote of the Day: December 3rd

Kate Smith — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:38:38 +0000