Eclectic Color Roundup

Design

Coralie Bickford Smith: The Power of a Limited Palette

99% Interview

How important is color when you're coming up with a concept? Do you have any colors that you consider favorites?

Color is vitally important – the right combination can make a good design utterly compelling. I like to use a limited palette in a lot of my designs, something I became hooked on at university. We were encouraged to design within constraints and make a virtue out of it, which is one of the most valuable lessons I've learned.

With the clothbound classics, materials and budget dictate that I can only use two colors per book, and there is a further limitation imposed by the range of available cloth and foil. Rather than seeing that as a negative, I love finding the best combination. It's a time-consuming business but such a major element of the design, and when it works it really takes the cover to the next level.

As for favorites, I still love pink foil and dark red cloth on Fairy Tales. It was the first clothbound book I designed, and I spent hours looking at colors to get the choice right.

Via @AmandaMooney

Paul Tebbott

Portfolio (Cargo Collective) | Flickr

Manchester designer and electronic musician, Paul Tebbott.

Theory

Color Theory Reference Poster by Paper Leaf

Paper Leaf

The Color Theory Quick Reference Poster for Designers.

Via @COLOURlovers

Fun

iBap by OhNo!Doom

ohnodoom

iGotaBigAssPocket Concept by Chicago Illustrator / designer collective, Oh No! Doom

Header image by Jason D Page