C L R
0 0 2
background This is a documentation of a one-week module for semester 4 undergraduate graphic design students led by faculty Rupesh Vyas starting 26th November 2013. The core focus of the course was to understand the digital aspects of colour and to gain more know-how on the technologies and tools required for the use of colour by graphic designers. The week was theory-intensive (mostly secondary research) with some hands-on inputs and demonstrations by the students.
Assignment 1 Group Study: Trends
We did a collective brainstorm of subjects that we would like to study and then, in groups of two, researched and presented our findings to the batch. Bhumika and I made a spoken presentation using the chart shown above.
(annotated text for chart)
why are trends important? • Desire for change is a basic human motivation. • Inclination to conform is a part of our social nature.
why do color trends matter?
“An average product in the right color will sell, but a good
product in the wrong color will not.” • Color comes before style and price, and is the first factor to which the customer responds. • Marketing research indicates that over 80% of visual information is related to color. • Color improves readership by 40 percent, learning from 55 to 78 percent, comprehension by 73 percent. • Color can be up to 85 percent of the reason people decide to buy a product. • Color ads are read up to 42 percent more than similar ads in black and white: It is examined that black and white image sustains interest for less than two-thirds a second, whereas a colored image may hold the attention for two seconds or even more. • A survey shows that color have a huge impact and even affects shopping habits: Like, shopaholics respond quickly to vibrant colors like red, orange, black and royal blue. People who plan before budget, respond mainly to pink and shades of blue. Conservative shoppers respond to pastel shades like sky blue, rose and pink.
history Until the Victorian era, the color palettes of garment making, product design and interior decoration were, if not timeless, subject to slow and gradual development. The explosion of • industrialization • global trade and travel • personal wealth resulted in a more subjective and experimental approach to these palettes. The Color Association of the United States of America (CAUS) was formed in 1915 in response to the need to standardize dye colors in the United States. Prior to 1915, most dyes came from Europe, particularly Germany, but America’s entry into World War I cut the country off from its primary dye source. From standardization, it was just a short hop to predicting colors as an aid to manufacturers.
current scenario Earlier, it was more organized and predictable - European fashion directed the world’s fashion and then products & interiors. Now - operating systems, T.V. shows, automobiles, networking sites color trends can be directed by any product, industry or social factor. Also, today’s color specialists issue options rather than edicts. Forecasts often include a palette of colors that branches into contrasting directions. It’s a cyclic phenomenon so you can judge that if purple hasn’t been around in a few seasons, using the criterion of novelty, you know if you bring it back in, it will look fresh.
color trends forecasters This could include anybody who works with color on a daily basis or in a color-critical industry: • printers, ink & dye creators • marketers, trend analysts & researchers • photographers, product, furniture, fashion, graphic designers & other creatives
PANTONE Pantone is the world-renowned authority on color. It has two primary influences on the use of color globally. The first relates to the accurate reproduction and management of color while the second is related to forecasts and trendsetting. Pantone have also established an institute dedicated to color research.
Pantone’s color matching system • Designer chooses from over 1,100 unique, numbered colors based on the Pantone Matching System. There are different guides for different kinds of colors, substrates and finishes (neons, pastels, metallic, coated, uncoated. eg. Pantone 199 Red. • Designer sends files to printer who specifies that color on the job ticket, including a Pantone color chip for exact color reference. • The press operator makes the spot color using the mixing formula in the Pantone solid color formula guide, using the Pantone color chip as a color standard. eg. Pantone 199 Red : 12 oz. of Pantone Rubine Red ink 4 oz. of Pantone Yellow ink
Pantone & color trends COLOR OF THE YEAR : Twice a year the company hosts, in a European capital, a secret meeting of representatives from various nations’ color standards groups. After two days of presentations and debate, they choose a color for the following year.
Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director on the 2014 Color of the year : “I look for ascending color trends, colors that are being used in broader ways and broader context than before...In this case, Radiant Orchid descends from the purple family, which is kind of a magical color that denotes creativity and innovation. Purple is just that kind of a complex, interesting, attracting kind of color...[The] back-story to purple is that it inspires confidence in your creativity, and we’re living in a world where that kind of creative innovation is greatly admired. In the world of color, purple is an attention-getter, and it has a meaning. It speaks to people, and we felt that it was time for the purple family to be celebrated. That’s why we chose the particular shade called Radiant Orchid.”
OTHER CORPORATIONS • International Color Authority : ICA color forecasts, 24 months ahead of the retail selling season, are now available online with Pantone© and NCS notations to ensure color accuracy when communicating on the Internet. • Color Management Group : CMG provides consultancy to companies individually and also, releases general forecast palettes. • Global Color Research : GCR publishes their findings and predictions while also following a consultancy model. • Color Association of the United States (CAUS)
research process Color experts primarily study contemporary culture through color. They use infinitely many resources such as popular products and market trends, current and predicted socioeconomic and political conditions, travel destinations, technology, cinema, television, theater, trade shows, and various trend-watching organizations, websites and blogs. The three main determinants of their analysis are:
Observation & Research
Experience & Intuition
Market-based incentives
MOODBOARDS A mood board allows us to explore all of the design elements such as color palette, photography, typography, and inspiration within a website without committing the time it can take to complete a prototype. Mood boards are the most effective way for designers to choose the creative direction they plan to take. They’re very commonly used by designers to choose color palette Moodboards are thus particularly important for color experts while compiling and analyzing their research and help them translate all their research into the deliverable - a palette of suggested colors.
palettes Palettes have always been indispensable for designers and artists in general as the primary tool for color selection. While earlier, these were physical tools, nowadays, many digitals tools are being generated for quick and algorithm-based generation of color palettes. Below are some examples: • Adobe Kuler https://kuler.adobe.com/create/color-wheel/ • Pictaculous http://pictaculous.com • Color Scheme Designer http://colorschemedesigner.com • ColoRotate http://web.colorotate.org
Palettes are the main deliverable provided by color trends forecasters. Each company periodically releases, either publicly or exclusively to clients, a variety of palettes for different industries, seasons, regions etc. This information is disseminated either through print or in person.
publication • Pantone VIEW publications for interiors, fashion, graphic arts, paint and plastics. • CAUS color card • GCR twice annually publishes a magazine - ‘MixTrends’ in which they include a seasonal overview that reflects factors affecting trends and consumer behaviours, four directional trend stories, each including a seasonal colors palette within the story as well as specific color selections for European, North American and China markets.
meetings Other than consultation meetings, large-scale meetings are conducted for both trend analysis and prediction. • GCR conducts global meetings, held twice a year in London and three additional panel meetings in other locations - Europe, North America and China. • CAUS meetings : For each area of focus a committee panel is formed, consisting of eight to twelve people, referred in the business as the Color Czars. Each member of the committee performs their own research on what colors they feel will, should, dominate the next few years in that industry. The committee then convenes and they debate the merits of the member selections. In the end they choose 44 colors that will make it to the palette. • CMG organizes workshops attended by 400-500 professionals throughout a year and then a summit in which each one brings their forecast and presents them followed by discussions.
products The manufacturing industry and color forecasting industry are closely tied together. A day after Pantone released 2013’s Color of the Year, JC Penney launched a lifestyle series in that color with the name mentioning Pantone’s prediction. However, products don’t only follow trends set by color experts but also create trends. Today’s products lead to tomorrow’s trends. Some popular examples of such influential products are Apple iMac G3 & Windows 8 OS.
brands Brands, which have a longer life cycle than fashion, lifestyle and graphics products, are governed more by emotional associations and so, the trends found in color used in branding are less periodic.
webliography Majority of the data was derived from the internet. Below are given the sources: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2008/12/why-mood-boards-matter/ http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/01/22/070122fa_fact_konigsberg http://articles.philly.com/1988-11-06/news/26244344_1_color-forecasts-color-trends-leatrice-eiseman http://www.sensationalcolor.com http://www.colourforecasting.com/colourforecasting http://www.sherwin-williams.com/architects-specifiers-designers/inspiration/color-conversation/living-style/sw-article-pro-lscolorforecast.html http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-marketing/color-and-trademarks http://www.castleprint.co.uk/spot-process-colours.html http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/04/pantone_color_forecasts_are_they_ accurate_.single.html http://businesscardprint.hubpages.com/hub/Spot-Colour-CMYK http://www.printingforless.com/Pantone-Colors-in-Printing.html http://www.good.is/posts/pantone-s-tangerine-tango-and-the-ethics-of-color-forecasting http://www.jolynclothing.com/cool-little-interview-on-pantone/ http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone.aspx?pg=21111&ca=90&from=hpfeatures http://www.pantoneview.com/about http://www.colormarketing.org/about-cmg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBWjfI2WQE http://www.color.org/index.xalter http://www.colorguides.net/how_does_pantone_work.html http://www.instantshift.com/2011/04/29/spot-or-process-color-essential-guidelines/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBWjfI2WQE http://loyaltysquare.com/impact_of_color.php http://www.realityisagame.com/archives/tag/future/ http://archrecord.construction.com/products/ProductFocus/2012/1211-Paints-and-Coatings/1211-Art-of-Color-Forecasting.asp http://www.eisemancolorblog.com http://www.globalcolor.co.uk/mix-trends.php#sthash.kkuvCwFh.dpuf ends.com/category/trends/color-material-finish-trends/ http://www.madtownagency.com/2012/04/the-importance-of-mood-boards/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_board http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2013/07/the-importance-of-color-in-brandstrategy.html#.UzHgWBaRFFI http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2006/11/brand_identity_.html#.UzHfyRaRFFI http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005397.html
Assignment 2 Mode explorations on Ps
Using a sample image (given above), we tried out various settings and modes on Photoshop, observing the modification in the image, its size, file format and other data.
CMYK mode
LAB mode
Grayscale mode
Bitmap - Pattern dither
Bitmap - 50% threshold
Bitmap - Diffusion dither
indexed
Indexed color 1
Indexed grayscale
Indexed color 2
Indexed color 3
Indexed color 4
Indexed color 5
bitmap - halftone
Cross - 105 degrees - 1 lpi
Line - 90 degrees - 1 lpi
Line - 90 degrees - 9 lpi
Diamond - 45 degrees - 1 lpi
Diamond - 45 degrees - 10 lpi
Diamond - 45 degrees - 900 lpi
Round - 45 degrees - 1 lpi
Round - 60 degrees - 9 lpi
Round - 45 degrees - 10 lpi
Square - 75 degrees - 1 lpi
Ellipse - 30 degrees - 9 lpi
Ellipse - 1 degree - 1 lpi
Round - 45 degrees - 999.999 lpi
Diamond - 45 degrees - 90 lpi
Ellipse - 75 degrees - 500 lpi
Square - 17 degrees - 430 lpi
Line - 15 degrees - 250 lpi
Cross - 53 degrees - 1 lpi
NOTE : a printing error is likely since the original resolution of these files is 72 ppi.
duotone
Duotone
Duotone - modified Curves
Monotone
Tritone
Quadtone
Quadtone - modified Curves
Assignment 3 Creating moodboard and palette
The brief was to create a moodboard on any basis and explore different methods of creating palettes from it and also, saving a palette as a file. I made a moodboard of the covers of albums I was listening to just to find out what colours I find.
Screenshot of the palette saved as a file.
Palette made using color picker tool.
Palettes generated by online tool. (PICTACULOUS)
I found that creating the palette from the moodboard using the color picker tool led to a more conscious and optically accurate selection. Pictaculous, while quick, produces more random results and would be helpful when one wants to avoid the mental effort. Other digital tools like Adobe Kuler which don’t input photographs can be used for creating palettes based on color relationships.
experience & learning It was an exciting course since we were delving into issues that had always intrigued us and that we knew would be very relevant to our practice as designers. This has begun a journey of finding out and figuring out how softwares can be best used as tools through a sound understanding of the basics of digital color and images. A plus point of the approach taken was that it encouraged teamwork, though better time management as a team could have led to a better analysis and documentation of all the findings. Perhaps, in the future, this module could consolidate related portions of the ‘Introduction to Print Technology’ course.