Happy 140th Birthday, Mondrian!
March 7th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
March 7, 2012
“Art is not made for anybody and is, at the same time, for everybody.”-Piet Mondrian
Back in 2010 I wrote a blog about Mondrian. At that time there seemed to be a resurgence of products that were inspired by his wonderfully expressive art. Today is the 140th birthday of Piet Mondrian and one that I think is worth celebrating.
Here is an excerpt of what I feel to be the reason behind our attraction to Mondrian.
We are drawn to the simplicity of the primary palette because it taps into our inner child. The basic shapes and colors together are pleasing without being overly complex.
Happy 140th Birthday, Piet Mondrian!.
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
February 13th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
February 13, 2012
One of my colleagues and former students, Debora House, is a gifted colorist and a remarkable artist, who lives in Sweden. Every year she send us her unconventional and creative Valentines. I want to share this year’s creation with you.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
My Interview In The New York Times
January 5th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
January 5, 2012
Bare with me as I toot my own horn. It is always a wonderful treat to be interviewed for the New York Times. I am especially pleased with this one article and thought that it would be nice to share. I really enjoyed speaking with Penelope Green, I love her last name and she doesn’t miss a beat.
Here is an excerpt from the Q & A and a link to the full article.
The color of the year is a bit of an assist to the fashion, cosmetics and home furnishings industries, and product and graphic design, all of which can use it as an organizing principle and marketing tool.
Kevin P. Casey for The New York Times
Will orange become ubiquitous? Probably not, Ms. Eiseman said. “What we’re trying to do is get the feeling of the zeitgeist, to use an overused word,” she said, speaking by phone from her home on Bainbridge Island in Washington. “What are people talking about they feel they need, that color can help to answer? For us, the color of the year is not necessarily the hot fashion color, but an expression of a mood, an attitude, on the part of the consumers.”
Q&A — Leatrice Eiseman of the Pantone Color Institute – NYTimes.com.
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Red: The Emblem Of Social Responsibility
November 2nd, 2011 § Leave a Comment
November 2, 2011
I was asked to speak at a conference on the color Red. I think you might enjoy this event— there are quite a few speakers each bringing their own perspective to the color. In my presentation Keith Recker and I will be sharing excerpts and images of the color RED throughout the 20th Century from the new book Pantone® The 20th Century in Color. I hope to see you there.
From Dior to Valentino, from Yves Saint Laurent to Lanvin, red is an expression of joy, of jubilation, of passion. In the hands of others it is—among many other things—the color of authority, of courage, and of liturgy. It is also a pre-eminent color of body ornament: red lipstick and nail polish are never out of style.
The 13th Annual New York Fashion Conference, RED, will explore the innumerable facets of this color without peer. We will consider the history of this color, and that of the materials from which it has been derived, as well as its symbolism, both as a color in and of itself and integral to patterns such as paisley and tartan. Vintage is a lens through we study this vibrant hue and the important roles it has played at all times and in all cultures; we trace these roles as well as their evolution over time. Not least, we explore the legacies of Diana Vreeland and others, for whom red was not just a color, but a signature.
Dancing Diablo’s Illustrated World For Ralph Lauren Kids
October 3rd, 2011 § 2 Comments
October 3, 2011
This film was done by a young woman who was part of a group who attended my class in Venezuela several years ago. She is a graphic designer who has since made quite a mark for herself in New York with a studio called Dancing Diablo. She sent me a link to her newest video that was made for Ralph Lauren Kids.
These are some stills from the video. Please click the images to watch the full video.
Such beautiful illustration. What do you think?
Color Knows No Age Limit
July 22nd, 2011 § 3 Comments
July 22, 2011
This is Sofia. Sofia is the daughter of one of the students from my summer Color/Design class. Sofia was so inspired by her mother’s interest in color that she insisted she have her own mini “color workshop”.
During her workshop they talked about colors for specific products. She decided that a yogurt maker was the ideal product for her color palette.
The next task in the “class” was to make a color wheel. This is not an easy task but as you can see Sofia handled it like a true professional.
I think we may have another future color/design class attendee.
A Study Of Bill Gold’s Poster’s: Color And Typography
July 11th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
July 11, 2011
Bill Gold, called the greatest poster designer in Hollywood, has had an illustrious career designing classic posters for such films as “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, “The Way We Were”, “Casablanca”, “Hair”, “My Fair Lady”, “The Sting”, “Barry Lyndon” and “Mystic River”.
Here are some examples of his colorful work and some of the rationale behind it.
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
For his first major studio release, it was important to Gold to emphasize the patriotism in the story of George M. Cohan. So he used bright American colors and incorporated the flag design as part of the Uncle Sam hat. He did all the lettering by hand then had a sign painter come in and color it at his direction. The “C” in James Cagney’s name is the same type Gold used for Casablanca.
My Fair Lady (1969)
Gold says he used Peak’s “squiggles to get his juices flowing”. The final poster is a collage of the charcoal drawings, to which Gold added color.
Dirty Harry (1971)
For his first collaboration with Clint Eastwood, Gold saw the police detective’s gun as a central image that he used in all of the poster variations. He exaggerated the size of the gun in the international and main U.S. posters. In the international, he used repeating images and “psychedelic” colors, which design critic Steven Heller praises for having “a pop art quality”.
The Sting (1973)
To capture the 1920s look of the movie, Gold took the approach used in The Saturday Evening Post developed by illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, for both the main poster and the alternate. “The texture of the clothing has a hand-painted quality,” Gold says. “The whole feeling of the story is there.” Gold also used the magazine’s classic lettering style.
Barry Lyndon (1975)
For Stanley Kubrick’s 18th century costume drama, Gold flew to London for three weeks of intense discussions with the director. Kubrick insisted on having a special hand-lettered alphabet created, and Gold suggested the illustrated outer framing. After Gold returned home, he and Kubrick spoke by phone each day for weeks while a Warners messenger flew back and forth daily with sketches. Kubrick kept adding shading around each illustration to make it more distinctive.
Hair (1979)
Gold and illustrator Bob Peak did a lot of experimenting, including the picture of the sun coming through hair. He also played with different lettering styles.
Colorful Kitchen
July 5th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
July 5, 2011
Rolando Barrera traveled from Mexico two years ago to participate in our Color/Design program here on Bainbridge Island. He had an interest in learning more about the psychology of color, effective color combinations and how the use of color could have a positive influence on his customers when they visited his beautiful kitchen-centered showroom.
He sent us some wonderful examples of how his showroom has depicted both mood and style with the artful use of color.
Rolando told us that the concept for choosing the colors was to use some “cheerful” and “delicious” colors like tomato, lime and citrus. But he also integrated “our Mother Earth” by using warm browns and grays. In particular, he felt that the use of teak and a pristine white depicted “heaven and earth”.
His goal, in his own words: “The ideas of the colors of this showroom is to immerse our customers and visitors in different ambients of color and see which kitchen they like the most”. He feels that “happiness” is a main component and that “color really sells”.
We respond to these handsome images and shared thoughts with a big Bravo to Rolando!
Blog On Black
March 11th, 2011 § 1 Comment
Recently, I received some feedback on the background color of this blog (feedback is greatly appreciated). Eisemancolorblog has always used a black background as its background. To me, it is much like the fantastic red scarf that pops against a black jacket, black is the medium for which we deliver pops of color whether in text or imagery.
I found this infographic especially interesting and reaffirming. Interesting because I love a good infographic especially one on color and reaffirming because it validates our thoughts and inspiration behind our choice in using black.
We may be biased.
A quote from Color: Messages and Meanings about black…
“Another color can come forward and claims in the fashion press will be made that it is usurping black’s place but the reality is that black will always have a presence, not only in the world of fashion, but in all design disciplines. Adding black to any color renders that color more powerful, creating an illusion of depth, weight, solidity, substance and most often, more subtlety. Black is a fundamental factor in process printing; the final letter of CMYK is the last letter of the word black.”
Nice Day For A White Wedding
February 28th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
February 28, 2011
One of our color loving colleagues, Jude Stewart, has written an interesting article about color, tradition and weddings. It is a very fascinating look at the use of white in weddings throughout time. A quote from Jude’s post states that “Custom has decided, from the earliest ages, that white is the most fitting hue, whatever may be the material. It is an emblem of the purity and innocence of girlhood, and the unsullied heart she now yields to the chosen one.”
Chapter 13 in Colors For Your Every Mood is dedicated to white and its mark in society. Here is an excerpt about “Innocent White”.
“There is an innocence to white, a christening-dress kind of chasteness, an unsullied childlike naivete. It is traditionally the color of babies or brides. Baptismal and confirmation dresses are white, and some orders of nuns are married ceremonially to the church in a white gown. The ancient Greeks started the tradition of white at weddings, which they saw as a bridal symbol of joy. On the eve of her wedding ceremony, the Greek bride painted her body white, on her wedding day she wore white flowers in her hair and a flowing white gown. For thousands of years, the Japanese have seen white as pure, innocent, and virginal. The ladies of the court and shrine maidens, however, wore their white kimonos over red pantaloons! In the United States, white did not become the standard color for wedding dresses until the 1800s, and colonial brides wore a variety of pastel colors.”
color colour fashion style clothes wedding bride marriage tradition
