The Shocking Nude That Changed America

February 28, 2013

As a color/design consultant, forecaster and author, I always look to the art world for inspiration and direction, especially shows and exhibits that are garnering much attention in the art world. So I read with great interest on artdaily.com about  one show that changed it all. 

“The International Exhibition of Modern Art — which came to be known, simply, as the Armory Show — marked the dawn of Modernism in America. It was the first time the phrase “avant-garde” was used to describe painting and sculpture.

On the evening of the show’s opening, 4,000 guests milled around the makeshift galleries in the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue.

Two-thirds of the paintings on view were by American artists. But it was the Europeans — Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp — that caused a sensation.”

And what a sensation indeed! It was 100 years ago that art in the United States was forever changed. It was only one year later that Cubism would continue to evolve the world of art.

The serious, demanding intellectualism of the Cubist proposition was too important to be rendered in the decorative colors of the Fauves. Picasso and Georges Braque delivered their message in somber tones, along with the bits of wrapping paper, wallpaper, newspaper, and even sand, dirt, and house paint. Eventually, later Cubists like Robert Delaunay and Juan Gris introduced more vivid colors in a desire to capture the vibrant urban reality of pre-WWI Paris.

Nude Descending a Staircase (No.2) was the star of the Armory show and is a star in the book Pantone The 20th Century in Color. Take a minute to listen or read about the Armory Show from 1913. If that doesn’t quench your thirst you can click the link below to explore the website that the Smithsonian has put up that is a detailed timeline of archival material from that very show.

‘Armory Show’ That Shocked America In 1913, Celebrates 100 : NPR.

What’s Your Sign? Is Your Birthstone Emerald? Color Me Curious.

December 13, 2012

Lorraine DePasque is a Style/Trends editor for instoremag.com. She has interviewed me many times before and we are often on the same “wavelength” when it comes to spotting trends. This was especially evident when it came to Emerald. I often tell people at my presentations to look to high end jewelry for future influence.

You can say that Lorraine had her (Emerald clad?) finger on the pulse of this one considering that she posted this blog back in April. Click the link below to read Lorraine’s rationale of Emerald in terms of jewelry.

Jewelry’s on the Road to Emerald City.

It’s Colortime! Pantone Fashion Color Report Spring 2013

September 6, 2012

It’s that time of year again. Pantone has just released their Spring Fashion Color Report for 2013. It is such an exciting time for fashion with summer coming to a close and everyone embracing their fall wardrobe and looking for a change. I often hear people say that fall is their favorite season because of the clothing. I might have to agree with them but not just for the boots and sweaters, I love that the colors change as well.

This season, designers overwhelmingly address consumers’ desire for self-expression, balance and the need to re-energize. The color direction for spring builds upon these compelling needs with a palette that mixes dynamic brights with novel neutrals to create a harmonious balance. This allows for unique combinations that offer practicality and versatility, but at the same time, demand attention and earn an appreciative glance.

If you are looking to perk up your wardrobe with some pops of color, why not start here? Keep your Colortime in mind and you will be sure to wow your friends and co-workers.

 

Not sure what Colortime you are? Use your hair, skin, and eyes as your guide to finding your perfect Colortime. Once you know your Colortime (Sunrise, Sunlight, or Sunset) you can use the fanguide to help you match your best colors to those in the new color report. This doesn’t make you trendy it makes you a smart shopper. You can embrace the colors that aren’t in your Colortime by using them in smaller proportion like accessories or nail polish.

 

What color(s) will you embrace? Which is your favorite?

Design Principles: Color

August 2, 2012

 

Are you into trends?

 

In my book Color: Messages and Meanings I highlight variations in color families and bring broader insights to the meanings and consumer responses to color(s). Some of the insights I share are about trends and I give you guidelines on how to spot them.

 

Do you have an eye for spotting trends?

 

Here is an excerpt from the book.

 

“Spotting future trends is much like detective work. It’s not the one big ‘AHA’ that hits you but rather a string of clues that leads to the ultimate realization. It’s very important to view the big picture first-the macro level that precedes the micro.

 

Fashion is most often the forerunner to color trends, but one season of a “hot” color doesn’t do it. One or two seasons of a hot color is still a fad. But tracking a ‘new’ color for several seasons will tell you if it translates from fad to trend. Read the magazines or visit the websites that talk about trends. If a trend is growing, you will see it in more than one resource.”

 

That brings us to the May issue of Graphic Design USA (GDUSA). Graphic designers are “tuning in” to the trends. Some trends may start in fashion but as more people embrace these trends we will continue to see them in areas such as website design, interior design, typography, and graphic design as an important design principle.

 

What role does the color forecast play in your life? Does it inspire you to repaint your home? Do you invest in a key wardrobe piece for a season (or two)?

 

Pantone Fashion Color Report – May 2012 Annual Color Forecast.

Color Touches Everyone

June 5, 2012

 

By now you may have read that Queen Elizabeth has been color coded. Pantone and Leo Burnett came up with a special edition color wheel for her Diamond Jubilee. The Queen has spanned many color trends during her reign and is a wonderful subject of color.

 

I was quoted throughout the guide regarding one of my quotes on using a singular color family.

“The Diamond Jubilee Color Guide is a celebration of that reign through color and its meaning. The Queen’s decision to favor one color in every outfit is a strong style statement. Monochromatic color schemes make the wearer appear taller, delivering a more stately air—perfect given that Queen Elizabeth is not tall at 5-foot-4. Choosing one color theme also ensures the outfit does not detract attention from the wearer—which is particularly important if you’re the Queen.”

 

Today, you don’t have to be a Queen to have your own color code. Get your own personal fanguide to color YOUR life’s jubilee. Purchase the More Alive With Color book and fanguide for a special Jubilee combination price of just $39.95 and unlock your own personal Colortime.

 

By reading More Alive With Color you will learn how to use color to make you feel more secure and successful. Avoid expensive mistakes with color. Use color with confidence to bring out your creativity. Understand what goes with what and why. Discover what color says about you. You will also learn about monochromatic color schemes to help you channel your inner British monarch.

 

This special offer won’t last as long as the Queen’s reign so don’t wait!

For more information about the book and fanguide click here.

This is a special deal for all the followers of this blog, Twitter, and Facebook. Click the More Alive With Color fanguides within this post to take advantage of the Queen’s Jubilee sale. 

 

Empower yourself with color.

Pop Goes The Tangerine Tango Shop

May 8, 2012

One of our colleagues and former students, Denise Lampron, is an image consultant, stylist and a color design consultant in Los Angeles. She attended a Pantone/Sephora Tangerine Tango event in the “Pop-up” Shop at the Grove in LA– a fun place to shop for all kinds of goodies. This is the report she sent us….

“The event was attended by the press, stylists and ‘corporate’ from 3-6 pm, and from 6-9 pm by the public. The Pop-up Shop was ideally located in the ‘park area’ of The Grove. It was a warm, sunny day and an ideal backdrop for the happy, bright introduction of Tangerine Tango.”

“The Sephora personnel were knowledgeable, friendly and appeared to be genuinely excited about being at the event. The Pop-up Shop was impeccable. The displays were very high end looking, eye catching, creative and, of course, bright and bold. The Sephora make up artist I spoke with referred to the psychology of TT (she paid attention in your lecture!)”

 

“The catering company did a lovely job of re-creating the TT theme in the food.”

It was a festive opening with lots of interest.

 Thank you, Denise, for sharing.  Especially loved the picture of you (in orange) taking a picture of you taking a picture!!

How Can you Take Advantage Of Mother Nature? Use Sunlight!

April 6, 2012

Color’s message may be subliminal, but it’s always there to create an effect and to color your decisions, your moods, and your world. This notion was recently explored by one of my former students, Lara Serbin. She is an architect and full service color consultant living in Arizona. Her love of color has been expressed in many different creative fields including fashion, interior design, personal color consultations and architecture. As Lara has taken both my online training program in personal image color consulting (the Color Clock™ theory) and the “in-person” Color Design program, she is truly a “full service” color consultant.

Lara is currently working on a project for The Center for the Arts. In coming up with a color story for the center, Lara and the director, Joseph Benesh have created a harmonious color palette that includes two colors, Pantone Sunlight 13-0822 and Pantone Beaujolais 18-2027 from the Crossover palette that I explain in my book More Alive With Color. Crossover Colors are nature’s most versatile colors and are those that occur most frequently in nature. Your eye is accustomed to seeing them in combination with many other colors. Which is why pairing the Sunlight with Beaujolais was a smart move.

Lara has this to say about why she picked Sunlight: “Sunlight is a yellow that is the perfect background for any color.  Sunlight is also a complementary color to purple. Sunlight wakes this whole color board up with happiness!”

Click here for the full article….

I couldn’t agree more, Lara. Living here in the Pacific Northwest we know the importance of a little Sunlight. Still, we have ideal lighting for color matching, so there is always Column A against Column B!

Thank you for letting us share your story.

Orange Blossoms And False Eyelashes

February 23, 2012

I found this article and thought that with all of the great buzz surrounding Tangerine Tango that it would be fun to look back at when it all started. I excerpted a paragraph from the article for your viewing pleasure and included a link to the full article at the bottom.

“Sephora is about to bring out a limited-edition spring cosmetics line with orange eye makeup—including orange false eyelashes made from feathers. The renaissance of orange extends to many facets of design: The Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah, recently installed a luxury ski lift called the Bubble Express—with heated chairs in eye-popping orange.

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

 This renaissance for orange has been a long time coming. The color was popular in the 1920s, and again in the 1960s, with a lesser renaissance in the ’80s.”

Are you hearing the buzz about the Pantone x Sephora collaboration? Will you be rushing out to pick up some of these limited-edition goodies?

Orange Blossoms Especially for 2012 – WSJ.com.

I’m Tickled Orange!

February 16, 2012

I was in New York during Fashion week and was interviewed by Rueter’s News Service that is distributed internationally.  

http://www.reuters.com/resources_v2/flash/video_embed.swf?videoId=230303298&edition=BETAUS
Let’s hear it once again for Tangerine Tango!!

Do you like this video? If you do Like this post!

Thanks for stopping by!

What Do You Think About Tangerine Tango?

December 9, 2011 

The following is an excerpt from an article by Aylin Zafar for TIME.com followed by a little background on the selection process. Every year I spend a great deal of time perusing all of the issues and happenings that might influence color directions in the future. Ever since the color of the year has been named I have been intimately involved in the process, as I am the Director of the Pantone Color Institute and their lead forecaster in all industries mentioned below.

The world is about to look a lot more vivid: the Pantone Color Institute has named “Tangerine Tango,” a radiant red-orange, as the top color of 2012. The color experts have been amping up their selections each year, with the serene and calming turquoise in 2010 giving way to 2011’s honeysuckle, a warm, reddish-pink color meant to lift spirits and instill confidence.

But the current economic climate and frustrations call for something bolder this coming year. Pantone has turned to the “spirited reddish-orange” hue to “provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.” Orange signals not only vitality, but also urgency and strength—associations that should resonate in a year where many are hoping to finally start seeing changes. “There’s the element of encouragement with orange”.

The color of the year selection is a very thoughtful process. To arrive at the selection, Pantone quite literally combs the world looking for color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films that are in production, traveling art collections, hot new artists, popular travel destinations and other socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from technology, availability of new textures and effects that impact color, and even upcoming sports events that capture worldwide attention.

For more than a decade, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design.

‘Tangerine Tango’: The Bright, Encouraging Color of 2012 | NewsFeed | TIME.com.