color forecasting book for color workshop | pratt graduate communications design | spring 2010

1. COLOR TREND FORECASTING

2. RED-ORANGE
is one of the few colors that is slate blues with only a tiny area of
immediately clear to the mind’s eye application. A little bit of red-orange
just from the name. Unlike blue, or can serve as a small glimmer of hope
green, or purple, which can each in a time dominated by doubt and
embody a great deal of variation in darkness.
tint or shade or tone, red-orange
is platonically bold, carrying a Perhaps this is a good way to start
great deal of energy and weight thinking about this color in terms of
of presence. It is a color of fire, of forecasting. Our world today is full
warning, of exuberance; it calls out of insecurity and tenuousness. We
to be noticed in any context. As no longer are sure of our footing
such, red-orange tends to dominate in anything. We cling to patterns,
any area in which it is used, whether shades, and relics of eras past—the
a website, a canvas, a physical bygone days of mad men, the glam
space, or a wardrobe. It is a color & lux 80s—but now, in 2010, we have
that is effectively used as contrast, yet to define a true sense of style
paired with muted blues or greens, for our era. It seems possible to me
or even with monotone greys. that this bold, bright, energetic color
with its own form of dominance and
t’s a cheerful color, able to break leadership is the best candidate to
up the muted dullness of greys and lead us to a secure future.
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3. THE LONESOME COWBOY COWBOY SUNSET
follows his outstretched arm through Color Information
the louvered doors and pours himself
a whisky. Aside him sits a varmint. The R:223 G:64 B:38
varmint drinks with evil in his thoughts. C:0 M:85 Y:100 K:0
Behind them is a lovely lady lovely to Hex: #DF4025
behold. Her petticoats are torn but her Color-Aid: RO-EX
face is rosy and bright. The varmint leers
real dirty. It behooves him to stop and PMS 7417
he does not. The lonesome cotwboy (best Pantone match)
spins around and shoots the varmint’s
dirty leers and evil thoughts right off
the top of his head. The floor and the
sun look the same color and move
toward each other slow as can be. The
lonesome cowboy stands up and gives
the lovely lady a look she can keep
in a locket. He walks himself out the
door and throws himself onto his pale
horse. Together they ride off into the
friscalating sunset.
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4. Color + Tints Color + Tones
Color + Shades
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5. Complementary Colors OLD BRONZE
The statue in the middle of
town used to shine, once.
Now its bald head gleams
verdigris bright in the blaze
of high noon.
PMS 563
This slightly grey shade of
blue-green provides a cool
complement to the bright
red-orange Cowboy Sunset.
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6. Neutrals Neutral Painted Study
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7. Split Complementary 1 Split Complementary 2 Split Complementary 3
BLUE DENIM
Steel and deep and
steadfast. Unwavering
and true.
PMS 647
STRAW
Golden and shining, like
the loveliest ladies’ locks
of hair.
PMS 1355
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8. Warm Complementary Cool Complementary
RUST
They’re everywhere,
these dull blood-colored
PMS 484 flakes. We pray for rain.
VAST SKY
Every day we wonder if
today it will finally fall.
PMS 278
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9. Monotone Triad Signature Palette
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10. SILVER BIRCH
Trees as bare as
everything else out here.
PMS Warm Grey 7
BONE
Hope it’s no one you
know basking in the sun.
PMS Cool Grey 1
WORN SADDLE
The tanned leather hide
is all that separates you
from raw animal power.
PMS 715
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11. Color Textures
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12. Analogous Warm Complementary
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13. 12

14. WEARING THE
WESTERN FRONT
While Cowboy Sunset might
seem too bold to be used in your
everyday wardrobe, think again.
Take inspiration from the cowboys
themselves. Wear a button-down
or a jacket in Cowboy Sunset, or
accessorize with a bright red-
orange bandana around your neck.
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15. BRINGING THE
WILD WEST
INDOORS
Cowboy Sunset lends itself
incredibly well to interiors and
home decorating. Consider
painting corner rooms that
receive a lot of light in Cowboy
Sunset, or covering a couch
or chair in an open room in
red-orange fabric. Bright pops
of Cowboy Sunset in the form
of appliances or furnishings
can help tie a room together.
Placing pieces of artwork that
use Cowboy Sunset on the wall
is a great way to add visual
interest in a space.
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