Working with color

     Last Thursday in BDS 101, we talked about the principles of color in design and how colors can work together to create different color unity strategies. Our first assignment was to go out and take/find 24 photos that represented the color vocabulary discussed in class. Today, we posted all of our examples up on the wall in class:

My 24 examples (sorry, it's a little blurry)

     For this project my friend Anna, who is also in the class, and I headed to Target knowing we'd find many of the color properties on advertisements, packaging, and magazines. All of my photos were of products found at the Target here in Lawrence, besides one I took of my student planner and another of the logo on a K-cup I found in my room. I found this project really interesting once we started taking photos and discussing the color vocabulary and looking at real life examples. The only difficult part was that most of the categories/definitions we were looking for overlapped in my mind and I felt many of the pictures could have been used to describe multiple color techniques. I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you to show you a little bit more of what we worked on.

Transitions in hues, value, or chroma - eliminate big visual leaps and
help the viewer's visual path slow down and make sense of the image.

Contrasting hues - includes colors that
 are far apart on the color wheel.

Harmonious hues - the use of two or more colors that
are next to each other on the color wheel.

Limited palette - using only a few hues to create unity.

Key the color - adding a hue to each color in the design makes
the palette more harmonious and suggest temperature.

     Two of my favorites are the Starbucks advertisement and the La Croix logo. I love how the Starbucks ad used opposing colors on the color wheel (forms of red and green) yet the design looks unified and appealing. My favorite part about the La Croix logo is the color scheme they chose (colors that are right next to each other on the color wheel) because it looks easy, effort less, and calming. Plus, it doesn't hurt that my favorite color is blue and they have that in there.

     My studio classes have definitely proved to be different than the typical math and english pre-reqs I took last year, but after a week of class I feel like I'm finally getting into the design groove. I'm really enjoy getting to use the "artsy" side of my brain in my classes this year, which is something I really was missing last year in my classes. Plus, if you know me at all you'd probably know Project Runway is one of my favorite shows. Being in studio secretly makes me feel like I'm in Project Runway, which I love. Especially when my teacher Tim comes are and critiques our work. (Get it? - like Tim Gunn!)

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." 

-Mark Twain