Color : Building Great Designs with Color

The Graphic Idea Resource series is a collection of graphic design work selected by designers for designers. Each book in the series is dedicated to a specific area of graphic design, creating an affordable library of design inspiration.

Graphic Idea Resource: Color demonstrates strong graphic design that relies on color to get the message across. Whether a designer uses color to turn up the volume or quietly create an effect, good use of color in design is essential. Original uses of color printed on color, color that attracts attention or improves readability, and dramatic color effects on a single paper stock - all are collected here, plus many more examples of innovative color use.

COLOR communicates instantly. Even before the text in a layout is read and the words are registered and processed, the color scheme has already conveyed something on another, subconscious, level. Color often has loaded political, social, and emotional connotations. During the Cold War, to be called "red" in America was to be branded the worst kind of traitor. Everyone knows that yellow has long been associated with cowards. And if you devote yourself to protecting the environment, you are known to be "green".

It takes a discriminating eye to determine what color or color scheme works best to create the biggest impact on an audience. It also takes an innovative mind to make the most of limited choices when budgetary concerns restrict the amount of color that can be used on press. On these pages are many examples of ways designers found to stretch their color options, such as changing paper colors instead of inks to broaden a color spectrum, or applying a third color by hand to a 2-color rum.