The Designer's Guide to Color Combinations

If you're from the "I don't know zip about color - but I know what I like" school of color theory, this book's for you. You won't find color wheels or lectures on color harmony here . . . just 500+ tried-and-true color combinations derived from actual design work - posters, packages, even giftware - created over the past century by designers, artists and color experts. You'll find historical color combinations from the Victorian period, Art Deco era, Far-out Sixties, Rave craze - plus current color combinations, such as limited color, "bad color" and much more. Even if you don't know what you're looking for, you'll know it when you see it here.

It's not just what colors you use, but how you use them. That's why the color combinations in this book are arranged in simple, sample layouts rather than pages of out-of-context swatches. Complete with color formulas in CMYK, these layouts show you which colors work for backgrounds, borders, type, outlines, panels and small text, so you can easily adapt them to your designs.

This wonderful book is about color and design, but it is not a book of theory that begins with color wheels, primary colors, secondary colors, and color harmony. Instead, it offers design examples from the past century: Victorian, Art Deco, Sixties, Raves, etc., with each illustration including Cmyk color formulas. Cmyk is the color-processing system used by printers and also Photoshop, i.e., you can add in the Cmyk for any color in the book and duplicate it in Photoshop or other paint programs. Along with design examples, there are also chapters on current color styles, limited colors, and "bad color," which actually is pretty cool. Designers will love this book for the examples; others can simply select great colors that go together.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.