Share This
Colour and fabric guide
Colours and their associations
White Purity, surrender, truth, peace, innocence, simplicity, sterility, coldness, death, marriage, birth, virginity
Black Intelligence, rebellion, mystery, modernity, power, sophistication, formality, elegance, evil, death, slimming quality
Grey Elegance, conservatism, respect, wisdom, old age, boredom, dullness, pollution, neutrality, formality, decay, military, education, strenghth
Red Passion, strength, energy, sex, love, romance, speed, danger, anger, revolution
Blue Water, oceans, peace, unity, calmness, coolness, confidence, loyalty, dependability, idealism, depression, sadness
Purple Nobility, envy, spirituality, creativity, mystery, wisdom, gaudiness, exaggeration, confusion, pride, instability
Orange Happiness, energy, balance, heat, enthusiasm, playfulness, warning, autumn, desire, optimism, abundance
Yellow Joy, happiness, summer, cowardice, illness, hazards, greed, femininity, friendship
Green Nature, fertility, youth, inexperience, environment, wealth, generosity, jealousy, illness, greed, growth, health, stability, calming and new beginnings
Brown Nature, richness, tradition, dirt, dullness, filth, heaviness, poverty, roughness, earth, comfort
Colour Theory
- Primary colours Red, yellow and blue. These are colours that cannot be created by combining any other colours. Primaries are used to create all other colours.
- Secondary colours Green, orange and purple. These are created from a combinations of two primary colours.
- Tertiary colours Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, and yellow-green. These are formed by mixing a primary and secondary colour.
- Complementary colours Red/green, orange/blue and purple/yellow. Two colours that are opposite colours on the colour wheel. Placing complementary colours next to each other makes for maximum vibrancy.
- Analogous colours Colours that are next to each other on a twelve-part colour wheel.
- Tints Colours mixed with white.
- Shades Colours mixed with black.
- Tone A general term to describe the level of shade or tint.
- Hue The particular gradation, or the variety of the colour.
- Patina The surface or texture of the colour, often associated with the aging process.
- Chroma The purity of a colour in relation to grey.
- Saturation The purity and density of a colour.
- Black
- Gray
- White
- Ivory
- Brown
- Beige
Cool Colours
- Blue
- Green
- Turquoise
- Gray
- Silver
- White
- Red
- Pink
- Yellow
- Gold
- Orange
- Black
- Brown
- Purple
- Lavender
- Green
- Turquiose
- Beige
Warm vs. cool colours
The distinction between warm and cool colors has been important since at least the late 18th century. It is generally not remarked in modern color science or colorimetry in reference to painting, but is still used in design practices today. The contrast, as traced by etymologies in the Oxford English Dictionary, seems related to the observed contrast in landscape light, between the “warm” colors associated with daylight or sunset and the “cool” colors associated with a gray or overcast day. Warm colors are often said to be hues from red through yellow, browns and tans included; cool colors are often said to be the hues from blue green through blue violet, most grays included. There is historical disagreement about the colors that anchor the polarity, but 19th century sources put the peak contrast between red orange and greenish blue.
Color theory has ascribed perceptual and psychological effects to this contrast. Warm colors are said to advance or appear more active in a painting, while cool colors tend to recede; used in interior design or fashion, warm colors are said to arouse or stimulate the viewer, while cool colors calm and relax. Most of these effects, to the extent they are real, can be attributed to the higher saturation and lighter value of warm pigments in contrast to cool pigments. Thus, brown is a dark, unsaturated warm color that few people think of as visually active or psychologically arousing.
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/color-theory#ixzz1g5Vz3JCu
- Holiday Metallics such as silver, gold and bronze; champagne, ivory, black, jewel tones such as sapphire blue, ruby red, emerald green.
- Transition Brown, olive green, pumpkin, cranberry, ochre yellow, dark khaki, charcoal grey, taupe, black, chocolate brown, deep rich colours.
- Resort/pre-spring Soft pastels, white, navy, blue, cherry red, bright green, tan
- Spring Bright colours such as yellow, kelly green, indigo, purple, navy, light khaki
- Summer White, bright saturated colours.
- Cotton
- Linen
- Silk
- Wool
- Viscose rayon
- Acetate
- Cupro
- Lyocell
- Bamboo Viscose
- Nylon/polyamide
- Acrylic/polyamide
- Elastane
- Metallic
- Polyester
