Why Color's Not a Cure-All

Having been totally occupied with designing a project during the past two weeks, color has been one of the concerns that has bothered me. Color is important but, the use of bright colors seems to often cheapen a design and make the project more about color than other issues.

Why Color’s Not a Cure-All:

“A friend pulls me aside at a cocktail party and whispers secretly, ‘I’m painting my kitchen, do you have any color recommendations?’ He’s got a pen out, ready to jot down any paint numbers I might be able to list off the top of my head.

It happens all the time. Not even my own flesh and blood can resist. My sister phones me from New York. ‘The painter is here,’ she says. ‘Do you have any color suggestions for my house?’ I quickly ask her to clarify: ‘Is he there for a consultation and estimate?’ To which she
proudly replies, ‘Nope, he is ready to paint!’

I am a walking Color Physician, writing color prescriptions on the fly. Or I’m a Color Therapist, asked to resolve the ‘she said yellow, but he hates yellow’ story with a color that blissfully unites them in color harmony.

As a professional color consultant, I am often asked to make color a band-aid, and in extreme conditions, perform color triage. I am often brought into the final phases of the design process and asked to revive patients through color recommendations. And yes, I can give sage consultation all the while knowing how much more profound the outcome had I been part of the diagnosis, the treatment, and the remedy.

Color is skin-deep. It is a reflection of what lies beneath and within an object. I believe it is an arsenal, a medicine bag of sorts. As the color doctor, I must kindly remind my clientele that anything considered an afterthought runs the risk of appearing that way. My goal is to educate that a holistic approach has deeper, more powerful and long-lasting meaning.

For now, I am content that progress is being made. My sister now calls me a few days before the painter arrives.

Read more of Laura Guido-Clark’s Dreaming in Technicolor blog browse blogs by other Expert Designers.

Laura Guido-Clark is an expert in the skin of consumer products–their color, materials, and finish. This is perhaps the area of industrial and textile design that requires the greatest understanding of the human heart. Laura has spent her life studying the always new and always surprising ways that human beings react to the look and feel of any given product.

Laura is the rare color and finish consultant whose expertise includes not just textiles but heavy manufacturing industries such as automotive, electronics, and major household appliances. This experience has given her vast knowledge of the raw materials and processes used in product categories across the board. Throughout her twenty-plus year career, Laura has analyzed the conscious and unconscious influences that drive buying decisions. Her ability to translate those influences into prescient forecasting and, ultimately, into concrete applications of color and finish has helped companies such as Samsung, Apple, Mattel, and Toyota design products that resonate with consumers and succeed in competitive markets.”

(Via Fast Company – Design.)