
/ Designer’s Dozen
CMTEL Blog /
Trends in Orange:
Hue

/ Overview
Temperature-wise Orange is seen as the hottest of all colors.
It is also a high arousal color invariably associated with autumn’s burnished foliage or the radiant shadings of sunset–glowing and vital. In its most vivid intensities, it is perceived as a color that shouldn’t be taken too seriously; a dramatic exclamation point generally preferred by the extroverted personality. It’s seen as playful, gregarious, happy and childlike-children between the ages of three and six have a predilection for it, as do adolescents or anyone who got arrested in that stage of their development!
It is an excellent color for toys, games, inexpensive plastics and any novelty product that would appeal to the younger or young-at-heart age groups. In graphic applications, it can give a giddy, comedic and cartoon-like impression, so it is not a good choice for conveying a serious message.
Eiseman, Leatrice – Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color; Orange (pp 26-28).

Orange Color Schemes

Monochromatic
Use Orange in a variety of values.

Analogous
Use Orange’s neighboring color families.

Complementary
Use Orange’s opposing color family.
Adobe’s Color Wheel (or image in Extract Theme tab) can be used to generate color palette, which can be saved into Creative Cloud, after signing in. You can then use your saved color palettes in Adobe products (Photoshop, Illustrator, Fresco, etc.), via CC Libraries.
Further References >
St. Clair, Kassia – The Secret lives of color; Orange (pp 92-111).
Pantone – Color Finder
Finishes
/ By Material Family
Ceramic
Metal carbonates/oxides are added to a glaze or clay and produce color when fired.
Fabric
Dyes are soluble colored compounds suspended in a medium. Dyeing colors textile fibers or the surface of a textile.
Glass
Glass can be colored with metal/oxide additives, fired enamels, and specialty coatings.
Metal
In addition to their natural hue, metals can be colored through coating processes.
Natural
The extensive range of natural materials can be colored with coatings, dyes, and pigments.
Methods
/ Overview
One might think that the rocks, plants, and animals with whom we share the earth could supply us with many coloring agents, but in fact few are suitable. The chlorophyl that gives vegetation its rich green yields, when extracted from the plant, is an unstable tinting agent that fades and disappears in a matter of hours. None of the vibrant colors of the peacock’s striking plumage can be transferred to any other material. Fortunately, nature abounds with a generous supply of other organic and inorganic substances, whose colors are transferrable to a variety of supports. Most natural earths get their color from the mineral iron, which is found abundantly in the earth’s crust in a wide variety of tones: red and yellow ochers, green earths, and hydrated iron oxides of greater or lesser purity.
Pigments are pure colors in powder form, which must be suspended in a medium in which they are insoluble (such as oil) in order to make paint. The size of individual powder particles varies from 0.01 to 1 micron. When greatly magnified in an optical or electronic microscope, individual particles of pigment may be seen suspended across the medium they color.
Cloth (or fabric) is colored with another family of materials: dyes. Dyeing is the coloring of textile fibers or the surface of a textile. Dyes are soluble colored compounds suspended in a medium.
For a long time, applied-research chemists sought to isolate and characterize the principles of dyeing. As they began to succeed, the vast possibilities offered by chemical synthesis overwhelmed the colorant market. Large-scale agricultural production of dye plants gave way to the manufacture of synthetic pigments and dyes.
Delamare & Guineau – Colors: The story of dyes and pigments (pp 14-19, 98).

























