〝Not unexpectedly, White imparts purity and simplicity.〞
CMTEL Blog /
Trends in White:
Hue
/ Overview
Not unexpectedly, White imparts purity and simplicity.
However, it is important to remember that the human eye sees white as a brilliant color. For that reason it works well for contrast, in signage, at point of purchase, in packaging or in any other usage where it will catch the eye. It imbues products with a sense of clarity and calmness. For infants’ products, or products involving personal hygiene and health, this is an excellent message to impart.
If white is thought in terms of pigments and dyes, it is seen as the absence of color; if white is thought of in terms of light, it is the presence of all color as Sir Isaac Newton discovered in his experiments with prisms where he demonstrated that white light contained all the colors of the spectrum, while black light had none.
Eiseman, Leatrice – Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color; White (pp 54-56).
Monotone Color Schemes
Use White in a variety of values.
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; White (pp 38-59).
Varichon, Anne – Colors: What they mean and how to make them; White (pp 8-49).
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.
Polymer
Chemical compounds in the form of dyes or pigments are additives used to color plastics.
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).
