The Color Diaries

Today is the first day of the rest of your life--->

... make it color^full....

Indigo asks "Why dare to dazzle?"

Fireworks, fireflies,glow worms, lanterns, prisms,tinsel...ok, let's talk metallics today! Last time I spoke about memory through using colors, well now get the attention where you want it. People tend to remember colors that glimmer and keep it in their heads longer.

Shimmer adds an exciting visual dimension to any type of design because the human eye seeks out stimulation and novelty and a little sparkle can enhance your 'stuff'.

Sprinkle your blue based hues with aluminum flakes when you want to demonstrate a glistening, icy,lake or atmoshereic changes. The same hue can look different if seen from another angle.  Creat contrast without changing color...

Whether in the foreground or the background put your metallics where the message matters most! 
But too much of anything even if fantastic, can be bad.  Confusion rather than attention will occur...

For extravagance,boldness and elegance fashion designers utilize stones, jewels and pearlescence for dresses, blouses, sweaters or just about anything. Make-up designers play with sparkles on the eyes...

Purples become majestic and precious, ordinary yellows become golds, reds are now rubies, grays, navies and blacks become refined.. like PANTONE 8403C.etc...Green is a rich emerald or a jade.  Bl-greens are now turquoise....you  get the picture...jewel tones and brights are back...
Have fun with glitter, put it everywhere!

The Power of Suggestion...

I think that this is an amazing phenomenom, and have been practicing it for years...it helps me with everything from memorizing information to planning outfits...

Researchers have known for some years that the imagination,  "mental imaging,"  can be a powerful tool in the control of pain,  depression,  fear,  disease and insomnia.  Some people are especially proficient at producing vivid mental images.

In an experiment reported in the "Journal of Mental Imagery",  conducted at the University of Lowell in Massachusetts,  cognitive psychologist Robert Kunzendorf found that five of his 20 subjects were especially capable of producing explicit mental pictures.  Kunzendorf had all 20 participants hooked to electrodes.  They were instructed to look at various flashing colored lights.  He found that each color affected the retina in a specific way,  each producing a specific pattern.

When Kunzendorf requested the five subjects who fantasized best to imagine the colors (rather than look at the actual colored lights),  he discovered that the imagined colors produced the same effects on the eye as the "real"  colors.  Interestingly,  these color imagers tend also to be the most capable of altering their hand temperatures and heart rates.

How vivid!!!

Colors in nature vs. natural colors...huh?

Well, what I mean is what colors look like outside in natural sunlight vs. what colors look like inside under kitchen, bedroom, den lights...and how yellow or purplish those lightbulbs can be...

But anyway, not to get off on a tangent...this week-end I went up to Essex,Connecticut and what beautiful colors were outside, from the Tarragon lawns to the Sailor blue lakes to the Chili Pepper barns and Marshmallow carriage houses. It's so amazing to get the op to really see colors in use rather than just looking at swatches....and that's just what I'm talking about. The way color looks from the inside out, the outside in and in...

Supercalifragalisticexpialidocious

Talk about colors  and design, the play Mary Poppins on Broadway (which I did NOT care to see) was fabulous...What better way than to get lost in a dream world where fantasy becomes reality both for the kids in the play  and the kids in all off us.

But not only the engaging movement on stage, the set design blew me away. Magical, colorful and very animated...using the same story line that the Disney movie had thirty or so years ago. If you loved the movie, see the show! Very visual!

Beautiful, Bold Bags

I have to say that today it hit me more than ever before...too many plastic bags.  I went to the farmer's market and could not believe the amount of clear and white plastic bags these 'organic' farmers are using...You've got to be kidding!  Now we the people must take charge...especially with all the colorful, stylish, funny, funky and amazing  variations out there in the world of fashion. From Target to  Gap to Prada to Dunlin, make a choice, or a few colors and styles and keep using them over and over again. You do it with gym bags right?

Color in the zoo....

Can't believe how gorgeous the Red Panda is....told you I'd talk about red  soon...I went to the Bronx Zoo yesterday and it  took me by surprise...Not that I never went there, I did about 25 years ago. It meant so much more now as I've gotten older/wiser because of where the world is now on environment and saving the animals. Just reading that every beautiful creature from Snow Leopard to the Chinese Elephants is close to extinction (we're talking within a day or so), made me even more attracted to them...visit World Wildlife Fund and reach out....we need these colors!

Don't forget to visit Color, of course...ok, so I think in images! Any cool ideas for me?

Creating color scenes & backdrops for your party!

One of my favorite colors is yellow (Pantone 12-0822 TPX) and I’m having a really huge party..

I really want to use a lot of this hue, and I’ve heard it’s happy and optimistic (I want everyone to be social), but don’t want it to be overkill!

And yellow lovers are very creative, artistic and imaginative!

I'll  try to keep in mind that most guys love blue, at least here on earth…so I'll mix yellow and blue to come up with a fab turquoise (very now)... You can do so much with a blue-green theme….think aqua, think water at the beach, think beach party.

I'll have sounds of waves as they enter the apartment and fresh clean ocean breezes blowing throughout (hidden fans).  Spread ocean scented sand candles around the room, or stick candles into conch shells!!!   Then  hang nets on the walls to create that textural feeling!!!  Paint the ceiling midnight blue with scattered stars to increase the sensation that you’re actually standing on the edge of the water.

And last but not least hand them tropical drinks as they enter (both alcoholic and non) and start that reggae or calypso music when the waves are losing their luster….

The party has everything to start….where we take it is something else totally....right.

Color supermarkets?

I have to admit, I have a strange addiction to packages...I mean the look, the design and of course the colors...I wonder what attracts people to certain boxes, products and foods! We know that marketers know this and that store owners situate their displays just so (of course, money speaks toward where the item is placed).

I love how Whole Foods and Trader Joe's (been spending alot of time there) organize their aisles, which got me to envision a possible supermarket of colors. Aisles of different nuances, reds, blue-reds, yellow-reds, orange-reds...and on and on. How visual that could be, like an endless array of vats in a textile mill..

You can go down the lanes and choose a color to engulf yourself in for a while...

Give me some thoughts! 

Colorful, exciting people to check out..

Just thought I'd pass on these creative and fun...people, sites, etc..

Can't get enough of this...

http://www.dailycandy.com/

http://www.jackysawatzky.net/Rgb

www.thecolorshow.com

www.colorcalm.com

http://www.mocoloco.com/

www.thebloomeffect.com