color: something from nothing or nothing from something?

Color Collective is a blog that I catch every day thanks to the genius of Google Reader. There's never any text, just photos and extracted colors. Photos of art, clothes, landscapes, objects, you name it she can pull colors from it.  

"So what?," you say? "What's the purpose in this?!"

Well, basically, it's like doing what I do, but backwards. Any type of designer or artist has to be able to create something from nothing, from white. To create a color palette that works and works better than what the average Joe-Schmo can come up with. It has to scream at you, it has to pop. People who do this go about it in different ways. Sometimes I have set color palettes before I start a project and then I pull materials and finishes using those colors. Other times I start with a solid white quartz counter that I like and run with it from there and see what I end up with. It's quite genius really. 

(Side note: that's the glitzy part of the job that I only do 15% of the time, after that I sit in meetings and in front of my computer making sure my vision becomes a  reality. And reality in my industry is not what people would consider so glitzy. I always think people would be shocked if they knew what I spent 85% of my time doing).  

Back to the glitz though. And why I love what this blogger does.

She takes something that someone has created and shows you why it works. She shows you what about the art, outfit or room that makes it flow and graphically stimulating. I know people probably think it's as easy as grabbing a color dropper in Photo Shop and clicking on colors, but I know it's not. I know it's more than that.

Everyday, I scroll through my reader and take a look. Some days I like the palette more than others but everyday I'm looking for something that reminds me of something I've done or maybe something I want to make work somewhere. And today I found it.

 

via Color Collective

The photo didn't quite catch my attention as much as the color palette did at first. Those are the colors of our baby girl's new room. Well, very close to them. I looked at the photo again and realized the style of her clothes, the scenery, everything about it worked too. The bright colors in an eclectic, feminine, somewhat European and whimsical combination without looking too childish way is what I want. It works. I love it. I mean, I still love it. Granted, the room is turning out a little more "vintage" shabby chic than I'd like right now but I think if I curb it now with some other purchases I'll be able to make it work.

So if you need some inspiration, check out her blog every now and again. You may just find the color combo that speaks to you.