I met with a couple of designer friends last night at 6 Acres to break bread, talk shop, and get inspired. It’s a very informal event, and I hope to hold it regularly. Chris from Free Agency Creative and Kevin Broome both came out, and a lively conversation ensued.
To keep the conversation grounded in design, last night’s assignment was to bring something in your favourite colour and be prepared to talk about it.
Kevin was a star and brought a killer graphic novel called SuperMarket. He chose the piece because he was really inspired by the entire palette; pink, teal, yellow, and brown are not common colours used for comic printing. The pop-inspired palette contrasts in a surprising way with the edgy, anti-mainstream messages in the story and the sketchy illustrations. We are still trying to figure out how the book was actually printed—CMYK or four custom spot colours?
Being inspired by fashion and fabric, I chose the colour Red from the t-shirt I was wearing. It was hard to pick one colour because I have so many favourites! My navy t-shirt has a red collar and randomly scattered red, white, and fawn circles. The red really pops off the dark blue, adding warmth, intensity, and visual interest. I had also brought some facts about red that I gathered from Wikipedia, and we had many tangential conversations about the cultural implications of colour, perception, and the science of colour.
Chris was clever in that he did not tell us his colour choice until the very end of the evening. Instead of bringing a sample to discuss, he kept bringing his colour into the other conversations we were having. When we were talking about fashion, Chris asked us why designers always wear black (do we?) When we were looking at the comic, Chris noted there was no black ink on the page (very interesting!) When we were discussing ideas around colour palettes for websites, Chris mentioned several black and white sites that use texture, shape, and shade instead of colour as design tools. Kevin and I were quite amused by his strategy. Nice one!
I had such a good time last night, and I’m really looking forward to the next gathering. I wonder what the next assignment will be?
3 Comments
Hey Kathleen, thanks for the link! The book was printed CMYK, in case you were still wondering. Kristian has such a great color sense… check him out here: http://prodigalnine.com/
-bri
Kathleen,
Thanks again for the great design rap session yesterday.
If I may suggest a topic for our next discussion… I propose we build on our initial topic, shifting focus to another element of design: line.
Line, like colour, is such a powerful and ,IMHO, underused device. Some line-related subjects to kick off the night…
* 1+1=3
* Paragraph rules
* Stripes
* Implied lines
* Borders and frames
Kevin, care to chime in? Other topics in mind?
@Brian - no problem, and thanks for the clarification. I’m still surprised you can get such a bright pink with a CMYK mix - nicely done!
@Chris - great idea. I will put it in the vault for pondering closer to the next event. thanx!
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