Sample Color Idea Book
Rebecca Hagen | October 2016
Copyright on the following images remains with the original creator. These images are borrowed for use in this sample assignment and are intended for educational purposes only.
BLUE: There are two possible reasons why this medical website's primary color is blue. First, blue is a commonly associated with medicine as doctors and nurses are often depicted wearing blue scrubs. Second, blue is often associated with technology, particularly blues like the cyan shade seen here. This web slide is marketing the facility's "better technology."
PURPLE: The purple shades used in this ad for Katy Perry's "Mad Potion" perfume not only pick up the color of the performer's hair, but they make an analogous color palette. Purple is also associated with mystery and mysticism, appropriate to the magic theme of the add. Pink and purple here read as a feminine color palette, which also fits with the overt femininity and sexuality of this particular musical artist.
BLACK: The designer’s choice of black in this Dow Chemical ad is based on emotional appeal. The message is that Dow products improve human life. The visual impact is bringing people out of the darkness.
Black is also mysterious, which ties in to the semi-transparent periodic table-style “Hu” block at left. We are given the impressing that Dow has the magical formula to make life better for these children.