The Creative's Library Collection
Books on Color
Curated by BrandiSea
One of the questions I am asked the most is where did I learn about color and what are my favorite books on the subject. So, here’s some of my favorites. Some are well-worn and some are newer but all have been crucial to the work I do with color in design strategy and The Process™ method I’ve developed over the past 12years.
Leatrice Eiseman
The Complete Color Harmony: Pantone Edition is the latest in Rockport Publishers’ best-selling Color series. This edition has been completely revised from start to finish, and now features new text by Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. And the color “moods” that she writes about in each chapter are based and matched with Pantone colors. The book expands on previous editions for the most comprehensive color reference to date.
Why I love it: A perfect look that shows how colors exist in relationship to one another, not individually.
Sean Adams
The Designer’s Dictionary of Color provides an in-depth look at 30 colors key to art and graphic design. Organized by spectrum, in color-by-color sections for easy navigation, this book documents each hue with charts showing color range and palette variations. Chapters detail each color’s creative history and cultural associations, with examples of color use that extend from the artistic to the utilitarian—whether the turquoise on a Reid Miles album cover or the avocado paint job on a 1970s Dodge station wagon.
Why I love it: This book is so beautifully laid out and shows lots of practical examples and has easy to find pages for some of the most commonly used colors.
Kassia St. Clair
The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of seventy-five fascinating shades, dyes, and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.
Why I love it: I love the deep dive into the history of how colors were named, discovered, and created. It's the most interesting look at colors laid out in an easy to read format so it isn't too overwhelming.
Follow global color authority Pantone on this vivid journey through the rich history of color in fashion. Track Bright Marigold from its heyday in the 1940s as Hermès’ identifying hue to its showstopping appearance in Carolina Herrera’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection, and trace Cyber Yellow from 1960s mod style to Anna Sui’s 1990s punk-inspired looks.
A rich visual tour of 100 transformative years. Longtime Pantone® collaborators and color gurus Leatrice Eiseman and Keith Recker identify more than 200 touchstone works of art, products, decor, and fashion, and carefully match them with 80 different official PANTONE® color palettes to reveal the trends, radical shifts, and resurgences of various hues. This vibrant volume takes the social temperature of our recent history with the panache that is uniquely Pantone®.
Why I love it: It's an incredible overview of how color has shifted and changed and impacted the culture and reflected society. A really cool look at color through the lens of history.
Leatrice Eisem
There is no one in the business world that doubts the impact of color. Those involved in marketing, design, advertising, and retail need to be as informed as possible about the usage of color as a means of instant communication in order to make appropriate color decisions.
This guide explains the emotional response to color and covers the latest guidelines for effective color combinations including the integration of color trends. With up-to-date visuals and printing formulas to eliminate guess-work, this guide empowers and equips its users to make smart informed decisions.
Why I love it: This is an updated version of the very first color book I got as a college student. It opened my eyes to the impact and meaning of color and set the stage for where I am today.
ABOUT ME
Since I was a little girl, I’ve had the ability to see inspiration in unusual things. As I grew into my career, I learned how to harness that ability and combine it with strategy to develop The {Strategic} Process™ for designers who want to strengthen their creative confidence so they can present design work that gets approved the first time. I can’t wait to talk with you about how you can be empowered with the tools you need to level up your design game.