Top 15 Books About Color Psychology Updated 04 /2024

The Color Revolution

REGINA LEE BLASZCZYK

It comes from the publisher. When the fashion industry says that lime green is the new black, or tells us to "think pink!" it's not because of a secret deal made by fashion journalists, designers, manufacturers, and the editor of Vogue. A color revolution that has been going on for more than a century is coming to a close. This is the most recent development. Regina Lee Blaszczyk, an award-winning historian, has written a book about how color and commerce go hand in hand, from haute couture to automobile showrooms to interior design. She talks about the often unrecognized role that the color profession plays in consumer culture.

Blaszczyk looks at the history of the color profession from 1850 to 1970, and he tells the stories of people who used new artificial dyes and pigments to make a wide range of colors possible. Their job was to help companies understand how to make things look better, as well as how color affects people. They were called "color stylists," "color forecasters," or "color engineers." He talks about how General Motors came out with a bright blue sedan in the 1920s, which was a way for them to compete with Ford's all-black Model T. Housewares also came in a variety of bright colors at the same time. She explains how color forecasting works. It's not a plan to manipulate people who aren't paying attention, but a careful study of cultural trends and consumer tastes. And she shows how color information moved from Paris to New Jersey's textile factories, where it was used to make clothes and other things.

Today, professional colorists are part of design management teams at companies like Hilton, Disney, and Toyota, where they help with the design process. The Color Revolution tells the history of how colorists have helped businesses get people's attention and money for a long time.

Color and Space

SANDU CULTURAL MEDIA

It comes from the publisher. When color is applied to the built environment with skillful brushstrokes, it has a huge impact on how people feel about the space around them. Color and Space is the next book that looks at how color is used in architecture and design. The previous books looked at how color was used in print design. The use of color in these projects ranges from whole buildings painted neon green to painted yellow shadows that fall poetically beneath table and store fixtures to huge skyscrapers covered in purple and white stained glass panels. Retail, restaurants, offices, schools and play spaces, museums, sporting and event facilities, and other types of spaces are shown. These are just some of the projects Olafur Eliasson has done, but they aren't the only ones. Versace, IBM, Godiva Chocolatier, and Louis Vuitton have all hired the artist to make sculptures, like the 'rainbow panorama' sky walk at ARoS Aarhus museum in Denmark. Signs, lighting, windows, paint colors, flooring, and furniture all play a role in this tour of the world's most interesting and colorful buildings.

Color Works

EDDIE OPARA

JOHN CANTWELL

It comes from the publisher. This is the go-to guide for designers because it lists and explains the most important color design skills that are needed to make successful, meaningful, and visually appealing designs. It also gives you new ideas about strategy and business when you work with real clients in the real world. Color Works starts with some basic information about how to use color and what it means. Then, on a project-by-project basis, it talks more about how to think about and apply color theory. This book shows real-world projects and case studies to show how the design process works and how to get from a concept to a finished product, as well as how to deal with problems that come up along the way.

Colour Based on Nature

IRMA BOOM

It comes from the publisher. Color diagrams are based on 80 natural places that have been named UNESCO World Heritage sites. It's a way to describe a place without using words. Instead, you use colors to show and celebrate the essence of a place. This is a good way to show that these places are important because it has a lot of information about the World Heritage properties, how they were chosen, how many are in each country, and where they are most at risk.

Colour and Light

ULRICH BACHMANN Editor

It comes from the publisher. They go together. But there aren't many color theories that deal with how color and light work together in a direct and sensory way. Colour and Light is a multimedia book and DVD that explains how colors and light interact with each other and with dynamic light situations in both real and virtual environments. It includes both practical examples and theoretical explanations. This is where the book starts.

Digital Colour for the Internet and Other Media

CAROLA ZWICK

BURKHARD SCHMITZ

KERSTIN KÜHL

It comes from the publisher. The most recent book in the popular E-Design series shows designers how to use color in a sophisticated way on a wide range of digital media. This guide takes a look at the technical foundations of digital and the specifics of color on screen through a mostly visual lens. Get your hands on a "color toolbox" to learn about how each shade is used in real-world situations, how to make it more comfortable to read and write, and even how different cultures see color.

A Field Guide to Color

LISA SOLOMON

It comes from the publisher. Color is one of the most powerful ways we can show who we are. When you use this creative workbook, you'll learn new ways to connect with color in your art and in your daily life, too. When you use watercolors, gouache, or any other water-based medium, you can learn about color theory and play around with paint at the same time. Make your own color wheel as you learn about tints and shades. Make as many of one color as you can while you play around with color mixing. Through fun prompts and examples of art, this workbook will change the way you think about color. There's also a lot of space for painting.

Historical Color Guide: Primitive to Modern Times with Thirty Plates in Color

ELIZABETH BURRIS-MEYER

The 30 plates show 150 color samples that were inked with rollers on heavy paper and cut and mounted for this edition. Egyptian, Cretan, Greek, Italian Renaissance, English Victorian, American sampler, Modern (Gauguin), and more are some of the styles from the past.

Interaction of Color: 50th Anniversary Edition

JOSEF ALBERS

Foreword by NICHOLAS FOX WEBER

It comes from the publisher. Josef Albers's Interaction of Color is one of the most important works in art education. Albers's book is a handbook and teaching tool for artists, teachers, and students. It shows Albers's unique way of explaining complicated color theory principles.

Interaction of Color was first published by Yale University Press in 1963 as a limited silkscreen edition with 150 color plates. In 1971, Albers chose ten color studies for the paperback edition, and it has been in print ever since. With more than a quarter of a million copies sold since 1963, Interaction of Color is still a must-have resource on color. Albers first came up with the idea for it in 1963.

Fifty years after the first edition of Interaction came out, this new one includes a lot more color studies. They show things like color relativity, intensity, and temperature, vibrating and vanishing boundaries, and the illusion of transparency and reversed grounds. This new edition is a celebration of Albers's long-term impact and unique authority. It will be used in studios and classrooms around the world.

Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic Colors

JONATHAN ADLER

There are some of the most colorful rooms in the world, from True Blue to Going Rouge, and Adler shares his favorite paint chips, fabrics, and color ideas.

Palette 01: Black & White

VICTION:ARY

It comes from the publisher. The love that artists have for black and white is always there. Once the pinnacle of image-making, black-and-white is now a way of thinking about how to be creative. Designers love the stark contrast and evocative power of black-and-white in graphics and text that no other color can match.

Black & White is a new way to look at monochromatic graphic design. The 130 examples of print art, brand design, art installations, and fashion items in this book show how black-and-white can be used to make a statement, make an aesthetic statement, or be a low-cost solution. They show how black-and-white can be used with photography, special printing, shadows, and light. In words and a few creative projects, the heart of what is now a global movement is a conscious decision to stick to this limited palette, even though there are so many exciting color trends and so many high-quality color printing options.

Palette 02: Multicolour

VICTION:ARY

It comes from the publisher. Our eyes are naturally drawn to different colors. Individually, color makes people feel and act in a wide range of ways. They become a new language with different feelings depending on where and how they are used.

This book looks at visual communication solutions that use a wide range of colors. It includes identity systems, stationery, art direction, installations, and environmental graphics that all use a mix of colors in one place. People can see why color can be so useful and powerful by looking at the book's colorful display, which makes it easy to see why.

Multicolour is the next book in viction:color-themed ary's series, PALETTE, after Black & White. It's on the other side of the spectrum.

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