Chris V

What came first? Orange the Fruit or Orange the Color.

– Humanity is divided into two camps: those who like the color orange and those who hate it. This polarization was born out of our long historical relationship with this color. If we look back, we see Orange is attributed to many cultures, revolutions, and religions. 

– The earliest use of orange was in ancient Egypt; in wall paintings, skin was often shown as orange or yellow-orange using a pigment called Realgar.

– Additionally, the wide use of orange has been spotted in orthodox icons from the 12th century. This color symbolizes the eternal day because God’s kingdom can’t experience night. Therefore, orange has symbolized a positive motive for a long time, not just in our time.

– The contrasting power of orange has made it an important color for all impressionist painters. The first who adopted the orange trend was Claude Monet (Impression, Sunrise). 

– In our days, orange is sometimes used as a marking tool. It is useful when you need to mark something or highlight the foreground in your design. This color has a lot of power in attracting attention. Also, it is easy to remember orange elements. 

We propose that Orange will be the next popular trendy color. What do you think?

So who came first? the citrus or the color? The color was named for the fruit because they are directly associated.

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Mint

Why is a mint plant green and not mint in it’s color? ?

— The color mint does not have a broad connection to nature; it is more of a digital and industrial color. As there is no widely agreed upon shade or common sample of Mint, when people imagine it, they come up with a personal image of the mint shadow, differing in brightness, color and shade.

— You can use mint as a light color when you need to mark something like buttons, arrows, frames, and other design elements. You can also use it for typography on a black or white background; it is stunning and bold without any additional effects. However, our tip is to not overdo it as it may look childish and naive.

— The color mint has a direct connection to the medical field in our culture. It gives a cool and clean vibe. While a bit green, it is enough to build a calm and clinical atmosphere. So if you need to create a medical website, we recommend using mint! You can find great examples in our medical templates: www.imcreator.com/themes

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Light Blue

How many light blue clothes do you have in your wardrobe?

In the 17th century, it was one of the popular colors in high society. This is apparent in the art of the time—nearly every person in paintings from this period is seen wearing light blue materials. This fashion element was a symbol of progress in fabric coloring as people had just learned how to create colors chemically.

Light blue isn’t just a pleasant color; with time, it grew to become a symbol of credibility, trust, knowledge, power, professionalism, cleanliness and calmness. Today, we see this in the medical field, especially in elements like graphic design and websites. You can find some examples in our templates library (www.imcreator.com).

We recommend using a light blue with a gray color, the same as yellow (see our #imcreator_colors posts in our feed). Unlike Yellow, you can feel free using light blue as much as you want. Go crazy:)

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Chartreuse

Chartreuse (yellow-green) can be a tricky color to catch because receptors in the human eye are able to perceive only red, blue and green. At the same time our brain receives information about the brightness or darkness of colors, it also understands the difference between them. However, our brain can recognize chartreuse more quickly than other colors, which is why a lot of psychology tests use it and not a regular green.

Chartreuse falls precisely between yellow and green, which can be seen in the web palette. The colors’ name dates back to 1764 when monks of the Carthusian order produced chartreuse liqueur with a similar color: “a shade of color; a pale apple-green”, such as yellow chartreuse, came from the yellow chartreuse liqueur. 

Chartreuse is a great option when in need for a more aggressive color than yellow. It has the ability to add vitality, happiness, and creativity to a visual project. That being said, it isn’t directly associated with nature and well being. On the contrary, be mindful when using Chartreuse as it might bring up images of magic potions, envy, jealousy, and sickness. 

But don’t be afraid! For clients who love variations of green, it is an excellent solution for marking something. Use it in a smart way and in the right proportion! 

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Fuchsia

Fuchsia is a color that’s full of energy, and is perfect for attracting attention. This method can be very effective in design, using the color to mark some elements and make them stand out. That being said, proportions in this case are key, as overuse of fuchsia may be irritating .

In RGB, fuchsia and magenta are the same color, consisting of equal proportions of blue and red. In printing, fuchsia is a redder tone; therefore, we recommend that you use a Pantone (Rhodamine Red) if you want to get an accurate color.

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Beige

How to choose colors?

In this ‘Colors’ episode, we wanted to write a little about Beige. 

Beige derives its name from the French language, originally meaning ‘Natural Wool’. Wide usage of beige began in 1855; the first mention of Beige in English was in 1887. 

Beige is one of the traditional colors in Japan. The “unbleached silk” shade was used for Kimono designs in 660 CE. 

The Beige color palette generally describes a world of neutral and warm shades. In design, Beige is a great tool for creating a calming effect or highlighting something important against the background of bright elements. 

In this context it’s worth mentioning the issues beige has in printing. It is complicated to accurately reproduce a color as you want. In RGB, Beige has the same problem because the color is different on every screen. 🙂

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White

Today we are going to talk about colors again. Everything in our lives has a color, from the material world to the emotions we feel. Appropriate color choices can improve your branding, better represent your business, and attract your audience. 

The first color we’ll talk about is white! 

What? But, isn’t white just a lack of color?

Well, contrary to popular belief, white is not a boring color: it is basically the best contrasting tool you could ask for! If you want to make a bold statement, do it with white font on a dark background or vice versa!

White design in big urban advertisements helps separate your ads from the noise of a city.

White may be basic, but it can also help people pay attention to your product! Think about the Beatles iconic White Album.  It is one of the greatest albums of all time! People collected them, drew on them, and made each one into a unique art piece. In this situation, the white album cover served as a call to action – interaction!

What do you think about white in design? How are you using it?

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Avocado #558303

Avocado green! What a tasty color!

So many people have used it in their IM Creator sites, it’s definitely one of the most popular colors of 2019.

It’s a green tone with more warm notes than cold, so you can use this green to create a calming, serene mood. Additionally, many use it in food-related design because it evokes natural healthiness. 

Back in the 70’s, it was a very popular color for everything from kitchen appliances to cars, so today many people think of it as a retro color, but don’t let its history fool you – it’s still very stylish!

People seem to be split into two categories regarding this creamy green – those who love it and those who hate it.  

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Yellow – #FFFF00

Yellow is one of the three primary colors, along with blue and red. These colors are a basic inclusion in any palette since it is impossible to create them by mixing other colors).

Three truths about yellow:

– It is a very positive and happy color, like the yellow sun itself 🙂

– It partners well with many colors, but especially black, gray, and white.

– It can be used to enhance something in your design. 

Whether highlighting text or objects, yellow is a great choice. And don’t forget about black and white pictures: you can overlay typography in yellow and it will stand out beautifully!

Do you have a yellow design? Upload it to Instagram and tag us. We will add your work to our story!

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Red #FF0000

Red is a very flashy colour, but designers are not shy about using it. Many logos are created in red — Netflix, Pinterest, Canon, Adobe, H&M, Coca Cola, Heinz, etc.
If you decided to use a red colour in your design you would well know for it :

• Red colour (#ff0000) is one of the pure colours (like blue and yellow), that means no other colours can be mixed to get a red.
• Red can tell about love, gladness, assurance.
• But in a big amount, it can mean rage and irritation.
• Sometimes we perceive it as the colour of a mistake.
• Red has 29 tones.

Don’t forget to check what is red means in a culture or country and where in your design, red can go. For example: In Russia, red has a direct association with the soviet union. In China, red is the most popular colour because it means good luck, beauty, and success. In India, it is the colour of brides’ saris.

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Green #009900

What do you know about the green color?
On the color spectrum, green is located between yellow and blue, making it easy to assume that mixing blue and yellow results in green.

The green color has almost 30 shades.
Green can be used as an element to dilute warm colors, such as red and orange. The green color can be used with pink to help show lightness and carefree design.

This color symbolizes nature, and healthy organic products usually use shades of green. Green organizations and healthy lifestyles can have an impact, but it was not always so. The earlier green color was associated with sickness, decomposition, and poison, which is why the pharmacy symbol is green.

In Chinese, old Japanese, and Vietnamese, the same word can mean either blue or green. The Persian word ‏سبز sabz can mean “green”, “black”, or “dark” at the same time.

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Pink #ffc0cb

When you hear “pink,” which shade of pink do you imagine in your head?

The extensive use of the word “pink” doesn’t help to indicate the specific color; every one of us imagines his own pink shade.

• The English language uses two words, “pink” and “rose”—rose for red tones, and pink for cold tones.
• The first mention of pink in literature was in Homer’s Odyssey. “Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I sent some men to Circe’s house to fetch the body of Elpenor…”

• The Artists Cimabue and Duccio di Buoninsegna dressed the young Jesus in a pink robe in their works.

• Madame de Pompadour very loved wearing pink dresses and, therefore, created her personal pink color with the addition of a blue and yellow tone.
• In 2000–2010, there was a boom of pink in cinema and pop culture. Obviously, it started with Paris Hilton and Legally Blonde.
• In the fashion sphere, there was a period of pink men’s dress shirts. It is so good to know all things have a start and an end. 🙂
• In graphic design, pink is a useful tool to create a calming effect for bright colors and elements. It’s good to use pink with colorful photos.

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 Blue #0432FE

• And this time, we’ll talk about Blue.
• Blue is one of the pure colors (like red and yellow), which means no colors can be mixed to create blue.

• Plato named the four primary colors as white, black, red, and bright (blue).
• Isaac Newton was the first scientist to include blue as one of the seven colors of the visible spectrum (rainbow). One of the hues was indigo as a separate color. Its color ranges between blue and violet, but today, we usually refer to it as blue.
• Blue has been one of the most popular colors in a design, from ancient Egypt to this day.
• Egyptian blue was the first synthetic pigment. The Egyptians used it for the eyebrows on the funeral mask of Tutankhamun and for the decoration of papyrus, canvas, and wood. We have kept this latter tradition and still use blue ink on paper. This is why ink is usually blue.

• Also, the clothes of mummies were not white; they were actually in, you guessed it, blue!
• Blue and white porcelain are attractive objects in many cultures. This trend started in the ninth century in China and spread to other countries.
• Blue was found to be suitable for uniforms from the 17th century (England) and continues to be used for uniforms for the police, navy, and more.
• Why is the sky blue? And the sea? To get the answers to these questions, you can ask your parents 🙂 But why is the Internet blue? Keep reading to get our answer.
• Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram (its first logo was blue!), LinkedIn, Facebook and Microsoft all use blue in their logos. Facebook has a blue-colored design because Mark Zuckerberg is red-green color-blind. Therefore, blue is the dominant color for him. As he said, “Blue is the richest color for me — I can see all of blue.”
• The Internet is blue because it is human nature to use blue for things they can’t see—the same approach to electricity and gas.

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Purple #800080

• What is the right color of eggplant in an emoji?
• Purple is a product of mixed blue and red. You can play with the proportions of blue and red in this way to create warmer or colder tones of purple.

• The purple and violet colors have a direct association with each other, however purple consists of more reddish tones. You can see the example above for reference.

• The first usage of purple was most likely in the early days of human history, during the paleolithic period. The humans back then used purple for cave drawings painted with manganese and hematite sticks.
• Following this, humans created Tyrian purple or Imperial purple, made from sea snails. The production was meticulous and expensive: The initial mixture had to be located in a sunny location, where it had to sit for the right color to develop. First, the mixture was a white liquid, then yellow-green, green, violet—and just after the red level of the process, the color started to become purple.
• Imperial purple was a Pantone of Imperial Rome. The Romans used it for colored clothes, soldier uniforms, and decorative tableware. It was actually super trendy in the Roman empire! Subsequently, the imperial purple became popular in the religious sphere, among students of divinity for example.

• This trend lasted until the 19th century when an industrial way to create purple was invented. Production became cheaper and therefore extended beyond the aristocratic society.
• In the 1960’s, purple started to have an association with a psychedelic aesthetic: Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”, the band Deep Purple and “Purple Rain” by Prince are a few examples of this.
• Purple was the color of the feminist movement in the 1970’s and was used as the symbol of women’s suffrage.
• Today, purple is one of the colors representing the LGBT community and is directly connected to Spirit Day, an annual LGBTQ* awareness day. The name comes from the purple stripe of the rainbow flag, whose creator Gilbert Baker defined it as representing spirit.

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Fluorescent 

Fluorescent colors possess more reflective power than other colors. As a result, our eyes see more intensive pigments. Regular pigments can reflect 90 percent, but fluorescent reflects as much as 300 percent. 

The magic of these colors reveals itself in a chemical image; however, the production process requires organic resources, such as chlorophyll and quinine (cinchona).

The fluorescent boom started in the 1960s with Fillmore posters and psychedelic art. It then moved on to be popular in textiles, as well as sports and aerobic outfits in the 1980s. 

In the ’90s, after the dissolution of the USSR, neon sports outfits burst into the Russian rave music scene (better late than never).

Karl Lagerfeld sometimes used fluorescent colors to elevate Chanel, a “near-dead brand,” and succeeded in this way. 

In our mind, an excellent example of fluorescent design is Microsoft Windows 2 (1989). It presents a proper colors and pixels graphic design combination. Today, you need to try and create something like this, but in 1989, that was a singular UI design.

So, if you want to use fluorescent colors in your design work, you can use them as accents or use them fully. Never be somewhere in the middle as they are impossible to use neutrally. 

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RGB/CMYK

RGB color model is used for the digital design industry and displays. It includes three colors: Red, Green, and Blue.

The CMYK color model was created for printing. It consists of three colors—Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Key is a black color that is used to get a perfect black.

The significant difference between the two models is that RGB is a light on our digital displays; therefore, the combination of RGB colors produces a white color (light), unlike CMYK. If you try to mix all of your paint colors, you are going to get a black color, as in the standard printing process.

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This color is art in and of itself. Originally mixed by Yves Klein, while he was in a particularly blue period, although blue had always had a special meaning for Klein. He said that all other colors have overly-specific associations, and he felt that true nature was represented by the blue of the sky and the sea.

In 1946, he dreamt that he signed his own name on the back of the sky, and then got angry at the birds that flew across the sky and spoiled what he called his “greatest and most beautiful creation.” So ya, blue was a big deal to Klein, and today we celebrate what a big deal Klein was to blue.
Let us know which big creators you’d like to see featured in future articles and we’ll keep bringing you inspiration, creator by creator 🙂