Let Color Lead the Way

As a visual artist and designer, color is on my mind all the time. I find joy in exploring the subtle variations in hues, delighting in how a small shift in color can evoke entirely different feelings or ways of thinking. The world of color crosses many fields including art, science, politics and technology. Each color has its own journey with historical legacies, evolving interpretations and trends. It’s fascinating how certain colors, like hot pink or neon, were not in use in the 19th century and today we see them everywhere. For me color is not simply a visual element; it’s a creative starting point, an emotional anchor for projects and artistic endeavors. As you read through, I hope you are inspired to start a collection following your own interests. Maybe there are other techniques you use to make new creative connections, I’d love to hear about them.

Annual Color Announcements

Every year, I look forward to announcements from industry powerhouses that proclaim their choice for "color of the year." It is a great way to get fresh color inspiration. These declarations are influenced by pop culture, interior design, politics, technology, social issues, and the Color Marketing Group who releases a new color every month throughout the year.

Pantone, well known for its annual color selection, has unveiled Peach Fuzz as their color choice for 2024. Sharing the spotlight are other colors released by paint companies such as; Sherwin-Williams' Upward, Graham & Brown’s Viridis, Behr's Cracked Pepper, Benjamin Moore's Blue Nova, Glidden's Limitless. Since the early 2000s these color announcements have gained in popularity and there are many to take inspiration from.

Gather with Purpose

As a way to challenge my creativity, I set myself a task of curating collections for various colors of the year using content sourced exclusively from the Catch+Release Creator Community. Here's an overview of how the process played out.

Graham & Brown’s Viridis: A Subtle Symphony

I loved the subtle yellowgreen of Graham&Brown’s Viridis color. They describe it as a beautifully muted green color. This color is an elegant embodiment of fertile green hills and new plant growth. This mid-tone greenish yellow pairs well with lighter and deeper shades of color to evoke an earthy natural feel. When starting a search, I like to start simple and see what shows up. In this case the color name might not yield much – colors and color naming can often be subjective– so I began with the most universal name to describe the color – green. As I select the images from the search results I am always checking back to my north star (a concept, a feeling, or in this case a color) to see if the imagery resonates. I also like to keep an eye out for lateral jumps to other subjects and imagery to follow later. I often open up a new tab for these adjacent search avenues to come back to after I have exhausted my initial word or phrase.

Viridis: A Subtle Symphony

Sherwin Williams' Upward: Dreamily Adrift

Sherwin Williams describes their color of the year Upward in this way “This denim blue with calm gray undertones will have you dreamily adrift in the stratosphere.” For this collection I started out searching for blue but found most of what came up was too bright or intense, and adjusting the search to gray allowed me to pick out content that better matched the subtlety of Upwards. I will often collect anything that sparks interest keeping my mind open to possibilities. Sometimes the color is dominant in a piece of content and if it is not the main color but the imagery has the feeling I am looking for, this counts too.

Upward: Dreamily Adrift

Pantone's Peach Fuzz: Embracing Soft Fuzziness

With Pantone’s color Peach Fuzz I was interested in the more fuzzy soft aspect of the color. Initially I started with a search for “peach,” this proved to be too specific and narrowed the content too much so I quickly moved to a search for “pink.” There are a lot of images with pink in them, but the majority were not a fit. It is a good practice when curating by color to have the color available to compare directly while selecting content. I will have it in a separate window so I can compare side by side with the content as I am searching. I have found that if I am only relying on my memory of the color I can easily find myself far off course. Some content results surprise me like a photo of a cat sticking its tongue out, not something I would have thought of in relation to “peach fuzz;” yet it's these surprises that can forge new creative pathways and jumping off points.

Peach Fuzz: Embracing Soft Fuzziness

Behr’s Cracked Pepper: Beyond The Culinary

For the collection focused on the color Cracked Pepper I started by putting “cracked pepper” into the search field, this wielded a lot of food related content so I quickly moved on to searching with the description “soft black” and now a beautiful range of subjects and content to choose from appeared with a whole range of gray into black evoking many different moods as well. It’s funny how the mind works when pointed directly at something, you can become blind. When I thought about the color and the color name the “pepper” part stopped me from imagining what else might show up besides food (it looks like the machine had the same issue), once I switched to searching for “soft black” a bunch of black and white imagery came up, of course but I hadn’t been able to think of it until I saw it. Sometimes the act of viewing large amounts of imagery can shake something loose inside you (that you didn’t know needed shaking) and take you away from your usual tired paths of thinking. Emotional or descriptive search terms can offer expanded choices in subject matter. Other words I added to my search were “moody,” “textured” and “darkness” to see how they might expand my results.

Cracked Pepper: Beyond The Culinary

Sorting and Sifting

Once I have a collection of images pulled together, I begin the process of ‘sifting’ where I look at the collection as a whole and check each visual against the feeling or concept I am curating for. If it doesn’t fit for any reason I move it out of the collection. I sometimes keep a collection ready to move these misfits to for later inspiration. With the images and videos side by side in a collection, new connections start to form. Exploring imagery unified by a consistent theme is something I do that brings me joy and is part of my regular creative process. I am surprised by how many ideas can be traced back to these collections over time.

Follow Your Passions

Begin with what activates you, what brings you joy and for me color is one of these things that energizes me. Our passions not only make us who we are, they also nourish us in profound ways. Spending time collecting intentionally around something that truly inspires us translates into deeper connections and more creative work. This exposure to diverse content fosters a more creative mindset. Regularly engaging with the unexpected fosters adaptability and openness and sets us up to connect with and respond to shifting trends. Gathering with color as the focus can offer new and unexpected imagery helping you build emotionally resonant stories.

Much like fingerprints, our interpretations and connections with color are uniquely ours, shaped by our experiences and physicality. Choosing a specific color as a starting point invites our unconscious mind to spark fresh innovative solutions. Just as a painter carefully selects a palette, curating your content around a hue can yield imagery that will forge an emotional connection with your audience. As the conversation around color continues to evolve, don’t be afraid to join in. Embrace the opportunity you might enjoy yourself and be surprised at the connection it brings you and your audience.