How are you using color in your illustrations?

Colors emit emotions and catch the eye of creatives who hire illustrators. In art and design color influences, engages & drives decisions for creatives and consumers. Color can act to stir emotion, create magic and set the atmosphere of your marketing presentation. 


How are you using color in your illustrations? 

Whether you cater to the advertising, entertainment, design, fashion, toy/game, packaging, publishing or editorial markets you need to keep in mind that color sends emotional and subliminal messages to your audience. 

For example: 

~ "Color is top priority in vehicle design," Ford Senior Interior Designer Anthony Prozzi said in a recent Bloomberg radio interview. During Fashion Night in New York he also said, “Our goal is to offer a car that is drop-dead gorgeous – something our customers can justify on a rational level as well as one they can relate to on an emotional level. You expect that car to drive, but its design makes you desire it. Beauty has that effect on people.” 

Digital Progression - www.DirectoryofIllustration.com

~ Trademarks - Cadbury just won the right to stop rival chocolate makers using its signature color, Pantone 2685C purple, on their wrappers. The chocolate giant has been battling its Swiss rival Nestlé for the last four years over the use of the purple, which has appeared in Cadbury’s packaging for almost 100 years. Last December a court ruling gave Cadbury exclusive rights to the hue, despite Nestlé’s claims that a color could not be used as a trademark. Now Britain’s High Court has overturned Nestlé’s appeal, ruling that Pantone 2685C purple is “distinctive of Cadbury for milk chocolate.”

Cadbury Chocolate bar - image courtesy Trend Journal

~ Branding - A good branding example using color is Owens Corning's choice of pink to denote its brand. They incorporated the Pink Panther image in its entire strategy and its website is based on the color pink association. Using color in your brand can have long-term benefits too as the Supreme Court ruled that a particular color can serve as a defensible trademark for a product.

Trademarks: The “Owens Corning” logo, the color PINK, and other trademarks identified with a ® in these documents are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC INNOVATIONS FOR LIVING and other trademarks identified with a ™ in these documents are trademarks of Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC THE PINK PANTHER ™ & © 1964 - 2012 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All rights reserved.

~ What do the colors connote in the country of destination? Vibrant, attention-grabbing red sometimes signifies “warning” or “danger” in the U.S., but in Chinese culture, it indicates luck. A slick black package with touches of embossed gold or silver conveys elegance and sophistication in the U.S. and some newly industrialized countries, but in certain parts of Africa, for example, it suggests death! Even if your design principles have been fool proof for products to be sold in the U.S., expect to have to scrap them and start fresh when it comes to marketing products abroad. (from “How to Prepare Your Product for Import/Export” by Laurel Delaney for About.com)

 

2012 the official color is Pantone 17-1463 Tangerine Tango.  

2011 was Honeysuckle Pantone 18-2120.   

2010 was Pantone 15-5519 Turquoise.

Pantone's Color Guide - Essential color tools can always be at your fingertips

Are your colors current and relevant to your viewers' eyes?

 

Whether discussing your latest images in your portfolio, your website design or your marketing presentation, the similarities between what art buyers and consumers want are numerous and compelling. The use of color might be one tactic to help you get work.

Mona Daly, Mendola Artists Representatives - www.DirectoryofIllustration.com