Bought a $30 color palette book and it changed how I pick shades

I was at a used bookstore last Saturday and grabbed this little color palette book for $30. The woman at the counter said "try matching your photos to the pages instead of picking colors from scratch." I did that for a logo project and the client said the colors looked more natural than my usual stuff. Has anyone else used a reference book like that for choosing color schemes?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley5811d ago

That little book sounds like a solid shortcut, I've had good luck using Pantone swatches from a thrift store the same way.

lee_barnes7011d ago

You know what I've noticed about these little shortcuts? They're really just a way of tapping into someone else's years of trial and error. That's the thing about good design tools, they're not really about the tool itself, it's about the thinking that went into making them. I keep a folder of old print samples and magazine clippings for the same reason you use those Pantone swatches. There's something about having a physical reference that makes color choices click in a way digital swatches never quite match. It's like finding a cheat code that someone else already figured out for you.