The Designer's Guide to Color Combinations

by Leslie Cabarga

If you're from the "I don't know zip about color - but I know what I like" school of color theory, this book's for you. You won't find color wheels or lectures on color harmony here . . . just 500+ tried-and-true color combinations derived from actual design work - posters, packages, even giftware - created over the past century by designers, artists and color experts. You'll find historical color combinations from the Victorian period, Art Deco era, Far-out Sixties, Rave craze - plus current color combinations, such as limited color, "bad color" and much more. Even if you don't know what you're looking for, you'll know it when you see it here.

It's not just what colors you use, but how you use them. That's why the color combinations in this book are arranged in simple, sample layouts rather than pages of out-of-context swatches. Complete with color formulas in CMYK, these layouts show you which colors work for backgrounds, borders, type, outlines, panels and small text, so you can easily adapt them to your designs.

Genres: Design, Art, Reference, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 1999

About the author

Zavier Leslie Cabarga, popularly known as Leslie Cabarga, is an American author, illustrator, cartoonist, animator, font designer, and publication designer. A participant in the underground comix movement in the early 1970s, he has since gone on to write and/or edit over 40 books. His art style evokes images from the 1920s and 1930s, and over the years Cabarga has created many products associated with Betty Boop. His book The Fleischer Story in the Golden Age of Animation, originally published in 1976, has become the authoritative history of the Fleischer Studios.

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise visual guide to historic color combo palettes; presented simply with more visual reference than written text. I'd like to see an updated guide covering the last 20 years.

[Corey Pung · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read my full review, go to: http://paneldiscussions.wordpress.com...
What you learn in The Designer’s Guide to Color Combinations can be applied to anything from graphic design, to logos, to comic books, and to greeting cards. The nice part is, it doesn’t contain a daunting amount of information. In the past, I have looked into books on coloring only to freeze up when I come across dense descriptions or strange terminologies. Plus, so many books on coloring are written specifically for Photoshop or for other pricey programs, but The Designer’s Guide to Color Combinations can be used with any photo editing software. For instance, I use the free program Gimp and this book worked fine with it. The book will also be helpful to the rare vestige of mankind who color by hand with paint, but you will have to use a lot of guesswork.

[Powells.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

This unique resource for creatives contains over 500 color combinations inspired by actual work (flooring, posters, packaging) designed over the past century by artists who really understood color theory. The book is broken up into sections of color from each era, whether it be Victorian, the sixties or the atomic age. It includes real examples of work as well as dozens of color combinations arranged in ways a designer would use them.

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio...

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great reference for color combinations and there time relevence

[Jason Martian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! It has repeatedly helped me redefine a project's color pallet and help when I'm in a color quandary.

[Jash Joves]

new in here